GOAL: the Pottery Barn table and chairs

My very first post (aside from our "Welcome" post) was about a Pottery Barn table someone had given to Ivy. It's a great set of furniture, and I want it to turn out awesome. Usually when I want things to turn out awesome, I fear starting on them until the stars align. Well, I really just want to do something with it, so I'm making a goal to finish this set by the end of March. I'm even entering this Before and After Party, so that I can't back out:




Here's my original post:

In December, one of my students' moms came up to me and said she had an old Pottery Barn kids table and chair set. She said, "It was a gorgeous set, but it's been used a lot and is more of a project, than a gift. We don't really want to give it to just anyone... Would you like to have it?" (Her daughter loves Ivy, and even named her American Doll "Ivy"... :) )


Little did she know that our car tent outside had been used by my brother and his wife to upcycle furniture for the past 4 months. Needless to say I gladly took the table and chairs off her hands. We started sanding it (see the green chair?), but haven't done much more than that. I'm dying to get my hands on it, but I think it is just a bit of a big project for me, so I'm reluctant to get started. I know what I want it to look like, but I'm procrastinating to get started. Here's some before pics. When I finally get it done, you'll see the afters.

Until then...


-Becca


Back to today...




Well, i've made a little progress... I sanded and painted two chairs. Here's the poor yellow one before:

Getting primed:

Godiva, our dog, lurking in the background: 

I have this oops paint. It's a metallic aqua. I also used it for the stripes on my mirror. See post here.

The first coat looked HORRIBLE (pic below). Really see-thru.

But the second went on nice. The one on the left has 3 coats. The one on the right has just 1. 

Kit jumped in too and is sanding the 3rd chair. I have no idea what to do with the table, cause i just want it to be AWESOME!! Anyways. Now I have a goal to get it done!

--Becca

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GOAL ACCOMPLISHED: The Pottery Barn Table and Chairs

On Christmas Eve, we got an awesome table and chairs from a family I work with. It was from Pottery Barn Kids, and needed some help. (Click here to see the original post and read the full story.) This is what it looked like:

It needed help. 

In March I started sanding the chairs and put some primer and paint coats on them and set a goal to finish the set. I was inspired by Shine You Light blog's Before and After Party. (See that post here.)

The table was next. It took some time. I don't know what was on that table, but it had to come off. (See that post here).

After 3 coats of Martha Stewart metallic paint, I finally finished it in April. It's been done for a while, and you may have spotted it in my chair cushion tutorial (click here), but I had yet to do a true "Before and After" post. So, 5 months and 4 blog posts later, the Pottery Barn Table and Chairs is finished!!

For some reason Ivy is planking on it in her underwear. This photo was taken just moments before nap time...

One more "before":

And here it is in Ivy's room "after"! 

Here's some other fun shots from our outdoor impromptu tea party we had with it.

And finally, I can say, I'm linking up to the Before and After Party at Shine Your Light!! Check out the party. I love Before and After photos, and they've got plenty over there! 

Aloha, Rebecca

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Kids Pottery Barn Table

In December, one of my students' moms came up to me and said she had an old Pottery Barn kids table and chair set. She said, "It was a gorgeous set, but it's been used a lot and is more of a project, than a gift. We don't really want to give it to just anyone... Would you like to have it?" (Her daughter loves Ivy, and even named her American Doll "Ivy"... :) )

Little did she know that our car tent outside had been used by my brother and his wife to upcycle furniture for the past 4 months. Needless to say I gladly took the table and chairs off her hands. We started sanding it (see the green chair?), but haven't done much more than that. I'm dying to get my hands on it, but I think it is just a bit of a big project for me, so I'm reluctant to get started. I know what I want it to look like, but I'm procrastinating to get started. Here's some before pics. When I finally get it done, you'll see the afters.

Until then...

-Becca

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GOAL: $2 shelf in Shiloh

So... I have another goal for the month. This one is way simpler than the Kids Pottery Barn table in this post. On a Sunday garage sale hunt (see previous post here about another random Sunday garage sale session), I picked up this awesome solid wood shelf for .......... $2.00! Yes! $2.00! And, they also gave Ivy a ton of free stuff:

-Rudolf the Red-nosed Reindeer stuffed animal

-This blue stuffed dog with a rattle inside

-Sand toys

Everyone just gives stuff to this kid for free!

Here's the shelf.

We put it up in our bedroom, but the wood just wasn't cutting it. I dunno... I'm not in love with wood colored furniture. But aren't the lines gorgeous?

So Kit really wants black furniture in our home. I don't. But being the (willingly) submissive wife that I am, I went out and got this black wood stain. I thought it would look awesome on this shelf. It didn't. It turned out a cherry wood color, because this piece was so dark to begin with. Sorry for the blurry pic. Only the top and sides are stained.

Since this piece was going in our bedroom with the other Shiloh pieces (see post here and here and here), my husband said, "Everything wood ends up painted in THAT one color, so why didn't you just paint it THAT one color?" (THAT one color = shiloh).

So, being the (willingly) submissive wife that I am, I painted it Shiloh today. It has gorgeous crevices in the shelves, so I started with the crevices and corners, using a really small brush. 

Then I did a first coat on the whole thing. Of course, the one day of the year it rains in Kihei is the day I have time to paint! I have a million projects trying to dry in our tent outside, and it's raining... haha.

I'm also putting this in the Before and After party at Shine Your Light, (along with the Kids Pottery Barn table-- post here), which means I have only this month to finish it! It's simple... just needs a couple more coats of paint then put it back up on the wall.

--Becca

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This table... when will it be done?!!

 I'm desperately trying to finish the Kids Pottery Barn table and chairs...

I want it to be adorable and cute and FINISHED.

My original posts about this adorable set... (yes, posts is plural, because it's taking me forever!) are here and here.

Yesterday I worked on it. I'm proud to say that everything has a coat of paint on it. One coat. Two of the four chairs are completely FINISHED. 

But first, I had to do this to the table:

Thanks mom for lending me your garage sale find: liquid sandpaper.

I kept Ivy busy with a little bit of orange and purple paint, a box, and a paintbrush... well, the dog bowl ended up orange. Her slippers ended up purple. I asked her to look and smile for a photo, but she was too concentrated on her painting. 

Hopefully this never-ending (but enjoyable!!) project will be done by the end of the month so I can finally post my "after" at Shine Your Light blog's before and after party!

Aloha, Becca

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Ivy's Green and Blue Room Tour

We live in a tiny cottage that used to be one of my parents' Vacation Rental units here in Hawaii. Even though it's small, I love making it into a fun little home for Kit, Ivy and I. Especially for Ivy. Let me take you on a "tour" of her green and blue room. 

First of all, all of the dark blue furniture was mine. My dad built me this bed when I turned 15. I got to design it when I finally had permission to stop sleeping in my canopy princess bed I'd had since I was 3. :) When I was 21 and moved home after college and living abroad, I painted it blue, and added the dark blue side table and bookshelf, which my dad also built for me. I was so excited when Ivy transitioned out of the crib, so I could let her sleep in my old bed. I like that kind of thing.

This mobile hangs above her bed. It's made out of a 3-prong metal plant hanger. I made it when we moved into this house when Ivy was 6 months old. The butterflies were a gift a student gave me, and Cailin had tied that blue ribbon around our dog Godiva's neck when we brought Ivy home from the hospital. Such a special moment. 

 I made the bunting in the window, as well as that heart garland (click here to see that post). Kit made the "Kulia" plaque (that's Ivy's middle name, meaning 'fortunate'). 

The doll on Ivy's bed is named "Amy" and she's 29 years old. 

My late aunt Sara made her for me when I was born. 

I wore her dress home from the hospital. 

On the right is a little side table. I got it at a garage sale 7 years ago. 

Sitting on the table is a fabric bucket I made, in the same fabric as her chair cushions. It contains some of the only pink decor in the entire room...! I have nothing against pink, but the child is named "Ivy." I think it's only appropriate that her room match her namesake, at least a little. We are also super into the ocean, so I think she should be surrounded by blue too. There will be plenty of time for tons of pink and purple things in her life. :) 

The fabric bucket also matches this hat box I recovered the other day, which now holds her Barbie's. Tutorial on that coming soon. :) For other fabric bucket tutorials and posts, click here, here and here.

If you've been following me for a while, you will recognize the Kids' Pottery Barn table and chair re-do. There's 4 chairs in the set, but I keep one next door at my parent's house. Ivy's room is just too small! For the full post on this re-do, click here. It holds her coffee maker and tea set. The placemat is from Cailin... Urban Outfitters! (I have it in orange, too.) The rug is also from UO. I made the chair cushions. Click here for that post. 

 Like any good room designed in 2009 or later, Ivy's got a gallery wall. It contains the letters of her name (of course), torn out pages from a vintage book (of course), maternity shots of Ivy in my tummy (of course) and family photos (of course). PS: the fabric in the long frame is one of my absolute favorite fabrics of all time.

 Photos are by:

Ajja Photography (family)

Naomi Wong Photography (maternity)

Noah Hamilton Photography (maternity)

Sears (the family portrait down below that looks like we're from the 1970's)

I LOVE this picture/book page/illustration:

Here' the view looking "out" of Ivy's room. I use shoe storage on the back of her door to give a home to random toys. 

And of course, the bunting. My reason for starting this blog. I love to make bunting. Want some? Give me a color scheme, style and length and we can do a transaction via my Etsy shop. 

Oh, and these awesome floor-length curtains are from Pier 1. I LOVE them. They're kind of the reason I did this room tour. I felt like her room was finished once they were up. 

Thanks for taking the tour!

Aloha, Rebecca

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