DIY Adirondack Chair

by Annie Posted on May 24, 2012

Three posts this week. Boom shakalaka!

We’re getting backed up on sharing projects (not bragging or anything)…I have a folder full of things to show you so in-between chores and preparing for my in-law’s visit this weekend (I made 4 different types of ice cream which will inevitably find themselves here or on my other site), I find that I can get something out to you adorable folks. Something from my adorable husband. That adirondack chair I mentioned him tackling on a whim…after my complaining about outdoor seating rusting away/left by the previous house owner.

Greg made me an adirondack chair. Ha, looks like Henry is smiling.

Did you know there are different types of adirondack chairs? Notice how unfamiliar I am with almost anything about them? I was checking out my subscriber email from Remodelista and they displayed, the day after he made the chair, one almost identical to his called a Westport.

He pulled this thing out of his head, drew a little something up and had it done within hours. He does this kind of thing at work-it’s brilliant-impressive to see him do this all easy peasy. Brilliant-impressive is a phrase I coined.

That's the new work bench with the free base cabinets I talked about in another post.

If you really want to know how he did it, I’d have to ask him and hope he doesn’t go into “I don’t remember/was in the zone” response. So let me know if you want to know. He plans on doing another and a footrest down the line. We just have to protect it from the elements and it can stay out longer. And it was made using material from the house demo and was already painted those shades. It’s been used several times when Henry the sheeppup and I go out for lunch on these beautiful, sunny afternoons.

Which reminds me, I decided to pick up some twigs in the backyard yesterday. It was windy and kind of nasty. Just as I dropped a few on the wood pile, I heard a crack and turned to see a limb fall to the exact spot I was no more than 15 seconds before. Scary.

We had to borrow the ol’ chainsaw last night and clean it up. Someone must be looking out for us because just as we finished sawing the big boy, I noticed our neighbor had a truck picking up some limbs and taking out a stump. Greg went to ask if they could pick up our massive amount of brush. The guy was kind and said he could today for $40. I wait now for him with cash in my hand. Somebody likes us somewhere.

Should be gone for our first family visit in our new house. We’re excited! Now if the weather could cooperate because Greg’s parents are riding over 600 miles on their Harley, eventually getting to the scenic river route through Iowa-starting in our homestate of Indiana, finally getting to some scenic parts of Illinois, then Iowa and ending in Minnesota where we live. That route is breathtaking at points.

Speaking of breathtaking, many of our flowers/roses have bloomed this week. There’s a vivid pink, red, yellow/white and such around the house. I’m not good with flowers but I’ve been watering them during this dry patch. It’s raining today so hopefully they remain looking all fantastic. I can even see them from my basement studio windows, a few peeping in over the well. Loving that.

The orange lines were supposed to be where they buried our cable line but they went a different route and these are left behind.

Mid-Century Dresser Reveal, Soy-Gel Stripper and Fiddes & Sons Wax Reviews

by Annie Posted on May 22, 2012

Yesterday’s post was a doozy so today I’m just gonna hand it to you straight.

Here’s the mid-century piece we recently finished. Once my personal nightstand, now on the market in our etsy shop. I think it’s the perfect size, as a nightstand or dresser, with a good amount for storage and a sophisticated look. Clean, modern, simply gorgeous as it was meant to be. No fuss but an attention grabber.

Before-shiny, poly, cheap manufacturer finish

Much better than when we got it with the cheap manufacturer poly finish. Not that all poly finishes are cheap but this particular one was and had that orange-ish sheen from age. Just needed some assistance to look beautiful once again.

Soy-Gel stripper doing its thing

This one was gently stripped using the Soy-Gel product.

Quick and simple review time (since I said we would): it worked great on this piece. Easy to handle with the gel consistency, only a few hours until the dresser was down to bare wood and easy scraping with water clean up. We’ve yet to try it on paint but have high expectations. And since we were stripping it manually with a cabinet scraper before/hadn’t used any other stripper in a while, we can’t say it’s the best…but if my memory holds true, this seemed much easier than other products. If you’re someone who frequently strips….(cue the music and tassels…I still imagine stripping in an old timey way), then this would be something we highly recommend. We hadn’t heard of Soy-Gel until a friend brought it up so it’s fairly new to us. Definitely worth a try. It’s for sale on Amazon and we found ours at a Rockler Woodworking store.

This one was also finished with the Fiddes & Sons wax in light/clear. Available through Amazon or do a quick search. Creamier than what we’re used to, easier to spread, gets in the nooks and crannies without leaving big globs behind or if there were, they were easy to wipe away. Greg and I will be going back to this particular brand/product time and again that’s for sure. Quality stuff with a great result.

I guess two reviews (short, tiny ones but still) and a reveal today. Yay us!

Before I forget, this piece has a glass top but we say it’s optional. We will be offering it with or without that and shipping this guy to anywhere in the United States.

Here are more details-
It’s oak (probably white) with a Danish oil/wax finish and look at those legs, tapered, gets me every time. Very atomic ranch/mod. And as cliché as it has become to say, very Mad Men which we do watch and enjoy (drool over).

30″ tall x 29 1/2″ wide x 18″ deep

Hit the Jackpot

by Annie Posted on May 21, 2012

Those two up there are the best deals of the weekend…not counting the free stuff.

The place: near our house
The event: garage sale
The price (for both): $11.50

I feel like there should be slot machine winning noises in there! It was the end of a couple’s garage sale and they just wanted things gone. We did what we sometimes do (and no we really aren’t jerks) and listened to the story and apologetic tone for the condition of the dresser (moisture damage from storage) without mentioning much of our skills or intent til the seller said so it’s only $10…big discount from the listed price then they added that the chair was half-price at $1.50. Sold! We never did mention what we do but only because we got into a discussion about how much we love our Subaru. Seriously nice couple.

We then went to an estate sale with a huge workshop full of tools, equipment, some furniture and all kinds of goodies. We spent $75 there. That got us an orbital sander, drywall tools, upholstery stapler, vintage dishes and a big box of various items we can use.

On the way back home, we saw another garage sale so we picked up a few cooking gadgets and a marble slab (something I’ve been looking for) and spent $3.25 for all that awesomeness.

One more church sale Saturday, the day you could fill a grocery bag for $3. I had myself some hard-to-find vintage madeleine cookie molds, a cool tray, never-worn snow boots, heavy duty old diner mugs (been looking for those), a few other bits and this chair.

It was $10 and something my heart truly wasn’t in but then the gentlemen outside kept on us and we caved. Caved for charity. But it’s going to be a good project for upholstery. I plan to eventually learn those skills.

Free!

This dresser was given to us by a friend…who had a snake in his garage rafters that sat right above Greg while he sharpened some knives. My eagle eyes spotted the sucker. I made sure to check the piece before plopping it in the car. (That friend also gave us some base cabinets now in the garden shed made into a workbench with a heavy door on top left by the previous owners.) Big thanks to him!

It was such a nice weekend. Greg and I took a break from major surgery on the yard, took it easy. Or so I thought. When I began to think about what I wanted to tell you guys, I mentally jotted down the accomplishments to realize we did quite a bit.

Greg taking the antennae down when it was about to rain.

Greg started to make me an adirondack chair out of the blue Sunday and will put the finishing touches-the arms-on tonight. Sweet, sweet man. So “out of the blue” in this case would mean due to my nagging to get some outdoor chairs and his complaints about the budget right now which equated to him suddenly making me one out of leftover lumber and supplies removed from the house. I love the chair!

What it looked like before...
After

Our house always has a car in front of it these days so do as it says and ignore that, disregard the shabby landscape in the front of the house and pay no attention to how bad my drawing is. That will all change someday. Except the drawing. It was fun and I got a litte carried away drawing trying to draw so lucky you got the edited version minus my notes, a lot of arrows, thought bubbles from Henry and Madden-like doodles for my own entertainment. The arrows pointing the to the side were notes about how that’s stuff we have to get rid of but it took too much space and I forgot to ditch the arrows.

Three more trees came down-one in the front yard and the other two in the side yard, the giant antennae came off the roof, the workbench was created, my string lights were put up in a temporary place. There was no lighting in the backyard before.

We took Henry for a warm summer night stroll to the college campus across the street where he was stopped often and fussed over. He is incredibly adorable. 60lbs. of adorable with his ability to see being jeopardized by his growing hair over his eyes, the ideal sheepdog look.

He says have a great week, won’t you (imagine whatever accent you wish for his cute self-we constantly change his accent).

The 50th Post

by Annie Posted on May 15, 2012

This weekend was a goodie-probably more of a greatie. Even though we were both away from our moms for Mother’s Day (they live in Indiana as most of our family does). We had another work-outside-all-day-into-the-evening splendid time. An estate sale just happened to be down the street but alas, prices were high and pieces were of the pass variety.

The only thing I picked up at the estate sale. Cute, huh?

On our way to the dog park, we spotted this lustworthy Royal Enfield motorcycle with sidecar and leather saddlebag. We don’t have $6,000 to throw frivolously at desired objects. We both wish in this case. What a find. Did I mention we used to ride around on a Harley Sportster?

Greg came home with some wine from a coworker about to start a winery for him doing a favor at work. So very nice on both accounts. (I’m still trying to forgive him for not bringing me a brownie…something that accompanied the wine…she says scowling.)

This is my 50th post on the Wits. That feels like a milestone. Forget that I’m going on my 400th at my food blog, the Dabble. It all still feels new and shiny. I am overjoyed coming here to discuss things I love with people who appreciate our work and shared interests. Thanks to you! Here’s to many more posts.

I know you might be wondering what did we do to the dresser below-one of the two coming out next and I know how I’ve been talking about it and revealing nothing post after post.

I forgot to take the before picture so this is all I have from the seller.

Well, we tried a new wax and don’t like it paired with the paint so we have to sand and repaint the side, allow some time to cure then snap its snazzy self so maybe the end of this week or early next week. Maybe. The other dresser is simply waiting on its prop to arrive. A prop that may not even end up in the frame. I’m experimenting and not the best stager or stylist. Can’t really say that. It’s more that I’m trying to convey a certain style or establish one which takes some practice. And I haven’t really had the time or equipment to do the pieces justice.

Before...after to come in another post

The dresser looks classier and more sophisticated, similar to Room & Board we’d say, due to a simple sand, strip (the Soy-Gel) and stain with a wax finish. Takes away the old manufactured look with the orange hue and bad finish. It is our first mid-century piece-the style we most enjoy working with and collecting. Hopefully that entices you to stick around, come back or subscribe by email.

End of Saturday progress...and the orange cable line there will soon be buried by the cable company's cronies

But oh yes, the weekend and the yard. If you’re following the progress, you’ve probably noticed we’re doing the yard in sections towards putting grass/ground cover in places it doesn’t exist/needs better coverage, opening the space up then extending the patio and putting new pavers down in the breezeway, between the 3-season porch and garage, plus some general tidying up. The entire yard-both front and back-need attention and leveling. We have some water damage and an occasional wet basement since the slope is not correct. That means taking the grass out or making it into sod to put back on the yard once we move the high points around although the pine area behind the garage/shed may not grow grass but we’re going to try. I’m a barefoot in my own space kind of woman. Walking on the grass now is an ouch-oooch-eeech with each step kind of thing. Why does saying nonsensical words make it easier to get through?

That unpainted strip bothers me so we're going to paint the shed (that's the shed wall) and the downspout will be replaced by a rain barrel with a rain chain.

Last weekend was full of us getting back on the weed pulling and root digging pony. To work behind the garage meant moving the compost, branch pile, landscape rocks and things we are storing. I spent way too much time and care making a rock wall…that is temporary. But the results are a more level yard, no more tripping hazards from the roots and no green anywhere in that area. Slowly getting there. This weekend will be us doing the same thing in a different part.

end of Sunday progress

It seems we are anti-anything green in the yard. But even weeds can be pretty and green with flowers. Little purple, white and yellow buds that I imagine are yelling at me for taking them when they finally get to show their pretty heads. Makes me hate myself to pull all that foliage out at times then at others, I’m sore,tired and fed up and you might hear me cackling cruelly while I rip them out and imagine them screaming. That’s how I work. Even Greg isn’t sure which person he’s going to get. I keep telling myself it will look worse before it’s better and just deal with the process like a big person. Putting on my big girl pants.

Remember this gold mercury glass lamp I found for $14? It's getting a makeover.

We’ve been doing some small tasks I’ll eventually show you. If I forgot this, Greg might be hurt. He made the gravel parking space much improved, less grass and debris. If only we could afford to pave it like the rest. Le sigh. I’m trying to get Greg on board with getting plastic adirondack chairs so the rusty patio set left by the previous owner isn’t our only option for sitting in our backyard. If only I had our vehicle during the day, things would magically appear around here.

Thanks again for being around on the 50th post, readers!

Antique Empire Dresser and Organizing the Garage and Garden Shed

by Annie Posted on May 10, 2012

If you were in the room today and if we were pals that came over to each other’s houses to share life and the goodies we found (like in the show Cougar Town which is awesome), you’d see a giant smile on my face and know that I was up to something or I found something really special. I wouldn’t say a word while walking you to our porch where this now sits…(beside our other 2 dressers in the small space)

and I’d make the ta-da motion with my hands like Vanna White until you had a look on your face that satisfied my need for approval on the purchase (you’d probably have to fain more interest than you’d like). Knowing me, I’d probably do it a bit too long with dramatic song and dance towards the end. I get way too excited but that’s good because I also get way too upset sometimes. It balances somehow. Once I started to speak, I’d tell you I picked it up for $100 the night before and go into why it’s beautiful. But you can see the antique empire dresser. It’s glorious. Sure it has some damage and was made to look like quarter sawn oak with a faux finish but is actually birch or soft maple. Greg needs to investigate further. It looks heavy but isn’t. The curve in the top drawers add great character. This one gets the stain treatment after a few repairs and stripping. But I want it in my possession for just a little bit. I have a hard time letting unique pieces go.

Craigslist find. Not too far away and it has a mirror. I’m not usually crazy about mirrors with dressers but this one rocks…and I don’t have a picture. Doh! I’ll put it on and show you later. Before I delve into the depths of what could feel like a trip to Snore Town for you, I want to tell you that I started a Pinterest board for what can only be described as dresser porn. Dressers I find online or in person will find their way here and you can follow along and comment away…for those of us with a little problem. I promise to add more than one…the number in it at this very moment. I also should have noted that I created a Pinterest board for just the things going on in our life-before and after furniture pieces, house projects, thrifty decor finds and the like.

But I’m here today to tell you about the cleaning/organizing of our garage and garden shed (attached to the back of the building) that took place Sunday like I said I would in my last post. Swear I had the ‘before’ pictures. Victim of the move to a new computer I suppose. And just to let you know, I’m not that uptight about life but I like my things in some fashion that makes sense and I do not believe you or anyone has to live in such a way. To each his or her own. So this is not a how-to or tips to organize…those posts have a tendency to drive me crazy and I like the topic.

Imagine cobwebs, dirt, bugs, wasp nests and my husband placing things wherever he wants while I’ve been trying to make areas for everything (car maintenance, grill and accessories, tools, trash, garage sale, etc.).

We took out the rickety shelving on the one side (I can now get in the car when it’s in the garage without contorting my body) and made the other side where we house our lumber (and in the rafters). Most from the house and basement demo over the winter. Oh, the junk on the right side of the shot is for the upcoming garage sale. Priced, sorted and ready to go.

Just as anal picky as I am about organizing, Greg is about constructing and repairing things. Take these shelves. He did a beautiful job. A beautiful, precise job on a shed that wasn’t made with such precision. It drives him crazy. Most of the house is like this. Our camping equipment, totes, “things that come out in summer,” and other belongings are stored here now. Nothing of real value to others for any stalkers or potential thieves.

I actually got to bring in some things Greg’s mom gave us, like his grandma’s wedding dish set and crystal stemware, vintage Pyrex and such. (I organized the kitchen cabinets this week too and it now sits at the tip top for safekeeping.) If only I could get that “we have a puppy” smell out of the house. One solution I know you us smartasses are thinking is to get rid of the puppy…not amused.

Greg reconstructed the table in the shed by giving it a new top and bottom shelf. I imagine seedlings and other projects happening on this top. Because my ma-in-law gave us artwork-things in the family and made by the family-I really wanted to give them a home. Greg’s uncle is a talented artist now living in Arizona and we have a number of his pieces.

The space is warm and comforting now but I think my wet-dry vacuuming pissed off the previous tenants and they are trying to rebuild. My space now, buckos! I’m not a fan of s words (spiders)…so much that I can’t say what they are and refer to them as s words. But not so much that I can’t sweep them up when they stand in my way of organization. When I’m determined, I can do anything (and so can you…I felt that was my sappy, after-school message of the post time).

I know you can’t really see with this picture but it was near the end when everything found its place. The two ladders are up on the wall, things stored in the basement joined their fellow similar items outside and the trash is very full. There it is. Probably boring to you. I feel better. Enjoy your day!

Weekend Finds

by Annie Posted on May 7, 2012

Little did we know that our town in Minnesota, Northfield, was holding a town-wide garage sale event. The profits going to various charities. That kind of news sends me into happy dance territory. Greg, my husband, has grown fond of garage sales despite what he claims was torture as a child when his mom would drag the kids along. He now knows the value of these treasures aka someone else’s junk. Plus, our monies went towards worthy causes and we never spend too much anyway that would put us in any financial hardship. I mean geez, it’s a garage sale. I’ve been recently hitting the thrifty find lottery. Here’s what we nabbed this time.

Brody milk glass vases-the modern shape and $.50 for both made them irresistible. I plan to put striped taper candles in these babies.

I found these canisters at two different places. A woman was by the smaller tin so I acted like I had no interest… pretending that whatever was around it was the object of my affection until she was far enough away then I scooped it up. I was thinking “ha” in my head when in reality she probably had no interest. Isn’t that thrifting nature or am I just a jerk? I think they were $.75 together.

This was not from a garage sale but from the store I’m in love with in town. A minty jade glass shade for $12. The salesperson said she saw this elsewhere for $40. But I really like that jade color paired with a blushy pink, coral, or purple decor and didn’t need convincing.

From the same sale as the vases was this cheap lamp base. It’d be so easy to build on and use in any decor. Now I have to decide which direction to go shade wise. $1

From the store with the shade, was this $5 quartz pen holder. Gorgeous. I’m trying to make it into something other than a pen holder. More on that later.

For the geek in us-a vintage Italian Quercetti binary “toy.” $1 or close to it. I forget. Greg loves it.

These ReadyMade magazines of yore were free from a like-minded woman’s sale. Why do the good ones stop being published-Domino, ReadyMade, Gourmet? At least Domino Quick Fixes is out.

Books! The 4 volumes of Popular Mechanics Home Handyman (these are sweet) and childhood/adolescent favorites. $13 (the highest amount paid that day)

Cheap rustic frame and the sheep was for our pup Henry (a sheepdog). $.50

Monkey chopsticks. No explanation needed, I think. $.25

This mug is for Greg to take to work because we thought it would be funny in an office full of sarcastic guys. Just have to wait til they notice during one of Greg’s several coffee sipping moments. The smirk no doubt on his face is stuck in my head.

We actually passed on this $10 dresser. I know. What the deuce, right? It was heavy HEAVY and we took it as a sign since the lug sat there all day (we got to that church sale late). The amount of repair and trouble storing it had us walking away after a 5 minute discussion of the pros and cons. It’s not a good time in terms of storage space and time to spend on repair. We’re still doing the whole backyard makeover thing (different links there) and putting the indoor renovations back on the list for upcoming tasks (umm finally back to the new attic entrance).

We also house/pet-sat in the country (us new town dwellers miss living there) and had a little break from working on house projects. A little. The garage and garden shed were cleaned and organized Sunday. (More on that later.)

Speaking of pets, I bought Pet Sematary at one sale. It scares the bejesus out of me but also holds fond memories with my friend, Jennifer, who was in a horrible accident and killed before graduating from highschool. We watched this at her house when we were in middle school, when she lived down the road from me. That was a fun night. But I have to work myself up to seeing it again.

We bought some herbs and while in a downpour, hence the poncho and boots, had to plant the aromatic guys and keep ’em in the garage overnight until the rain passed. They are sitting in the sun today looking simply marvelous (like Billy Crystal would say).

When we came downstairs to work on the two current dressers Sunday, we found standing water that had come through the brick…we now need to move up the plans to level our yard.

Hopefully we don’t get that much rain until we can address those issues. But the water caused a setback on the one piece since it was taking a bath when we found it. Wood and water do not mix nor make furniture happy.

Henry obviously enjoyed his time in the country.

For anyone waiting on the Soy-Gel stripper review, I swear it’s coming.

Flotsam and Jetsam

by Annie Posted on May 3, 2012

Having one of those weeks where pictures say it best so heres ya go. But you know it won’t be just pictures with me. Actually this is a fairly new blog and you may not know that about me…might need one of those “talk about myself” posts. Didn’t you always love those questionnaires about your favorite this and that in school?

Last weekend we cleaned up parts of what we call “the pine area.” The saplings and roots are gone. You couldn’t take a step without tripping over something. Wish I had a before picture. The posts against the tree are to keep some star-crossed lovers (our male pup and the female neighbor pup) from jumping to be with each other. We’re back to making piles of yardwaste again. I was not pleased but knew it was coming since we still have at least a dozen bag’s worth of waste to collect. Back to the compost someday. We also have quite the collection of treated lumber and varnish/paint/whatnot left by the previous owner. Like the high-class people we are, they and the lumber we removed for the spare parking spaces are in our driveway with no idea when they will be removed. Stayin’ classy.

It was rainy most of the weekend and we spent a good deal of time prepping the two dressers for paint and stain. One got the new birch veneer treatment I mentioned before and the other got the Soy-Gel service (review to come).

I should show you the before dressers but for some reason I want to be secretive about these projects. They are going to be a little delayed because we are housesitting some of the weekend and I changed my mind (again) about the hardware. I mean the painted piece is my favorite color so it deserves some kickass pulls. Gladly wait for those suckers.

Almost forgot-we, and by we I mean Greg on this one, took the old shades down in the kitchen to expose the old wallpaper. Stylish, no? The blinds were probably original to our 1952 home and the same ones in the bedroom. Attached to a wood board next to the existing trim on one window and directly attached to the trim at the sink window. (Much work to do on the trim around here…it took a beating.)

My week was spent organizing our file cabinets and desk. Proud to announce that sh** is under control. It’s a task I dread every few years but it’s really not that bad because I secretly thrive on making life more efficient and am rather good at it. Greg likes to challenge this even though he seems to be fairly organized at work. I swear the man was put in my life to help me ease up on things of this matter. That’s why the house isn’t clean. (Yeah, that’s why…) Love that guy.

Found this vintage wall-mounted Falstaff beer opener my pop-in-law gave us years ago. We’re beer drinkers and wine and mixed drinkies. We are pro-alcohol I guess is what I’m saying. I was told it could be a hot commodity.

I’m off to eat some lunch and to paint. But not to eat the paint. Made that mistake before. True story: my husband didn’t mention that I had paint on my face-lip region once on a quick trip to the store. He let me walk around talking to the employees and then I finally saw it in the car mirror on the way home. I’m probably referred to as ol’ paint lips around these parts. Could be worse I suppose.