Painted Thonet Stool, I Did It!

Anybody remember this post about my Thonet stool from last year?  Yeah, me either.  Of course, if I consider that I first attempted to refinish it in 2002 or 2003, putting it off for another 17 months doesn't seem so terrible. It is all a matter of (distorted) perception, I guess.

Aside for the terrible refinishing job I did, I also used (or abused) the stool as a plant stand.  The pot leaked and hence the cracks.  Normal blogging procedure would be to now show a series of pictures showing the step-by-step DIY.  I am going to break the tradition, mostly because I neglected to take pictures.  I did Instragram a photo showing the first coat of color going on.  My process was simply to agonize for weeks about color choice, decide on black, fill the cracks (standard wood filler), lightly sand the surface, spray a coat of primer and finally spray several coats satin paint.  When I first went to buy the supplies I was positive one can of spray paint would be more that enough, but I ended up using almost three cans.  Seems excessive, but most of the paint was wasted when I sprayed the legs.   That and I was obsessed with getting the finish as close to perfect as I could.

I am beyond happy with the results.  Notice the yellow vase?  That is my trade off for my paint choice.  Black is the new black, you know.

Almost

I am almost there or at least I feel a lot closer to being done than I did last week.  Which is funny because there is less than one (working) hour between the two.  In the previous weeks I spent hours sifting through Lego, Playmobil and the like and I felt nothing but overwhelmed and under accomplished. This week I moved some furniture around and I finally feel like I am getting somewhere.

This is pretty much how this side of Sam's room has looked since last August.  When Sam started school I got it in my head that he needed a desk and chair to do his homework (he does it at the dining table).   We bought everything, got it home, put it together and just kind of stuck it on this wall, which had previously had looked like this.  The EXPEDIT moved over to the wall on the left and it all ended up looking kind of indifferent, or better said "Meh."

The circles are off of the wall and the EXPEDIT is back.  Now all you have to do is imagine a world map above the desk.  It was hanging yesterday, but it fell down overnight.  That is what I get for keeping it rolled up for the past year and a half.    I plan on getting a chair or bean bag to put on the now empty wall.  Sam loves it and is not missing any of the things I purged over the past weeks.    I plan on doing another quick purge in the next weeks and there a still some things I need to hang, but I am almost there.

“Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful.”

- William Morris 

 

Please visit Jules at Pancakes and French Fries for a lot more William Morris inspiration.

More of Less - Picture Gallery

I am not sure how, but another week has gone by and it is time for another post for the William Morris Project.  I have absolutely no idea how Jules did this every day this past October, but I am starting to suspect that super powers were be involved.

I have had a gallery of family pictures in all of our homes.  It took me awhile to hang them when we moved here (yeah, big surprise) and I was perfectly happy with the layout.  Then my brother-in-law had to go and get married last summer and it went to pieces.  I had the picture in the frame and all I had to do was add it. 

It should have been an easy task and yet before I knew it all of the pictures were off of the wall.  They ended up stacked on the stairs and there they stayed, let's say, awhile.  Naturally re-hanging the pictures made my list of things that I wanted get done.

I started off trying a few different layouts and thought that I had it with this one.  Once I started hanging them it just looked off and before I knew it I had moved two of the pictures into different frames.  Does anyone else always find dirt under the glass after their done framing something?  Is that just me?

After lots more shuffling I finally had all of the pictures up and I am totally happy with the layout. There is plenty of room for future expansion and I added an empty frame that I had on hand.  I am thinking of filling it with one of these.

“Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful.”

- William Morris

Some Things Go

And other things enter. 

Insanely awesome things.  This Plycraft lounge chair and ottoman made their way into our home a few weeks ago.  You see, I have been up to more than purging around here.  I did get rid of a sofa (see the first picture in my last post) to make room for them.  My parents bought the set 49 years ago and I am elated that my mom said yes when I asked if I could have it.  Thanks Mom!  Now I just need to talk her out of a teak dining table, high boy and buffet.  Not gonna happen, but I can dream. The chair needs a different pillow and I am thinking of painting the nesting tables, but those are just little details.  In my book it is both useful and beautiful, so it is a double score.

Keep Calm

 

Many would say that it has been over done, but if I like something I really don't care. I felt the same way  about the Cole & Son Woods wallpaper that I put in our guest bathroom. The only difficult part about getting the poster was agonizing over deciding on what color, but once I did I ordered it from here. 

For me the kitchen was the perfect place to hang it.

Sam's Room

In today's post Benita @ Chez Larsson asked everyone to share a picture or post of the EXPEDIT shelving units in their home.  You can find ours in Sam's room.

Considering that our home plays a substantial role in this blog I haven't really shared that many pictures of it.  Mainly because I find it really hard to shoot interiors (and gardens).  It took about 20 shots to get this one (thank goodness for the digital age). The angles always seem weird and it is just plain frustrating.    I am hoping to improve and start sharing some more.

Go on over to Benita's to share your pictures and while you are at it link to them in the comments here too.

Senorita

This painting entered my home a few months ago when we had to remove the last of the things from my grandmother's home. She bought it from a door to door salesperson probably close to 50 years ago.  For as long as I can remember it had hung her stairway, but I do remember seeing a photo of it hanging in her living room with a striped wallpaper.  She always said that she loved the way the Senorita's eyes would follow her when she walked by and that fact always fascinated me when I was a child.  I remember going up and down the stairs with my eyes on the painting.  I never thought it would one day belong to me, but I am happy to be able to give it a new home.

Guest Bathroom

We have lived in our house just two weeks short of two years and there are still some things left to complete both in the house and out in the garden.  That doesn't stop me from reworking some things that were considered done.  In this case, it was just adding a shelf in the guest bathroom.

Before

After

I just had our carpenter move the panel hiding the u-bend further back and add a shelf in front.  It is just a small change, but it has makes me happy.