Bistro Table Set Makeover & a little rest...

A Bistro Table Set Makeover & a little rest...

The last few weeks have been pretty hectic, (well, who am I kidding...it's always pretty hectic) but I spent the last few weeks getting my booth space ready for the annual Holiday Open house event at the antique mall. When I say "event", I do mean an event. They have a huge turnout of customers, the entire mall is decked out in holiday attire, a banquet of food is served to its patrons and don't forget the Christmas music playing. If you weren't in the Christmas spirit before, trust me when I say, you would have been after this delightful event that took place last Friday. I will be sharing the event with you soon! I spent most of Thursday moving everything over, arranging and decorating. I also made 3 dozen iced sugar cookies and 4 dozen mini cornbread muffins for part of my contribution to the food.

On Friday, I worked my first Open House and boy was I surprised by the amount of crowds! It was a very big deal and I was so blessed to be a part of it. Needless to say, I was pretty worn out even before that day, but after I left that afternoon I was exhausted. After dinner on Friday, I crashed early! On Saturday, we did our grocery shopping, got my son's tires changed, ran some errands with my dauther and got home about 3:30 p.m. I was ready to do some chill'axin at this point in the evening. I usually go, go, go until I hit a wall and then I have to force myself to take some time off. I hadn't technically had a day off in about 3 weeks. However, at 4:00 p.m., I got a call from the antique mall that I had sold most of my big pieces of furniture including a display case that I had listed for sale.

Say what?!

In panic mode, and nothing in the works to restock the space, I had to figure out how I was going to fill that space by tomorrow. This was a big weekend and my space could not remain empty! I had a desk that I could work on and possibly finish by tomorrow morning but it was a complete wreck! It had to be completely sanded with layers of paint. I figured I had about an hour and half before I lost daylight and I was going for it! At 6:00 with lights moved outside, I spray painted the dresser and drawers and removed and spray painted the hardware. At 7:00 p.m. I dropped my daughter off at the movie theater and stopped by Home Depot to pick up a few pieces of hardware for the dresser that were missing. I picked my daughter up at 9:15p.m. from the movies (Shh...it was her first date and I had to be there for pick up to hear the scoop!) That night, when I got home I moved the dry pieces into the garage to apply the dark wax and distress the edges. It was about 50 degrees at this point in the process. but the paint had dried and I had a space heater for the garage!

I worked on this desk until 1:00 am. Saturday in order to get it done! I had a console table that I had brought home from the booth the previous Thursday. It had been at the booth for several weeks and hadn't sold, so I had decided to keep it. It looked really great behind my sofa but sadly, I knew I would need to haul it back over to the booth to help fill the space. I did lovingly stroke the console table, telling it good bye because inevitably it will sell this week since I wanted to keep it! :(

On Sunday, I loaded it up the desk and console table and by 11:30 a.m., the booth space was filled and put back together again!

I can't even tell you what I did the rest of the day on Sunday....I honestly can't remember, but I did declare that I would be taking a day off on Monday.

Now on Monday, after dropping off my daughter at school, cleaning house and doing 3 loads of laundry, I finally set down in my cozy spot with my Starbucks coffee that I had heated up 3 times by 11:00 a.m. With the soft rain outside, a warm cozy fire, my favorite blanket and my sweet puppy Chewy nestled up by my couch; I read most of the afternoon.

My hubby came home and made me lunch and hand delivered it to my body on the couch. Literally, I didn't get up until 3:00 p.m., (except for a bathroom break), until I had to pick up my daughter at school. I repeated this vigilante until late that evening in the same spot. And because it was raining and dreary the next day......I did it again!

Ahhhh...it was glorious!

By Wednesday, I was ready to get at it again and I started with the makeover to the bistro chairs. My hubby had bought the bistro table several months ago for $25, but it definitely needed a makeover. The bar chairs we had used previously but were being used on our outdoor patio until I could refinish the table for the kitchenette. You may remember that the previous black bar table in the kitchenette was moved to the office to use as a homework/craft table in our office makeover. This round bistro table had been refinished a few weeks ago and you may have seen it already finished but not the before pictures. Here is the before pictures of the chair and table:

Since it was still raining on Wednesday, I ended up having to work on reupholstering my bench for the master bedroom instead of spray painting the chairs. By Thursday, it had stopped raining and I was able to spray paint using Heirloom White by Rustoleum. This is the same color as my coffee bar table and the already painted and stained bistro table that was now in the kitchenette.

After I used a dark wax and sanded the chairs they were all a matching set. I love how you can marry unmatching pieces with paint and make them coordinate. Yippee! Here is a look at the magic:

I love how it all turned out and I will be adding some touches here and there in the next few weeks to enhance this space. Slowly but surely the living room, kitchen, and dining room are all starting to look like my style with a cohesive finished look. I still have quite a bit to add starting with new gray upholstered bar stools that I found at Target, painting the walls a soft brown grey, adding a wood panel to the mantle, and a new rug; but I will make sure and show you with each new addition. I will have some DIY tutorials and some design advice to share along the way.

While I was working the Open House at Daisies & Olives Antique mall, I did a little shopping or I should say "Window Shopping". I found this amazing mirrored door that I think Is a "must have" for my living room! It is offered by Possum Valley Vintage and she has some amazing vintage finds! You can find her on Facebook.

Seriously, how incredible is this!

I'm so totally in love with it! However, it is priced at $375, and although I think that is a fair price it is over my budget. I still wanted to show you and I will probably continue to obsess over it until I can come up with something else or justify the expense! :)

I hope your Thanksgiving is wonderful and you have a lovely time with family and friends this next week!