Upgrading Our Dining Room Table and Old Dressers

Ok, so if you want to think of someone who is not crafty you can think of ME. I NEVER pictured myself doing something like this! But... I did :) I married a wonderful, frugal man and I figured out rather quickly that if I wanted my furniture to look better or different that I was going to have to get creative in how to do that on a tight budget. 

First came my table. My husband had bought a solid oak table before we even met. It is a nice table. The wear and tear though from all the company and kids was bad. It was just getting flat out ugly. (see pic below)

Sorry for the blurry picture. It's hard for me to get pictures not blurry through my instagram account. But you get the idea, the table was worn out!

First I unscrewed the legs and my sister helped me get the top propped up out in my carport and I borrowed her hand sander and went to town! I used ebony wood stain to stain the table after I was done sanding and did about 3 coats. I wanted it super dark and it was super dark and BEAUTIFUL. After that dried for a day or two I put on 

Polycrylic Water-Based Protective Clear Finish to make it super shiny and EASY TO CLEAN. I used a couple high quality paint brushes for the stain and just plain old foam brushes for the clear finish. I probably did about 4 coats of the clear finish. Like I said, I wanted it shiny :)

The table today! It is holding up wonderfully! Doesn't even look like the same one!

As that was drying I started on the legs. I did NOT want to sand the legs so I used chalk paint. Chalk paint is a lazy person's best friend. I made my own (WAY TOO MUCH MONEY THE OTHER WAY).Homemade chalkpaint recipe: Mix 1/3 cup of plaster of Paris and 1/3 cup of cool water; stir until completely smooth. Mix that with 1 cup of latex paint and stir thoroughly. This will make enough chalk-finish paint for one coat on a six-drawer dresser. Chalk-finish paint should not be stored and reused. I used foam brushes for this too and did probably four coats. After that I waxed them with cheap wax. This stuff stinks people! So make sure you are in a well-ventilated area and don't plan on bringing your masterpieces inside for at least a couple of days :) 


Next, THE DRESSERS!!!

Let's just say in the picture below that the one on top is dresser number 1, the one to the left and below (with black and white table cloth on top) is dresser number 2 and the last one is dresser number 3. 

Dressers are great for multipurpose function! We use ours out in our living room/dining areas to hold our homeschool supplies and paper products and we use the tops as buffets for when we have company!

Dresser number 1: This was my grandmothers dresser and it was pretty ugly :) I got some of my stepmom's old paint, bright turquoise as you can see, and made homemade chalk paint out of it! (recipe above). That's it. Super easy. Did about two coats and then put some of the same protective clear finish on top that I did on my table. It is holding up really well! It got some scratches on it on the move over (my parents live in CA) but I just touched up with some of the same paint (not chalk paint, just straight from the can). I used foam brushes for this. 

Dresser number 2: This was more than likely my GREAT grandmother's dresser! I did the same to it as dresser number one, homemade chalk paint but in a different color. It is also holding up really well! The top was pretty messed up so it almost always has this table cloth on it (one I got for a wedding gift 10 years ago!) So far these two dressers have cost me $0!!! That's the way to do it people! :)

Dresser number 3: This was in the house we are living in when we got here. It had some real wood and some of that fake wood. I knew sanding wasn't an option. At this point I hadn't heard much about chalk painting (this was actually the first dresser I did) and so I was looking into other options to paint it without having it scratch off easily/peal without sanding. I found this: Cover Stain Primer. It worked very well! I put on two coats and then took my sister's left over paint that she used to paint her laundry room with. I used foam brushes again (my favorite obviously). There were some knobs missing so I went to IKEA and got a bag of 10 of them for $5 to match as closely as possible! I also spray painted the other knobs/handles with a glossy black spray paint and put them back together. For the top I used some lovely Java Gel Stain. I love this stuff! Hate sanding?! This is your thing right here! I applied three coats to the top of the dresser with socks! That is the best way to do it. A little bit goes a long way!

Let me tell you all a little secret. There are a million other people out there that know a million times more than me about this stuff :) This lady is the one I learned a lot from! I love her youtube channel!

Now for one last fun LITTLE project that I did spur of the moment. My oldest daughter had a painting up in her room that no one really cared for that was like $10 at a garage sale from years ago. I loved the frame but the picture itself was lame. So I decided to paint it with homemade chalk paint (the same turquoise I had borrowed from my sister for my dining table chairs) and painted the frame with that. Next I painted the painting itself with chalkboard paint! I have made lots of little and big chalkboards since then! Again, one can goes a long way and use foam brushes.

Let me know if you have any questions! It was so much fun doing all of this and spending so little money to transform so many pieces of furniture! 

First picture is all the things I used to refinish my table, chairs and dressers! (minus the paint...lots of different types and colors there and mine were all free!). Each of these containers are 1/2 to 3/4 full still and can be used for any future projects! The second picture is the old picture I painted and put chalkboard paint on from my daughter's room. We decided to hang it up on our fireplace.

Are Your Kids Doing Your Job Mama?

I have been sitting A LOT the last 7 weeks. My morning sickness started at about 6 weeks and I am 13 weeks now. It usually lets up around 17 weeks. I am so looking forward to being on my feet more and being about my normal day to day activities and chores! I hate sitting around like this. But I am thankful for something it has caused me to contemplate.

I am sure you have all heard the saying: "Good parenting is working yourself out of a job." While I get the gist of it, I don't like it overall. Here is why. It feels like I have been out of a job these last 7 weeks as I shout orders from my recliner. I feel like this lazy woman (I know, I'm not...but it FEELS that way) barking at my little servants to do... my job.

We SHOULD train our children. They SHOULD be helping us because they live at home too and should be contributing when it comes to it's upkeep. BUT I am noticing something that is happening. I feel like more and more moms are spending more and more time on their computers/i-phones and less and less time keeping the home. Which we are commanded to do.

"...encourage the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, to be sensible, pure, WORKERS AT HOME, kind, being subject to their own husbands, so that the word of God will not be dishonored." Titus 2:4-5

"So I counsel younger widows to marry, to have children, to MANAGE THEIR HOMES and to give the enemy no opportunity for slander." 1 Timothy 5:14 

When we aren't keeping and managing the home we are allowing the word of God to be dishonored and we are allowing the enemy opportunity for slander. 
Keeping the home WELL is no joke. There are many things that can be done everyday to make our homes run more smoothly and efficiently. We as the managers and keepers of the home are deciding everyday how well our homes will run and how chaotic and messy our homes will be. 

In a day and age where we have so many conveniences (dishwasher, vacuums, washer, dryer etc.) there is really no excuse for a home to not be managed/kept well. Some of us, myself included, need to be asking: "Are my kids doing my job?" The Lord has not called our children to manage and keep the home. Yes we should be training them and it will bless them later in life if we do so, but we should never be barking orders from our sofa all day with the laptop and i-phone in front of us because we are too indulgent and selfish. If our homes are falling apart it's on our shoulders.

I will be the first to admit I have no idea what I am doing when it comes to keeping the home. My poor mother always worked full time outside the home and she never really gave any thought to training us. I am starting from scratch AND I am a very un-organzied person by nature. But I know God wants me to keep my home well and so I know He will answer my prayers to be a better at it. I pray to Him for wisdom on how to be the best keeper of the home I can be.

Don't embitter your children toward you. Don't make them question if mom is training them or just being lazy. We are called the keepers of the home and we need to live up to that title. 

Top Five Areas I Am Simplifying In My Life

I am craving simplicity in my life right now. Having five children eight and under will do that. It seems life is all about moving from one season to the next and finding a "new normal" and finding a new normal is always easier if your life is simpler. Here are the top five areas I am seeking to simplify.

#1 Wardrobe: Have you heard of the "10 rule"? It's where you have only 10 shirts/blouses, 10 bottoms (skirts and/or jeans) and 10 winter tops. May still seem like a lot to some of you... but not to this "clothes hoarder"! :) The other issue with clothes for me is the season of childbearing years. My weight fluctuates within a 50 lb range so it's hard for me to get rid of clothes knowing that I might need them some day. Either way, I am seeking to implement the "10 rule". 

#2 Schedule/Commitments: When Scott and I first moved to WA I wanted to be involved in and head up everything! Now I am barely involved in anything. My only consistent commitment, outside the home, is to be the nursery coordinator for church. I also plan a ladies' conference once a year and that's pretty much it. I am not in a season right now that enables me to be involved in many things and that's okay. My main objective in life is to serve Christ and I serve Him best right now by serving my husband and children. Here is a simple sample of our average daily schedule.  Another way to simplify my life/schedule is to make as few trips "into town" as possible. I do much of my shopping online through amazon.com and safeway.com (you can get free delivery and better prices by shopping online!... I am thinking of doing a separate post just on how to safe the most possible on safeway.com and get your groceries delivered to your door AND get a big gas discount!)

#3 Meal Planning: One friend of mine recommended that I ask my husband which two areas in my stay at home endeavors were most important to him. He said: house cleaning and homeschooling. Meal planning came in last. So our meals are very simple. Cereal, toast or oatmeal for breakfast. Lunch is almost always "homemade lunchables" (just grab a variety of crackers, lunch meats and cheese and put on fun tray) or sandwiches with a choice of fruit. And dinner is either: tacos, homemade pizza, homemade almond flour pancakes, pasta with veggies, quesadillas, or soup/chili with homemade bread. (I also throw in a "ninja smoothie" with at least one meal a day which consists of frozen fruit, mixed greens and water). Simple but yummy and pretty healthy. If your husband just wants his favorites made consistently and on time consider writing down his favorites and then picking a day of the week that corresponds with each meal: "Taco Tuesday", "Lasagna Wednesday", "Chili Thursday" etc. 

#4 Homeschooling: I have chosen ACE. It was tempting to keep looking and looking at all of the bajillion choices out there but we are happy with ACE and I love that we just set the workbooks out for each child in the morning and they get to work. So much easier than making all those lesson plans for all sorts of curriculum! The kids do about four pages a day and I supplement with extra reading and geography workbooks. They are each on time or ahead of their grade level. We usually do our homeschooling in the morning right after breakfast and finish by noon. 

#5 Stuff: De-cluttering your life is the quickest and most efficient way to simplify your life! Click here to read a post I did a while back on decluttering our toys (often one of the main culprits in messiness in homes with lots of littles). I think that I throw away between 5-10 things DAILY. Clutter makes messes and complicates our lives and if you're anything like me, stress us out! So grab a few garbage bags and run around your home right now and grab whatever is not useful or beautiful and toss it or bring it to salvation army and let it clutter someone else's home :)

How about you? What are some ways you are seeking to simplify your life? Share in the comments below.