Kitchen Island

I'm giving you a bit of a break from my outdoor projects and thought I'd show you what I was up to on the weekend.  My husband was away on an overnight trip, so I had a couple of projects in mind that I wanted to complete.  The first project I completed was on Saturday and, well, it was an outdoor project which I will share with you tomorrow.  My Sunday project was this:

A new island for my kitchen.  I had a small butcher block, but found that there just wasn't enough space to work on.  As well, it only had one shelf for storage, so I decided to build myself a new, larger island!  I found a plan over at "ana-white.com", however, I had to modify it because it was too large for my space.  I had to cut mine down to size, which measures 44".  I basically "winged it" from looking at a picture just because all my measurements didn't jive with hers.  The total cost for the island came to $47.39.  I could have saved a bit more money because I didn't use all the wood that I bought - again, I bought what Ana's plan suggested for the size of island she built - I wasn't thinking that mine was going to be smaller.  Oh well, I will find some use for the leftover wood. 

I stained the entire island with Watco's Danish Oil in dark walnut, but felt it blended too much with my floor.

Sorry, lights were on in both the pics...so was flash. 
Also, top of island is missing as I was waiting for the varnish to dry.

So, I painted the legs and sides with a cream-colored "Sandbar" paint and left the shelves and top stained.  I applied two coats of a satin varnish to only the top, just to help protect it from any spills, etc. 

I love my new island and it has lots of storage for my pottery!

Thank you for stopping by and having a visit.  Have a great day!
Lesa

Outdoor Floorcloth

Are you getting tired of my outdoor projects?  Well, here's another one to add to the list...my outdoor floorcloth.

There's nothing new about the idea, just alot of fun to make and you can design them to any size you want and to go with any decor, inside or outside!  Mine measures approximately 3 1/2 feet x 5 1/2 feet.  I used a vinyl floor covering remnant which I picked up for $21.00.  I would have liked one much bigger, however, the remnants were running anywhere from 80.00 to over 100.00 and I just didn't want to pay that price. 

Back of the vinyl flooring

Front of the vinyl flooring

I trimmed the ends to make them square and then applied a coat of primer to the back of the vinyl.  When dry, I applied that great blue paint as a basecoat.  (I love that color!) 

I didn't want to spend alot of time on this project so I didn't put alot of thought into the design.  I knew I wanted stripes, so I used painter's tape and, well, made different width stripes.  I just "eyeballed" it to make sure they were straight.  Hopefully, they are straight!  I painted on dark brown stripes, white stripes and beige stripes. 

I thought I was done, but it was looking a bit boring so I found a can of orange paint (have no idea where the orange came from!) and added three small orange stripes to give the floorcloth a bit of a "punch".  I think it did the trick.  After everything completely dried, I added an exterior varathane in a satin finish to seal it.  That's it!

Thank you for stopping by and taking a look.  Hope you have a great day!
Lesa

Candleplace

I needed something as a centerpiece for my outdoor coffee table and I knew I wanted something with candles.  Therefore, I came up with this idea for a "candleplace". 

It was very simple to construct and it works well for what I wanted on the table.  The glass helps to shelter the flame and gives it a nice glow, especially in the evening!
 To build the box, I used scrap wood left over from building the outdoor furniture.  

Bottom of box - 13 1/2" x 5" (pine)
Sides - 13 1/2" (cut from 1x4 pine)
Ends - 6 1/2" (cut from 1x4 pine)

Assemble the box using wood glue and wood screws.

Next, I took the inside measurement of the box and cut my glass to fit (on the inside).  I cut the glass to measure 8" high.  I assembled the glass box using hot glue, but I'm sure there are products out there specifically used for glass.  I was only using what I had on hand at the time. 

The box was a little boring, as is, so I decided to make some "chunky" handles for the ends.  Just a note...the handles are decorative only!    Using more scrap 1x4 pine, I made the handles to look like this...

I spray painted the handles with Krylon's Oil Rubbed Bronze and painted the box with my new favorite blue paint.  When dry, I used an old chip brush to apply a dark brown paint over the blue paint.  I lightly sanded all surfaces with 220-grit sandpaper.

I attached the handles with a bit of wood glue and wood screws.  Make sure to pre-drill so the wood does not split.  Insert the glass, add some river rocks and candles and there you have it, a "candleplace".

Thank you so much for stopping by.  I hope you enjoyed your visit!  Have a great day.

Lesa

Patio Decor...Pretty Up a Fence

A few posts ago, I refinished a cabinet.  I replaced the glass in the doors with chicken wire...well, here is what I did with the leftover glass...

I started with the two pieces of glass and then using 1X4 pine,  I built two frames.  It was a very simple construction with no mitred corners.  I used the table saw to incorporate a 1/4" groove in the back so that the glass would lay flat/flush in the back of the wood frame. 



I stained the frames using Dark Walnut Danish Oil.  When dry, I applied two coats of "Ice Blue" by DecoArt.  The color was just a bit too light, so I repainted them with my new favorite paint color that I had mixed to match my fabric used for the patio furniture pillows. 

Once that coat dried, I lightly sanded each frame with 220-grit sandpaper revealing the lighter shade of Ice Blue.  I also sanded a little heavier around the inside and outside edges to reveal the dark stain.

Once everything was dry, I inserted the glass panels and secured them to the frame.  Using the same "great" blue paint, I painted the diamond in the middle of each glass panel...two coats on the front and two coats on the back.

I secured screw eyes to the top of each frame and then attached gold chain to the screw eyes.  I used gold chain to bring out the gold leading in the window panels.  I secured the window frames to my fence with more screw eyes.  I think the windows help "dress up" this old, weathered privacy fence.  It's a grey and gloomy day, so the colors aren't as vibrant as they should be, but I hope you can get an idea.

Here is a picture of all the the furniture pieces together.  I had alot of fun building everything...thanks to the great plans from Ana White! 

I still have a few more projects to go and will share them with you as I complete them.  Thank you for stopping by and taking a look.  I enjoy your visits and your great comments!  Have a great weekend!!

Lesa

Outdoor Bench and Storage

I have to apologize...my next few posts will are going to be about my deck.  I've been trying to "pretty it up" so I'll be sharing my finished projects with you.  Here are a couple of my latest...first of all, I built this outdoor bench to go with my chairs and made some matching cushions.

Next, is storage for the furniture pillows.  My husband built this box out of plywood and it's actual use was supposed to be for kindling for the fireplace. 

However, I kinda scooped it up and decided it would be perfect for pillow storage.  My husband had already painted it grey, but I needed to freshen it up a bit.  I used my new favorite color, which does not have a name because my local Home Hardware did a color match from my fabric swatch to mix the perfect paint color for me.  Anyway, I LOVE the color so you may see, in the future, that I may use this color quite a bit!   Back to the box...I gave it only one coat of paint.  I then made a stencil with the word "Storage".

 I stenciled it on to the lid used the color Sandbar.  Once dry, I gave just the lid and letters a light sanding, allowing a bit of the grey to show through. 

It certainly looks better than it did and now my pillows have a safe, dry place to be stored. 

Just a note...with the way our summer has been going, those pillows will be spending most of their time in storage!

Thank you for stopping by and I hope you have a great day!
Lesa

Bellissimi Fiori

Here's a little something I'd like to share with you...I bought it at a garage sale for .50 cents.  A big, heavy, rusty hook.  My husband just chuckled when he saw my treasure.

I figured I couldn't loose spending a whole .50 cents and thought I'd find a use for it.  Well, here's what I came up with...

I found this in my husband's metal scrap pile, he removed the "hooky things", straightened the rods and just evened things up.



Now it looks like this...

I attached the hook to the metal mesh using rusty stove pipe wire.  I then found a scrap piece of wood, drilled two holes at the top and then stained it with dark walnut Danish Oil. 

Once dry, I used a chip brush to apply the Sandbar paint to the surface, using a dry brush method.  I then gave it a bit of a sanding to make it look even more like weathered wood.

I then painted on the words "Bellissimi Fiori" (beautiful flowers) using Antique Rose by Decoart and, again, sanded some of the lettering to remove the paint.  I attached the sign to the mesh using more rusty wire and then hung the finished "rusty junk" on my shed. 

I thought a small hanging basket with flowers would look nice suspended from the hook, but I don't have any hanging baskets so I used this wreath just for pictures.  What do you think?

This is part of "Would You Buy It" Wednesdays at Junker Newbie so...would you have bought the hook?

Thanks for stopping by...your comments are as welcomed, good or bad!  Have a great day.

Lesa