A few years back, when they moved, my aunt and uncle generously gave us a bunch of their old furniture, including a dining set. We used that set for a long time, despite the fact that the chairs were a dark hunter green and the stained top was worn through and marked with crayon in short order by grubby little hands. It was a godsend for us.
Until we found the ornate 1930s dark veneer table and chairs that are currently in our dining room. It suits our style better, at least until I find my elusive Hollywood regency mustard yellow velvet dream number. In the meantime, my mother-in-law expressed an interest in the old dining set, with an update. So for Christmas this year:
The hunter green turned black, and the cushions were updated with a classy country check that my in-laws picked out together. It looks great in their new kitchen.
The maple top gave me fits. I'm still learning my staining technique. On this project, I learned that you can't apply a dark stain to a light, domestic wood. Even with wood conditioner. Probably some of you wood pros could have told me that.
Each stain pass, the top ended up blotchy and mottled. I ended up sanding it all down and starting over, after exhaustive research on shellac techniques and cutting. After a shellac half-cut and a reapplication, the stain went on like a dream...
And now I have a ton of shellac and alcohol, if anyone needs any.
It's got a handy drawer on the end for silverware or whatever. The knob got a glamor update, of course.
It's got such warm tones for fall, and it works in their country kitchen so well.
We got to use the new table for Thanksgiving dinner when extended family was in town. Lots of people can fit down the sides and on the nice wide ends.
Thanksgiving happened to also be my mother-in-law's birthday this year. With all the regular Thanksgiving pies, I opted for a mini cake for her. Because you still have to have a birthday cake, even if your birthday is overshadowed by pumpkin pie...
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| Also because cake always looks better on jadite |
I'm thankful for my in-laws who opened their home for us to enjoy Thanksgiving together, and I'm thankful for my own two munchkins!
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| Hurricane Hazel |
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| Our Amazon |
A belated happy Thanksgiving, and thanks for stopping by!
