Operation Home

Some of you will understand my reasoning for this project. Others will think I’m lazy and took the easy way out. I’m personally somewhere in between. But in the spirit of sharing the good, the bad, and the questionably ugly, here I am. Flashing my goods. For all to see.

Ya see, last year, we purchased the Applaro outdoor table from Ikea. And LOVED it. Here’s how it looked last year when I posted our backyard tour…

After we initially purchased the table, I treated it with this…

The man at the home improvement store (I forget which one, now) said that it was highly recommended for UV protection and waterproofing of wood furniture. After the exceptionally hard winter we had this year (for Texas, anyways), I think our table fared pretty well being that we left it uncovered and exposed to the elements. There are a few boards that are very slightly warped (but barely), although I think they were already like that when we purchased the table. Aside from the mild warping, this happened…

Interesting.

The fact that the finish basically flaked off in spots tells me that either the type of wood used to construct the table did not accept the stain well, or Ikea originally treated the table with more of a glaze than a stain. I did some research to figure it out and discovered that I was right about the glaze part. And that Ikea sells said glaze. Unfortunately, I wasn’t going to have time to make the hour trek out to Ikea to pick it up any time soon (sad face).

So, I decided to wing it with what I had on hand. I first hosed down the table and cleaned it thoroughly with a rag, then let it dry. Next, I lightly sanded with a fine grit sanding block…

Sanding literally took five minutes. I only strived to remove any remaining flakes in the finish.

Next, I experimented in some small areas with stain that I had on hand to see if I could camouflage the flaked areas…

But soon realized that the wood was not accepting the stain (like, at all) and the flaked areas still remained very light and noticeable. At this point, I realized that touching up the finish was a lost cause. That unless I wanted to completely strip the table top, restain and retreat the top, the uneven finish would remain. And even then, there was no guarantee that the top would match the base given the wood’s resistance to stain. I could paint the table, but knew that I wouldn’t have the time to properly do so in the next few weeks. And the clock is ticking. Temperatures are steadily rising here in Texas and once it gets above 90 degrees consistently, I’ll lose my window of opportunity for painting, staining, etc. Believe me… I’ve tried to paint in the hot Texas heat before, only to end up with a gloppy, ugly mess every time. So, I decided to simply treat the table with Teak oil as is. Protect the integrity of the wood in an attempt to avoid splitting and further warping, so that when I finally am able to paint the table (or reglaze it with the Ikea stuff), I’ll have a nice surface to work with. So, that’s what I did. I mean, some people work hard to achieve a worn, shabby-chic look right?? 😉

To treat the table, I simply followed the instructions on the can. I wiped on the first coat with a rag…

Waited 5-10 minutes, then wiped it off. Then, applied a second coat, waited 15-20 minutes, and wiped it off. Which left this…

It pretty much looks the same. The tone of the wood is a bit richer and the flaky areas now look more intentional as the color variations all have the same sheen. Once I style the table, I think it’ll actually look pretty neat. We plan to get a new umbrella this year and our chairs still look brand spankin’ new, so I think that some pretty flowers in colorful pots, updated accessories like placemats, etc. will be a nice contrast with the worn table. Like I said, the finish won’t remain like this forever. I just didn’t want to risk exposing it to further damage within the time it took me to actually get to refinishing it.

So, that’s my story. I made an ugly finish waterproof. (Judo-CHOP!) 😉

Have you guys been in this boat before? Any suggestions or advice??

Hey guys! Long time no blog!

As mentioned in my last post, we spent the past week on a much needed vacation in Mexico. Joey and I traveled sans kiddo for our first real vacation in five years (HUGE thanks to our amazing parents for wrangling Lucas for us in our absence). I’m sure it goes without saying that the vacation was just what the doctor ordered. I mean, laying on the beach at an all-inclusive just can’t be bad no matter how ya slice it. The original plan was for us to return on Thursday and for me to post on Friday. Unfortunately (or fortunately?), my plan was quickly (or not so quickly) derailed after we spent eight hours at the Cancun airport due to delays only to have our flight home cancelled. So, we ended up having to spend an extra night in Mexico. At first we were pretty irate and so disappointed that we wouldn’t be smooshing Lucas’s face with kisses until the following day. Then, they announced that the airline was taking our entire flight to spend the night at the resort we had just come from. Which was amazing. Seriously, I can’t recommend the Dreams Riviera Cancun enough if you’re looking for a place to go. We were delivered to the hotel around 7:30 pm, so we still had time for dinner before bedtime, which ended up being a fun meal spent with some cool new friends whom we would have never met had our flight not been cancelled. So, in the end, it was okay. Here is a little sneak peak…

And in case you’re wondering where Lucas gets his silly picture-posing skills, please allow me to enlighten you…

This is what’s known as “pulling a Joey”. When we were dating, I was once forced to frame a picture of him biting my head. It was the most serious pic I could find at the time. He is handsome, though, no? 😉

Anyhoo, we are now back, safe and sound. Woo-hoo! So, onward!

And today we’re talkin’ trays….

Yep. Not sure if you’ve noticed, but I’ve developed a thing for trays somewhere along the way. I can’t help it. They’re so useable. “It looks cluttered”. Put it on a tray. “It looks lost”. Put it on a tray, “Needs more style”. Put it on a tray. “Needs more function”. Put it on a tray. Really… wine, coffee, and trays could solve the worlds problems. Just sayin’.

I currently have a few trays going right now. Like here…

(actually there are two in this pic… can you spot ’em?) And here we have the tray that I altered with a bit of fabric and Mod Podge….

And now two more have come into my possession. I visited a few thrift stores several weeks ago and finished off the day spending a grand total of $4.15 (plus tax) for both of these beauties. This one was $3.15…

And I paid a whopping dollar for this hot pink, preteen gem…

I know. They’re not much to look at now, but just wait… Spray-paint swoops in at lightning speed and saves the day (Somebody get that can a cape!). Anyways, this gal got the oil-rubbed bronze treatment….

Aaaand she is a teeny-bopper no more….

She’s now rustic and textural.

Then, my holiday-spirited guy got a coat of classic white spray-paint for versatility, along with a good caulking along the seams…

(It was windy and a losing battle when I caulked, which is why the seam looks dusty. It cleaned up perfectly in the end.) Anyways, I’m pretty sure that white trays are the gift that keeps on giving. They can be used anywhere to add a smidge of class and style since they pretty much go with everything. For example…

So, what do ya think? Not bad for just over $12 total, eh? It was $4.15 for the trays and 8 bucks for the oil-rubbed bronze spray paint (of which I still have a bunch left). The white spray-paint I already had. And now I have two more tray-loves to add to my repertoire. Oh, how I love trays.