Renovating a stained/varnished table.

This was and still is one of my favourite projects. One - because it's gorgeous, two - because it's in constant use and three - because it was one of the few times I actually spent what I would consider to be a lot of money on a piece. 

When I say a lot of money, maybe not so much by other people's standards. It's an eight seater dining table, but I only purchased four chairs as there are just the three of us. The table itself cost £75 and the chairs were thrown in for an extra thirty by a local second hand dealer called Steptoe's. If you're in the Exeter area and you live for junk, pop down and pay them a visit on Marsh Barton Industrial Estate. They specialise in house clearance and reclamation from the local tip, so you find a delightfully eclectic hodgepodge of absolute treasure. From stained glass panels to antique commodes, Steptoe's has it all. I keep popping in and pining after a particular Art Deco mantelpiece, but alas, I have no fire with which to adorn one and I can't think of a good enough reason to have one anywhere else. If you can think of a good enough reason, please feel free to leave a comment and tell me how I can get away with it ;-)

Already I had £105 invested in this particular venture and the costs would just increase when paint, varnish, handles and sandpaper were thrown in, but I figured that this one was worth it since it would be such a prominent (and hopefully permanent) feature in the kitchen. 

That's me cutting sandpaper at the table, ready for Poppy to jump in with the big guns :-) The lighter section of table top has already been sanded back in this picture and looks far better for it. 

The table itself was a bit of a wreck. As you can see, dark brown matt stain was complemented nicely by rather large scratches down each one of the legs. It looked as though the table's last home had been inhabited by a cat without a scratch post, so it just sharpened its claws on any available and likely looking surface.

As you can guess, the sanding had to be pretty heavy handed to take out the deep welts left in the surface of the legs and tabletop by the somewhat over zealous feline, but I wasn't after a perfectly smooth finish, so it just needed to be level enough not to offer splinters to any unsuspecting limb. Personally, my tastes lean towards a slightly rustic look. I like scarred wood with dints and divots. I think it all adds character and makes the furniture look more real somehow. My favourite has to be old woodworm trails. Mmmm, they're loooovely :-) 

This set was never designed to be flawless, but rather more shabby, with the intention of allowing a soft paint finish to age and deteriorate over a short period of time and yield into a distressed look through hard use. Poppy spent a good hour with the sander in hand and I had to stop her from obsessing about taking out all of the imperfections - she seems to think that they reflect badly on her work. They don't, I like them! 

Here we have some residual cat scratches in the surface of the table which really bothered Poppy, but I liked them, so they stayed! 

With the surfaces clean, clear and ready for a finish, we pulled out a trusty can of Ronseal Diamond Hard Matt Varnish for the top of the table. I really rate this product. I've managed to clean permanent pen off the surface without causing harm to the finish - boo yah! This stuff goes on easily, dries quickly and washes out of your tools with warm water. That's my kind of product. It doesn't offer a truly matt finish, but it's certainly not a glossy one.

For the legs, I used a white oil based undercoat, just an own brand one from Wickes. Oil base was chosen because it would not allow the acrylic top coats to adhere too efficiently, so they would slowly wear away over time revealing a white finish and wood underneath. Two coats of the undercoat with a decent dry time in between, followed by two coats of Craig and Rose 1829 acrylic in Morris Blue. 

The two small drawers either side of the tabletop were finished with new cut glass handles from B&Q. They never really see the light of day as they sit beneath my eyeline, but I know that they're there and I think they're a nice touch. I also lined the drawers with some pretty paper from the local florist, but that was just me being fanciful.

 

This table has been in use for over a year now, is distressing nicely along the legs, but maintains a good sound surface on the top. I have yet to find a substance which can't be removed from the Diamond Hard. I've even left accidental splodges of gloss on there when working on other projects, but if you give it some beans, all stains will come off.

I love this table. It makes me smile. It's usually covered in clutter and tools and nonsense, but when it's clear it's a beautiful addition to the room.

Painting waxed furniture.

This unit had seen better days to be honest. I had to fix a drawer bottom which kept dropping out, the screws were all a little loose and there were bits and bobs missing all over. Still, fearless Girl Friday attacked the project with gusto, determined to give it a makeover (also, there was no way in the world I was going to spend hard earned cash on a new one) and a new lease of life.

Not bad, but not great. This chest of drawers had been stored in a damp flat for a couple of years and had some unsightly greyish green dusty mould marks. Urgh. Not exactly inspiring. I was especially careful to use a mask when sanding this one as I was not enamoured with the thought of mould spores taking up residence in my lungs. It had a very slight wax finish, so needed to be sanded back to bare wood to make sure that the new paint would adhere properly. This I did after removing the handles, if not with relish, then with a sigh of inevitability. 

You will find jobs along the DIY path which you will enjoy and jobs which you will endure. For me, machine sanding is dull and noisy, I tend to leave it to Poppy when I can. After sanding, I coated the whole piece carefully with two coats of my trusty Ronseal Knot Block, Primer and Undercoat. Again, great product. Then for the fun bit! Choosing lovely colours to bring out the best in it. Two coats, as always.

Muy bella! With colours from the Craig and Rose 1829 acrylic line in Eau-De-Nil (meaning Nile Water, revoltingly enough. I have never felt the need to paint anything in the colour of a muddy river), Regency White and Tapestry Green. I'm a big fan of pastels. They're easy to change, easy to accessorise and all go together well. I used the original handles again as they seemed quite suited to the new personality of the chest.

All in all, another simple change which required little financial input, just a smidgen of elbow grease and a pinch of patience. Try it yourself. Be brave, give it a go and always save your old tins of paint. It's amazing how often an inch of paint in the bottom of a tin can come in handy for touch ups or small projects.

Painting bare wood.

A decent paint finish can change the whole character of a piece of furniture. Even the shabbiest and most threadbare of possessions can be lifted and renovated with a new finish. As long as your piece is sound, there will be a way to revamp it and turn it into something lovely. My advice on this subject is to be fearless. What do you love? Pink? Flowers? The Hulk? Stick whatever you love on some furniture you can't stand. It's a no-lose situation. If you hate it already and it turns out badly, you'll still hate it, but you'll have learnt a few tricks along the way. The best case scenario is, of course, that you produce something you love.

This little unit is a good example of what can be achieved when dealing with a bare wood finish which doesn't require stripping.

This little unit was looking a bit shabby, but was still useful and necessary. It had crayon on it (yeah, thanks for that Squeaker) and had that generally grimy look that unfinished pine can develop after a couple of years of use. I took out the drawers, removed the handles and gently cleaned as much of the grime and crayon as I could. When cleaning unfinished wood, use as little liquid as possible or you'll raise the grain and the wood won't be as smooth. Sandpaper is almost always your friend in this instance, so sand away any stubborn stains or marks.

To prep the wood I used Ronseal Knot Block, Wood Primer and Undercoat. It's a three in one product and although a little pricey, it's great stuff and will save you time and stress by taking three steps in two coats. It's also water based and dries quickly, so there's not as much waiting around as there is with oil based paints.

When my first two coats of ronseal had dried, I applied two coats of light blue acrylic (Craig and Rose 1829 in  Porcelain Blue) to the body of the unit and two coats of cream acrylic (again, Craig and Rose 1829 in Regency White) to the drawer fronts. Personally, I really like acrylic. It's pretty hard wearing, available in a wide variety of colours and is easy to apply. Your brushes will be washable in plain old water and fairy liquid and it can be cleaned from solid surfaces with ease if you catch it quickly. Acrylic also has the benefit of having a low VOC content, so it's one of the less harmful paints. Don't get me wrong, the sturdy finish of a good solvent based gloss is lovely, but they're hard to work with and hard on the lungs too.

I was going to replace the handles with something different and then decided that I rather liked the old ones now that they were based on a lovely clean finish. Definitely worth the effort and would make a simple first project.

Low cost wall decorations.

Once again, this post is all about my little girl's room. I would do loads more DIY and decoration for my little dude, but he seems less than thrilled when I offer him decorative flowers and butterflies. I don't know why.

These little flowers were inspired by some blooms which I saw on Pinterest. They immediately jazz up a plain wall and can be easily changed to suit the theme in any room, just use a different design of paper. They're very simple to make and cost next to nothing. They're even so easy that they could be used for temporary venue decoration if required. I think pearlized paper would look beautiful for a wedding.

So, here goes: step one, fold your piece of paper in half, then in half again.

Work out which corner is the centre of the paper and make sure that corner stays uncut.

Step two: on your folded paper, draw a simple single petal shape, then cut off the corners around your design.

Step three: open out your folded piece of paper and it should look like this: 

Roll the paper into a gentle curve between your first and second fingers in a sweeping motion, putting slightly more pressure on with the upper finger.

Repeat steps one to three in a contrasting paper, making sure that this piece is slightly smaller than the first. Put the smaller on top of the larger together with some glue, add a button as a beautiful centrepiece - et voila!

I stuck them to my daughter's wall to hide a couple of rather large bumps in the plaster which I'd neglected to sand when last decorating (blush, blush) and now I rather like them. 

The same concept can be applied to simple butterfly shapes (which I have also done and will upload at a later date) and can prove a cost effective change which requires little investment but your time. Crafting paper can be bought as a pack of similar designs and reused in various areas in a room if you like a specific colour or design theme.

Well, it's half term, so Squeaker and Dude are off school. This means a slowing of my usual work rate as we'll be off to the museum with Mr Friday and hopefully out in the sunshine too. I'll keep my camera to hand just in case I find any fabulous inspiration ;-)

The loft bed.

I made a loft bed. Well, we made a loft bed. My Poppy and I. I really can't take all the credit for that one. Maybe not even a full fifty percent of the credit actually. Poppy worked like a Trojan and I bring her in for all of my heavy work. I am only five foot one and one half inch tall. This leaves me at a slight disadvantage when it comes to big girl jobs, so Poppy runs to my rescue. 

My little girl has just turned six and was becoming far too big for her junior bed. She has one of those tiny little box bedrooms which is a real pain to furnish. Not enough room and too much child. Add to that the fact that purchasing a pre-made loft bed is an expensive business and you have a recipe for disaster. So we made this:

That's my squeaker, ready for bed.

This project was not our own design, but one which we adapted from Ana White. She's a genius - if you haven't seen her site, go and check it out this instant! There are lots of free plans available and they're all accessible and rated depending on your ability and price range. Fantastic.

We have placed the ladder in a different location to allow for the funny dimensions of Squeaker's room. She still has lots of space for storage underneath and absolutely loves being up high. I did have initial concerns over whether or not she'd be confident sleeping on high (with visions of her saying "Sorry mummy, it's just too high, now i'll have to sleep in your bed FOREVER" it was with trepidation that her new sleeping arrangements were revealed) but my fears were unfounded. Never before has she played quietly in her own room, but now she sneaks toys up the ladder with her and spends hours quietly amusing herself. Mummy did the dance of joy.

The total timber cost for the project was £140 and it is a staggeringly solid piece of kit. I can get up there quite comfortably to make her bed or read her stories. I enjoyed the build with Poppy, but the paint finish was an absolute chore. By that point Poppy had gone home and I had hours of exceptionally dull work to complete with only the Foo Fighters for company. Don't get me wrong, Dave Grohl's company is not to be sniffed at, but is no substitute for putting the world to rights with a pal.

Without paint, it was still pretty but I very definitely needed a hard wearing finish to put up with the hammering it was going to take from my excitable six-year-old and her equally excitable friends and so followed sixteen hours of painting...separated into four hour sessions with sixteen hours between each coat. In the end, I did the unthinkable and decided that the finish was 'good enough' and left out the last coat - for the sake of my own sanity. I'm still glad I did.

This is the almost finished product. I still plan to make some curtains for beneath the bed frame so that she can have a fort of her very own, but I keep forgetting to buy new fabric.

As she gets older, that Ana White designs allow for a desk and bookcase to be built in underneath, but I figured I'd give her some extra play room for now. Pictures will follow as I get around to making curtains and bunting and garlands of flowers :-)

Girl Friday's first post.

I am Girl Friday - that's me dressed as Dorothy for Halloween. I have two children which makes it hard to get 'normal' photos of me. In most photos I'm either dressed up in funny glasses to amuse the little ones or I look like hell because I'm so tired, so you got the Dorothy look :-) I am a single mother on a mission. A mission to have a beautiful home, a thriving business and happy children. 

I should probably start off by saying that I really don't understand technology, so this has been something of a struggle. I use it, but I don't understand it. I live in a very firmly physical world, about as far from a virtual world as I can possibly get. I have a Mr Friday and this morning he offered me advice on setting up a blog. The first site I tried without his input and it was an unqualified disaster. I rang him and told him of my stress and asked why didn't software work the way it was supposed to? His response "Oh, I never expect it to work first time."

Seriously?

Maybe that's why I love DIY so much. I can always make it work. It makes beautiful sense to me. There's always a way to modify your project to make it function. Sure, sometimes it means scrapping the entire activity and starting again, but I can always make it work ;-) I think perhaps I'm just less patient with technology.

Well, I'm all about making things. Sometimes it's a renovation project, sometimes it's a build from scratch. I make furniture and furnishings, jewellery and accessories and most of all I make a mess. Luckily for me, my family are all very tolerant of the chaos I seem to leave in my wake. The children are blasé about the fact that I turn up to the school gates shedding a drift of sawdust and wearing a streak of pink oil based gloss in my hair.

I meet lots of other mums who say that they can't do DIY or make things, but they could if they tried and if they had some help and encouragement, just as I'm managing to blog even after my first failed attempt. I'm hoping to share some of my projects and maybe even tutorials if I can get the hang of it.

You can do it. Have fun, make mistakes, scrap it and try again.