Project Time

This is our kitchen table that I have wanted to refinish for a LONG time. It's been well-loved over the years and was passed to us from my parents. It's a nice sturdy table, just needs some TLC. For a week or so, I looked at How-to blogs and had a few discussions with Andy. This was my first DIY home-project. Typically, those are left to Andy as his patience with projects is much more extensive (I just want to get them done; he does all the prep and the steps to do it correctly). I think we were both a little bit nervous about my undertaking, but that's okay! This is my friend who gave me the confidence to do this project! She refinished her coffee table (and LEGS), so we both worked and sanded each morning for a week while the kiddos ran around and ate Lucky Charms.

So, the first morning I was sanding, my mind wandered a bit. At that same moment in Utah, my Aunt Virginia was being buried. 3 of my siblings were at the funeral while I was across the country in Ohio, sanding a table. Aunt Virginia really deserves her own post, another day, but the majority of my memories of her have to do with sanding and wood-working projects. The smell and the sounds of the sander made me feel included in the celebration of her life. It was a neat experience, and I'm sure she was one of the angels helping me with this project!!!

Here is our finished, shiny, smooth kitchen table. It's beautiful! But, now the chairs and legs are looking a little bit shabby... It was a fun project, and I felt so accomplished when it was done. Andy did the finishing touches of the polyeurothane as the stink would have put me over the edge, and he's a bit more careful. :) Happy day! Now I move on to the next project....sewing!

Oh, yes, and many thanks to the men at Home Depot who were so patient with Emily and I as we asked lots of questions, especially to the man who told me to meet him at the paintbrushes while he got the steel-wool and gloves for me. I think I was waddling just a little bit that day...