Bedside Tables

We really like wood furniture.  We generally prefer dark wood finishes, but many of the second hand pieces we’ve found have had light finishes.  Thankfully, some patience, a sander, and some stain can solve this.

Recently, over the course of about a month, I refinished our bedside tables.  Previously, I refinished the coffee table and the living room end table.

The bedside tables started out a with a finish I’d describe as ‘honey colored’.

I quickly realized that my belt sander was not well suited to these tables.  So, I acquired a Black and Decker Mouse sander.  This little guy was much better suited to the job.  Also, you can clearly see the difference between the already sanded areas and the yet to be sanded parts.

It took a long time to strip off all the old finish.  Once the old finish was off, though, subsequent sandings went quite quickly.

Once the sanding was done, I started in on the stain.  I used the same stain I used on the coffee table and end table.  I think the color is ‘Espresso’.  I’ve gotten decent coverage — four pieces of furniture out of only one quart, and there’s still some left.

The color is especially striking above, when you compare the table with a coat of stain to the table that is still raw.

It took three or four coats of stain before I was satisfied with the color.

After I was happy with the stain, I applied the top coat.  I used a spray on, ‘satin’ finish.

And there you have it!

Holiday Decorations

I don’t like the weather this time of year (why can’t it rain only when I’m not trying to go anywhere?), nor do I like how early it gets dark, but I do love all the holiday lights and decorations.

For indoor decorations this year, we (read: Matt) hung blue and white LED icicle lights around the top of the dining room.  They really light up the room, and we hardly need other light in that room.

 

We also put up a Christmas tree.  Our Santa hat made a re-appearance as a tree-topper. It’s a great topper, because it covers up any goofy looking tree tops.  Our tree lights are also LEDs — we really like that they don’t get very hot and that they use less power.

For the outdoor decorations, we put a wreath on the door, lights around the front pillars, and light nets on the bushes.  We also replaced the bulbs in the porch light with one red and one green bulb.

The lights are actually so bright that we can see them from at least the end of the block.  They make it way easier to find our house.

We got Helo in on the Holiday action, too, with a holiday sweater.

And finally, we cleaned out the fireplace, & lit a fire today.  It’s pretty exciting to have a wood burning fireplace, instead of a gas one like at our last place.