Electric side table

I had a dilemma.  When sitting in the chair in my living room, I have no where to plug in my lamp, phone or laptop that doesn't stretch across a walk way that is a) going to throw one of my kids on the floor when they run past without paying attention or b) jerk the lamp, laptop or phone off whatever surface it is on and send it smashing to smithereens on the floor. The plug I normally use is right behind that box of cars.  You can see why it's not safe to plug anything in there.

I just refinished a table to replace my old side table and I needed to be able to plug in whatever I wanted to plug in without having to unplug it every time the kids are playing.  So, I had the bright idea to put a power strip underneath the edge of the table so anything can be plugged in without causing a problem.

I went to ACE (the closest hardware place) but couldn't find a power strip with a flat plug (because I wanted to plug it into the plug that's under the rug in my living room - I was trying to eliminate cords stretched out anywhere that makes them a trip hazard), so I just got a regular extension cord with a flat plug.  I also got some white zip ties and some heavy duty double stick foam tape.

 

 

I plugged in the extension cord and ran the cord under the rug over to the table.  Then I double stick taped (is that a phrase?) the plug in end of the cord under the edge of the table and zip tied the cord to the leg.  Now everything is neat and orderly and most of all hazard mostly hazard free!  

This is the view from my chair:

Go forth and be creative!

faux silver leaf side table tutorial

What is faux silver leaf you ask? Aluminum foil, of course! :)

I picked up this table a while back for a steal!



and I wanted it to look like an old, worn out, well used, industrial table. Here's what it looks like now:



So here's a little tutorial for you.

Supplies:

table
spray paint (or paint of choice) I used Barn Red
foil - I've read some tutorials that call for heavy duty. I prefer the thin cheap stuff because it acts more like silver leaf.
modpodge

Step 1: Turn table upside down and spray paint the legs and any part that won't be covered in foil. I didn't get a picture of the table upside down and me painting it, you get the idea though, right? Here it is after it's painted and dry ready to be foiled!


Step 2: tear foil into little squares. For this table I used the tearing strip on the foil box, but since then I've just used a straight edge to tear the foil so you don't have to deal with the teeth marks. Tear a lot. Then tear a few more just in case. I just tore the strips in half for this table top. For a smaller project I'd tear them smaller - maybe 4x4. These were around 6x6.






Step 3: Start applying the modpodge in one corner and laying your foil down making sure to overlap the edges of the table.


I folded my corners nicely, like this:


Step 4: Continue adding glue and overlapping until the table is covered. You'll have to add modpodge on top of some foil so the overlapped piece will stick down.




Here's where I didn't take pictures. {sorry!} I repeated this whole process on the shelf as well. When the entire table was done and dry (a couple days later) I started the 'aging' process. Now, keep in mind I didn't do any research on any of this I was just flying by the seat of my pants. So, I poured some modpodge in a little bowl and added a little walnut wood stain. Sounds super intelligent, right? Exactly. It was...weird.

The stain sits on top of the modpodge (in the bowl) and I just went with it. I applied it like I would wax a piece of furniture. I got a rag and an old paint brush. I would get stain with a little modpodge on it and slop it on. Then very quickly I would use my brush to push it all around where I wanted it to be. If there was too much, I rubbed harder and not enough I did it again. I did this over all the foil on the piece and then when it was all dry I went over all of it with hard coat modpodge. I basically used the modpodge to 'hold' the stain where I wanted it to be then I let it dry.

That's it. Here's how it looks finished - again:





Enjoy!

End tables with spunk

In an earlier post I promised to show the end tables that went with the damask coffee table.

Here they are:

And here they are in all their glorious beforeness (is that a word? I don't think so but we'll just pretend :)


Here's the hidden spunk. A nice pull out shelf in glorious hot pink! The table bases were painted in Annie Sloan's graphite and the tops were whitewashed with a mix of old white and water, then graphite and water to tone it down just a little. I thought the hot pink (Rustoleum) would add just a nice splash of color without being too in your face.


Unless, of course, you pull them out :)


Add some color to your life and enjoy!