The Apple Street Cottage

Behold, my newly refinished table - once again!  Yes, this is the second time this little beauty has been refinished. The table was originally refinished in 2013.  I carefully sanded, stained, and sealed it with polycrylic.  Everyone in blogland was singing the praises of polycrylic, so I thought I'd give it a try.  It went on great, clean-up was easy, and it dried quickly.   Win-Win, right?  WRONG!! After about a year and a half, I started noticing some wear on the edges of the table.  You know, the spot where people rest their arms?  As time went on, these spots actually started to feel a bit sticky and you could see them: It was really difficult to get a picture of them, but, if you look carefully where the arrows are pointing, you'll see dull spots in the finish.  We lived with it for a while, then I told my husband, "As soon as the weather gets nice, this table has a date with my sander!" Time for my full disclosure. ...

You know the story behind the best laid plans, right?  Well, this little bench fits it to a 'T'!   I found it in a little shop for $8 and since I needed a bench for my Dressing Table Makeover , it came home with me.    The legs didn't really match, but it was the right size and would do until I found the one I really wanted.   The seat was hot-glued on, so that popped right off, and s ince it had a ton of chippy paint I got out the Citristrip and started coating it.  I covered it in plastic wrap and left it overnight.   This is what it looked like in the morning when the plastic wrap came off: After some scraping and scrubbing, this is what I found: There looked like a possibility of decent wood to be refinished, so I gave it another coat of stripper: I did some sanding, and (I thought) it was ready to be finished. My Mistake! I grabbed the Tung Oil and started applying it to one of the legs.  Sadl...

This post may contain affiliate links. As usual, this find has a story that began late last Fall at a yard sale.  When we walked up the driveway, I recognized the man holding the sale. You see, I'd met Mike before - twice.  He does sales for other people and this one was no exception. My husband spotted him first and started to laugh.  When Mike looked up and saw me, my husband announced, "She's back!"   Mike responded with an unenthusiastic,  "I see that."  You see, I drive a hard bargain, my husband has even called me 'ruthless', but, I get good deals.  This day was no exception.....    I spotted this cabinet in the back of the garage and asked Mike how much he was asking for it.   He looked at me and asked, "How much are you thinking?" Dangerous question....The top wasn't even attached! My response?  "I want it for 5 bucks." He laughed.  I smiled! Long story short?  I picked up a few other items and ended up g...