Aged Perfection: Part 2

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UPDATE:
The Piano Tuner came... and then I cried! Bad news... way more costly to get it properly tuned than we had figured in or can afford. {Let me go cry some more}
So we did the only thing we could do. Sell it. It's gone.
This lovely set up is no more.

I sure hope the new owners can take good care of it. It's awesome.
On to the search for a piano again. Good bye lovely.

Aged Perfection Part 2!

(Here's Part 1)

I went for option 3! 
It's all finished. I have to admit it was the easiest choice. I love the natural distressing on it and preserving is pretty simple.

1) I used the foam sand blocks {Love the sand blocks!} to remove the chippy paint-you can see just how raised and chippy some of the paint was in the before pictures!

2) I wiped it clean of any dust and debris as best and quickly as I could.

3) Then I sealed it in with General Finishes flat clear top coat- 3 coats. It didn't even need sanding between coats. Sweet!

It just glided right on with the cheap craft foam paint brushes. I did rinse them out a couple of times during the process as there was some discoloration coming from the brush picking up the wood color and some inevitable left over dirt. 

The wood went so much darker and the surface is much smoother and set to be more durable now! I really love the dark and light contrast it has. 

A big 'Thanks' to General Finishes for the sample kit I received in the mail. I'm a believer in your top coats for sure! I have done waxing top coats, which aren't bad and have their place, but I don't like having to polish it up, I didn't have to with the GF top coat, at least not on this project. 

**I was given a free trial kit from General Finishes. I was not paid by General Finishes for any relating posts. All opinions expressed in this post are my own. 

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Aged Perfection Sings to me!

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Who loves natural aged perfection? And Pianos?! ME! 

I got lucky with this one. Within minutes after seeing it posted for sale I immediately got in touch with the seller and set up the arrangements to pick it up. Right after I did that, she got tons of offers higher than mine on it. So sad. But she was kind enough to let me know and I hurried down to check it out and paid a little bit more, which is totally ok because I love it. I loved it from the start. 

I'm lucky my husband wanted it too!

We've been searching for a piano so our children can learn to play for over a year! We just couldn't get to them before everyone else did. I wanted to know about the age of the piano so I got as much info as I could. The serial number inside the piano dated it back to 1986. Then when I saw it in person, there was another serial number on the music backing(where the music books sit) that did not match the inside. It dates back to 1940. That means someone rebuilt it. Pretty cool!

My first instinct was to just leave it as is. Then when I got there and looked closely, I saw it would need some help. The paint was is chippy and some pieces of wood are missing.

I went through a whole debate in my mind...  

1) Strip it completely and paint it?  

2)Lightly sand the chippy paint off the top and paint the rest? 

3) Or lightly sand it all and seal it in so that no more paint chips off?

Which do you think I chose?

Stay TUNED for the after shots!! Side NOTE: anyone know a good piano tuner in Southern Utah? 

I know I know, my jokes often fall FLAT... Oh I'm just killin myself here! Ha! Ok, I'm done. 

 {BTW my dining room set just took a backseat to this piano project.}

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Sneak Peak! Upcycled Dining Set.

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I'm seriously excited!!! 

I got an awesome surprise from General Finishes in the mail after a rather exhausting day!

{is it just me or are Fridays tough after making it through the rest of the week? Everyone seems to praise Friday's but my favorite day is Sunday!}

This totally made up for it though!

I have been doing lots of paint projects in the home lately. Remember my China hutch? Ya I still have one more to go. And my end tables? And my door? Oh and the trimming on my home! Yup I've been busy painting. But I also have this rather awesome dining set that I have been trying to decide exactly how I want it. It's got a design on top that I will enhance or just completely cover. {No going in between here} The base has great details that I want to for sure bring out. As for the chairs... I know how I want them, just have to find the right fabric for reupholstering them. That'll be a first for me too! 

I'll give you a hint on my design plan... Antique white an Seagull gray!

Thank you General Finishes for the sample box! 

Stay tuned for the After Shot! This will be my first time using milk paints. 
Ready to learn with me?

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To gel or not gel? Big question!

All of you fellow furniture DIYers know about the chalk paint phenomena(so amazing what that stuff can do) but do you know much about the gel stains yet? 

I've been researching gel stains a lot because:

1)My house is crawling with honey oak everything(the carpet even seems to be honey oak color).

2)We are on a budget and a full remodel is out of the question

3)My very talented sister told me about how gel stains are simple to use. Not much prep with fantastic results.

(and the buzz in furniture redo land is General Finishes gel stains are top notch)

What do ya'll think about their gels?

So for fun, I'm going to show you some of my chalk paint projects that are done and some projects that are patiently their turn for a fresh new look. You may recognize some of them.

Anyone recognize my chevron wall? Wow!! That was a good five days work and I love it! The shelves are made of old wood ski's and are painted with a creamy white chalk paint. That cute little bench was done with a lemony yellow chalk paint. I do love this part of my home!
Just need to get that antique rocking chair refreshed, haven't decided just the right look yet. My cute hanging basket thing needs better placement but until I figure that out, he's happy hanging out of reach from the little ones.

This is my entryway. Mirror Mirror on the wall, you are the prettiest of all my projects! LOVE my mirror that now matches my little yellow bech. The table was once a yucky oak color too... Thank you chalk paint for your help here... And some fabric covered inserts give it extra flair, I can switch 'em out when I want to.

TILE YOU MUST DIE... But not today.

This lovely dining set has so much character yet to be revealed. And OH look at that hutch!!! We were lucky enough to obtain these pieces with the purchase of home... Keep scrolling to drool even more...we have another hutch and two end tables(French provincial!!!) and even an entire bedroom set of French provincial furniture(not pictured) that we got with the home. Yes my heart skipped a beat when I saw the beauties and found out the owners were going to sell them anyway.

This is the big decision maker here, I really want to stain our kitchen floors and cabinets!!! I would LOVE TO SEE and hear tips on the best way to stain the floors. 

From all that I have read, cabinets are pretty easy to stain(yay!) which is good because this is the smaller portion of my kitchen cabinets. That tile needs some tlc too. 

The second China Hutch is my next project... Think a nice cool gray with a pop of color in the back and creamy white distressed hardware!!! Ahhh!

I'm also thinking of doing a shade of gray for the end tables-there are two-with a yellow top?? (And I am soo not referencing that grimey aweful terrible book that somehow is being made into a movie- scum of the earth I tell ya!) 

See that honey oak carpet I mentioned earlier?! Can I stain that?! LOL!!! 

So what do ya'll think? 

Stain at all or Stain it all?!! 

Moment of Honesty:

I LOVE MY HOUSE! My family is sooo beyond blessed to have what we have and I'm happy with many parts that guests may not be(it's all about loving what you got). I am not going to have all these projects done today or tomorrow but a plan will help get them started. Projects are also a HUGE stress reliever for me- gets my creative side going!

**Editors Note: my pictures were quick snap shots from my iPhone... no judging! :)

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