Help Me Paint A Thrifty Craigslist Table

Howard and I are Sunday-driving to a
charming lakeside village, where we're going
to take a gander at this table, below.

And I think it's a pretty safe bet that this table, below,

will be coming home to That Old House in the back of the minivan.

For the past month, I've been assiduously cruising Craigslist

for a cheap bargain coffee table, big and sturdy, for our study.

Which has been without coffee table convenience

since Anne moved out, and took hers with her.

Anne's architect chest, AKA coffee table.

No luck with the coffee table search until Friday, when lightning struck, and that

cute, cottage-y, kitschy, scallop-y, chunky coffee table stood up and said, "Pick me!"

So we did.

 Now, what color should we paint it? 

The sturdy study upholstery is a very printed cotton tapestry,

furniture we bought in 2001 for its dog-and-teenager-proof qualities.

And it has stood up to dogs, kids, and grownups very well over the years.

Loads of colors.  Gold, brown, black, red, other red, rust,

pale green, dark green, weird blue, and a bit of a purplish color,

but I don't know what you'd call it.

Then there's the rug.  Similar colors, only paler.

"Stop looking at me!

You think I want to wear this stupid dress?"

I initially was thinking dark red (mostly because I

already have some dark red paint), but then I thought,

No, let's make it green to blend in 

with the room, which also has green walls.

And I already have green paint.

Howard, in the study in his favorite spot ... and I have leftover wall paint in a Sherwin Williams
green that I cannot remember the name of and will have to find the can and hope the label is still
legible ... because the wall color may make a nice table color, too, with a poly finish over it.

So, whatcha think?

Green?  Red?  Gold?  Plaid?

No, seriously -- what do you think would be a good color for this table?

(It's kind of a dark room.)

And ... should I decoupage the top because -- yes -- I already have some Mod Podge?

Have a gorgeous Sunday, my friends.

It is crazy, crazy windy here, and a few loose shutters keep

scaring the life out of me by banging on the house.

I'm glad it's not Halloween tonight!

The leaves are flying off the trees.  Goodbye, chlorophyll!

-- Cass

Getting Our Beachy On

For the second weekend in a row,
Howard and I had a working weekend
out at the beach house.

While our neighbors were doing this:

Fishing!

We were watching paint dry.  After we'd put it on. 

Last weekend we put beadbaord wallpaper

on the kitchen dado:

Howard, with supervisor Dion keeping watch.

"Raw" beadboard paper under chair rail.

 This weekend, it got its first coat of Moore's Rich Cream:

At least one thing didn't change; the supervisor

still thinks the best place to nap is alongside freshly painted walls.

This wallpaper looks amazingly like the real deal.

We decided to paint the chair rail the same color as the wall, to further open up the narrow kitchen.

I think it helped, and it has a lovely old fashioned look now.

Mostly this weekend, we painted furniture. 

Chairs with Windsor-y backs are very fiddly to paint, and so are end tables with spindles.

Most pieces now have a primer and first and second paint coats, but will need 3rd coats to be finished nicely.

Nothing is completely done, except a few of Howard's projects.

He went to town with spray paint and even did a few baskets in crisp white.

You can see where our interests lie.  This basket is full of menus.

I was Brush Lady, which means I got to do all the fiddly bits.

We had painting projects on the deck, in the garage, in the house, on the lawn . . . .

"What?  What???  I did my spraying; is it my fault you are working with primitive tools?"

In the pictures below, there are some befores, and some "not-yet-afters," as it's all a work in progress.

We left some furniture on folded drop cloths when we went home;

we're not taking any chances of tacky legs marking the new carpeting.

Before pictures -- from 2009.

 And some In-Progress pictures from Sunday evening.

Time to leave; it's late enough to avoid traffic.

Howard takes off for that last check-the-perimeter trip,

making sure all is locked, secured, unplugged, turned off . . . .

Let's not forget the trash!

It will travel 132 miles from eastern Long Island,

to be dumped in a New Jersey trash can.
Is it just me, or does that sound like a Mob hit?

***********************************************************************

Another of our neighbors went fishing Sunday evening at Plum Gut (for you Long Islanders out there),

and hauled up dozens of bluefish.  He gave us two huge bags of fish -- that he'd already cleaned and filleted right on the dock!

Thank you, Charlie.

Confession: It was not all work and no play. We did take a little time on Sunday for a drive;

the weather was spectacular and irresistible.  The East End of Long Island was jammed with tourists
out to pick pumpkins, taste wine, buy mums -- it was not this busy in midsummer.

("If it's Tourist Season, Why Can't We  Shoot Them?")

This, below, just cracked me up.

Corn?  Maze?  Maize?  So it's a Corn Corn, or a Maize Maze or . . . .

Okay, it's official:  I'm a total dork.  -- Cass

Link Parties

Mosaic Monday at Little Red House.  Click here.

Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps On The Porch.  Click here.

At The House In The Roses, it's Show Off Your Cottage Monday.  Click here!

Visit Smiling Sally for Blue Monday.   Click here!