today I would like to share our Ikea coffee table makeover with you. Like I told you my husband was holding on to this with his dear life :) He had purchased the table in Germany and if I had to make a psychological analysis I would say that he is clinging on to it as it was part of the first pieces of furniture he bought for his very own first apartment and it reminds him of his life as a bachelor :) Of course he does not admit that my assumptions are true. I've heard some smart people say marriage is all about compromises, so I caved and let him keep his precious coffee table if he would let me put my touch on it. When it comes to color and design in our home he completely trusts my style and taste so he let me have artistic freedom :)
Here is a before picture
And another one of it in our living room. Personally I would have liked to get a coffee table that is a little wider and lower to fill out the space better.
This is the after picture after we ripped out the carpet and painted the walls (see Sitting Room Makeover Post).
I sanded down the top of the table to bring out the gorgeous wood (I believe it's pine?) Not sure if I was imagining things, but the sawdust smelled just like my uncle's carpenter shop in Germany. I wonder if "German pine" smells different or something :) I have sanded plenty different types of wood while in the States and I have to say none of them had THAT scent... call me crazy...
I decided on a light whitewash on top to show the beautiful grain of the wood. I only did two layers to make sure it would not be too overwhelming. Here's a picture where you can see the slight difference. The wood is already very light so it is not a huge difference.
This picture was after one layer of whitewash. I did one more just to deepen it a little bit and sealed it with wax. As for the bottom I was wanting to do a whitewash as well over the darker wood but ended up painting it solid white in order for the top to be the focal point.
It was a lot of work to paint all six cubbies of the table and I am so glad to be done with it :)
yay, finally back in the living room on our brand new jute rug. I was hesitant to put a rug anywhere downstairs again after our cat had messed up our carpet which was the main reason we got rid of it. These sisal/jute rugs have a very strong "natural/earthy" smell as their made from plants so sure enough my fears where not without reason and I caught my cat getting in position to make it its new bathroom. I was able to interfere just in time to stop a catastrophe about to happen (once it's done there is never a way to entirely get the smell out). My husband had the brilliant idea to put his food bowl on top of the rug for a while. It worked!! I was so happy as I was not ready to say goodbye to the rug and wasted money already :)
I'm pretty happy with the new changes in our sitting room and enjoy hanging out there even more now. You have to get yourself a little sanctuary in your house where you feel most comfortable, whether it is a little sitting area by a window, your bedroom or wherever you feel like you can just relax for a second and take a break :) Hope you enjoyed, and I'm leaving you with one last picture of the entire room and am off to less enjoyable things than my blog (business calculus homework, yikes!)
