Mosaic Top End Table (and ukulele storage!)

I'm finally writing about this project I build last spring!

I posted it on instagram way back when I finished it and said "someday" I'd get back to blogging... 29 weeks later, here we are!

table/ukulele shelves for our living room! Based loosely on @fixthisbuildthat 's shoe shelf plans. (Thanks, Brad!) First time combining gray and dark brown in a single piece and I kind of love it. :) - and the table top was so much fun to cut with my miter saw! Someday I'll blog it, but this will do for now! ;) #ryobination #kregjig #obsessiveconstructive

A photo posted by Obsessive Constructive Designs (@obsessiveconstructive) on Jun 23, 2015 at 6:14pm PDT

So, as you may know, my husband has a touch of Ukulele Acquisition Syndrome. Do you know anyone afflicted with this? (Symptoms include responding to the question, "How many ukuleles do you need?" with "One more.")  His condition led to the clutter problem we started having last year which led to the creation of the ukulele hanger that has become so popular on my Etsy shop! 

Well, the uke hangers (yes, we have multiple now...) are great when he actually hangs the ukes, but in the dry winter, he keeps them in cases with humidifiers over night. So the clutter problem reappeared, this time with cases on the floor.

And we wanted an end table. ;)

Enter this modification of a shoe shelf posted on FixThisBuildThat.com.  I altered the plans slightly for size and skipped the step of making the shelf adjustable. Construction was pretty straight forward and using my Kreg jig for pocket holes made it easy (and strong!). You can see the pocket holes on the top waiting for the table top! 

If I had been smart, I would have waited to put that shelf in until after I had attached the top - it was a little challenging getting my drill in there at the end! I did think ahead enough, though, to stain the inside at this point. I used Weathered Gray stain by Varathane. I love this stain - wipe on, wipe off the excess, done! I also applied a coat of Varathane's Triple Thick poly since the cases would be sliding in and out a lot. I love this stuff too! It goes on thick and is very forgiving (not as many worries about bubbles, etc, like regular poly.) One coat of that and I was back to work!

Next, I attached the legs and framing pieces. I made the these sit up slightly higher than the top of the plywood sides to be able to conceal the edges of the table top later.

For the outside of the table, I used a layered stain technique. Sadly I don't have a picture of this part, but I'll do my best to explain the process. First, I stained the whole thing with Dark Walnut. Then, working quickly, I used a paper towel to wipe on a small amount of Weathered Gray and immediately wipe it back off. I worked in small sections so that the gray stain didn't have much time to penetrate the wood. I've used this technique on other pieces and just love the dimensional color it can give. 

Now it was on to the fun part! I had been eyeing different kinds of planked table tops and decided to give it a try, but with a mosaic-like design. To start, I measured and cut the first 3 pieces of my 1x4 board. I laid them out on the plywood base I had cut to fit the table. It was fun playing with my Ryobi miter saw to get the angles I needed! I love this saw!

I didn't have too much of a plan for this part, so I just cut pieces to fit as I went along.

Already in love!

And then onto staining! I used all Varathane stains - Dark Walnut, Weathered Gray, Vintage Blue, and Sunbleached. On most of the planks, I washed over them with a layer of the gray to get the tone I was going for. (The blue especially - you can see how bright it is in the can, but how muted it looks on the table.)

I laid them all out and then went through with wood glue and a couple of strikes on each plank from my Ryobi Airstrike Nail Gun. (swoooon....)

I was so happy with it at this stage that I just kept taking pictures. :)

Once it was all together, I realized that the edges of the boards on the table top did not all line up perfectly with the side framing pieces. A couple of them were just a little short. Now, I know this will surprise everyone (ahem), but this drove me crazy. And made me angry. Like a lot.

Eventually I came up with a solution. I decided to line the outside of the top with pieces of 1/2"x2"... BUT I didn't have any in at the moment... BUT I did have the large paint stir sticks from Home Depot... and they're basically the same size... so yeah. The (no longer a) secret is that the top of my end table is lined with sanded paint stir sticks. ;) We'll call it being resourceful. I stained them to match, glued and nailed them on, and brought the whole thing in!

(from this angle you can see the bottom skirt piece that I forgot to attach..oops!)

Once it was inside, I protected the top with multiple layers of triple thick poly - I especially wanted to be sure that the cracks between the planks were full. If (when) a drink gets spilled on this at some point, I would hate to have the liquid seep between them and ruin the table!

Here it is loaded up! We finally have an end table! And the cases are off the floor! Hooray!

Thanks for reading! 

Check out my Instagram and let me know if there's a project you'd like me to write up next! I have a lot of catching up to do! :) 

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Feature Friday!! - Shannon's Fireplace Makeover

My friend Shannon is one of the people who, maybe without knowing it, inspired me to take on projects around the house once we owned our own place! She is a handywoman extraordinaire and has done a lot of work around her house - I love seeing her projects! Women with power tools rock!

This time she tackled her green tile fireplace with some chalk paint. She says:

I guess some people like a green marble fireplace...but not me.  It just stuck out like a sore thumb against my surrounding decor.  I wasn't sure I wanted to tile over it so I started looking for an easier and cheaper solution.  This came in the form of Annie Sloan chalk paint.  I went online and found a store that would mail some to me since there weren't any stores nearby that offered it. 

This is my old (I consider ugly) marble fireplace.  I first cleaned it with a simple solution of water and Dawn to get all the soot and grease off the marble.

Items used for project:  I used Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in French Linen.  I ordered two of the 4oz trial sizes which covered the fireplace in two coats with half of one bottle left over.

This is the fireplace after one coat.  Still a little streaky.  Supposedly, the chalk paint normally needs only one coat.  This was my first time using this paint and I believe it would work but with the slickness of the marble, I think it required two coats of paint.

This is the fireplace after two coats. I then applied two coats of Annie Sloan Soft Wax. (Also ordered online.)

This is the finished product about 2 months after completion. I love the end product.  And I would do it again.  It does have a few scratches which can easily be touched up but it was a much easier and cheaper than pulling out the old marble or tiling over it.  

Beautiful, Shannon! It looks great! Thanks so much for sharing! 

Happy Friday everyone!

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Cube End Table

It's hard to believe that, with all of the furniture and accessories I've bought at Ikea over the years, this is my first "Ikea Hack." And it's made from Lack tables - so I get to call it a "Lack Hack" ... and that's just fun.

Lack Hack.

 ... Sometimes it's the small things that amuse me.

Anyway, I saw versions of this table one day when I was looking around on Pinterest. Apparently it's a hack of a West Elm table that they used to sell for $150!

I love the modern look of the table and I like the way it works in our living room.

And it was so easy!

I only needed:
   2 Ikea Lack tables
   A little bit of Liquid Nails glue
   15 minutes
   A little bit of patience

Want to make one too? Here's all I did:

1. Unpack the Lack tables and assemble one of them according to the quintessential wordless directions.

2. Lay the other table top on the ground so that the colored side is facing up.

3. Flip the assembled table and apply some Liquid Nails. It's probably best if you apply it in fun patterns, obviously.

4. Carefully flip the table and position squarely on the other table top. Don't worry about getting it perfect right away. The benefit of the Liquid Nails over super glue is that it doesn't adhere immediately. You can slide the legs around a bit to get them in the right places and then just wipe up the excess glue within 20 minutes.

5. Apply some weight on the table to keep the legs in place while the glue sets.

That's it! And now I have 4 more pretty table legs to do something with. I love this color and am excited to find something fun do do with the legs! Any ideas? 

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