Rocking Away

OK - I am not even going to try to make excuses for how long it has been since I blogged.  But hopefully I am getting into the swing of my new schedule and can dedicate some time here.

First change of schedule is that I have Grandson every Wednesday afternoon until bedtime.  I love that time with him - but it is amazing how much that one day can throw your whole schedule off!! 

Youngest daughter just this week got her college schedule correct and is on her routine.  Having one person in this family off schedule can really through us all off!!

And then finally I have this bizarre January ritual of doing deep cleaning that no one will ever notice except me.  I have steamed cleaned grout and baseboards and the carpet that hides under baseboards - among a few other dozen strange but true projects.  I have even taken all the kitchen drawers out to clean the runners.  Definitely not blog worthy activities!!

I have been trying to stick to my self imposed budget.  It is going rather well...for me.  The rest of my family has not embraced my philosophy yet.  But they are trying - well sort of. 

That being said I have been scrounging around the house for free projects - or at least low cost.  I was in the attic and spied something I had totally forgotten about for years.  When I had my oldest daughter my mom gave me a really small rocking chair that had been my Nonnie's.  It is not a child's rocker, but a very small adult chair.



The poor old chair has been in our attic for about 18 years and was not in the best of shape when it went up there.  My family is from the south - the very humid south.  Much of the old furniture is warped if its wood or rusted if its metal.  There were no air conditioners back in the day to keep moisture out of the home.  And to add insult - my Nonnie lived on a lake.

Of course there are also battle wounds on the poor old girl from about 80 years of kids, moves, and attics

I tore the poor old girl down.



Which unfortunately was rather easy because all the hardware had rusted

These went into a vinegar bath and then were scrubbed with a tooth brush to remove the rust. 

I was unable to break the chair down much farther than that.  It was held together by pegs and I was scared I would damage it beyond repair.

I gave the actual chair a light sanding and sanded the seat and rockers down to the bare wood.  I then let wood oil soak in over night because the wood was so incredibly dry.

The seat and rockers received a couple of coats of dark walnut and matte finish poly.  The chair itself is off-white.

Taa Daaa!!!  What a fun week-end project.  And it fits perfectly in the guest bedroom. And I think Nonnie would totally approve!

 I just cannot believe that as many family babies that have been rocked in this chair - I forgot to get it out to rock my grandson - AUGH!!  Well - now she is ready for the next grandchild!  (Oh and my girls - if you are reading this, no rush!!)

Until next time

Happy DIY'ing

Susan


linking up

Armoire and Excuses

Yes I realize I have been very absent.  I was really feeling terribly guilty until I checked in on a few of the blogs I follow and several bloggers were so overwhelmed with the craziness of this time of year that they are taking time off blogging until after Christmas.

I have been very busy with family, activities and projects.  Woo hoo - projects are getting done!!!  I will post on several of them in the next few days.

The first one is not technically a project... yet.  I have seen several armoire make overs all over blogland.  So many bloggers talked about finding great deals on armoires on Craigslist.  So I began scouring Craiglist looking for a really cheap one for the master bedroom.  Honey likes having a tv in there - yuck!!  So we have had an exposed tv for quite a while.  Since I am slllloooowwwlly working on the bedroom I thought an armoire would be perfect.  I finally found a really good deal on one - woo hoo.  Most people still wanted way too much.

When we went to look at the one I found - I was really disappointed.  It was in sad,sad shape, was not wood or any form of wood, and someone had drilled holes in the sides of it to run cords through.  Bummer. But in the same garage I saw this one

She was just about to list this one too.  Since we had driven over a couple of cities she sold us this one for $100.  Woo hoo!!!!  This is huge and all wood!!  I am not crazy about the color, but I am not doing much about that yet.  Not until I decide what to do about the rest of the furniture.

All I have done is touch up a ton of small scratches and put on/buff off some paste wax.  It looks great!!

This one shows the detail of the inlay on the bottom doors - swoon

These show some of the other details on this monster. 

Oh and since we had to move the majorly heavy dresser that was originally on this spot, my bedroom walls are finally all painted!!

Now I just need one of the furniture gurus on blogland to come be my personal shopper and find the rest of the bedroom furniture!! 

I promise I will try to do better blogging.  Not only is it the crazy holiday time of year, this is the time of year that we are swamped at work.  Some days I barely make it to the couch to collapse!!

Until next time
Happy DIY'ing
Susan