Aging the Window & Adding the Wallpaper

Even though the building of the table did not work out last night, that did not stop me! I got down on my hands & knees and spent the rest of the evening scraping & sanding the window to get the final, aged look. The stained wood and bits of white paint ended up looking really great showing through in the worn areas! And finally – my other favorite part of this project – I cut out the ceiling tile wallpaper to fit in the window panels. Yes, I was squealing with joy when I placed them onto the window. So exciting to see it getting close to completion! I still need to get 8 glass pieces cut to fit inside the panels to weigh down the wallpaper and protect it.. that will have to wait until next week unfortunately as I will be out of town this weekend.

My handyman is in the process of going to pick up the drill we forgot at his place last night – so we can get the “pilot holes” (as i’ve learned they are called) drilled and put the screws in the right way this time. So, here’s hoping that by the time I get off work I will come home to a fully built, beautiful window-turned-coffee table!

Aging the Window

 

I was lucky enough to have a tall, dark & handsome elf working away on the old window today while I was at work.. he finished up the sanding and got the stain on. When I got home I couldn’t believe how great it looked! We purposefully left some of the original white paint on it to give an aged look – and the stain dirtied it up wonderfully. Tomorrow morning before work, I’ll be putting on a cheerful coat of teal paint on top of this. After work, we’ll be getting it all built together and then do the final sanding to show some of the aged wood thru the teal. Can’t wait!

 

We Can Do It!

This morning we made one final trip to Lowe’s to pick up some sandpaper… then strapped on some goggles and masks and were ready to go! I decided to throw in a side project and sand down an old desk I’ve been meaning to refinish for some time now… which took up a bit more time than I thought it would. So, the desk got mostly done – but we’ve still got some more sanding to do on the old window to get all the white paint off her. Going to leave a bit of the white paint in-tact.. as we’ll be sanding through the layers to create an aged look at the end.

I cut some pieces of the faux ceiling tile wallpaper to test how I want to arrange them in the panels… I’m leaning towards the version that has one floral piece centered in the middle of the panel. Tonight I’ll be staining the legs and pieces to build the frame underneath the window.. and tomorrow we will finish sanding and get the window stained. Tuesday we’ll be putting it altogether and doing final paint touch-ups, sanding, and sealing Wednesday!

Did I mention I am in love with this project? I love working with my hands – have done it a lot with sculpture and ceramics… but never really had the space or equipment to do much building or wood-working. (still don’t have the space – but my tiny patio does ok! As for the equipment – much thanks to Lowe’s who will cut your wood for free, and to friends for letting me borrow other stuff I need!) It’s so much fun to give something old a new life too. I could really get into this!

 

Even MORE good fortune!

Don’t you just love when things just sort of land in your lap at the right time? Thanks to some cleaning out at work – I was able to snag an old door earlier this week from our warehouse – which I posted a picture of in my last post. Sadly, it was a little too large for the coffee table project I want to do. On Friday, the group at work that is in charge of creating store window displays for all our retail locations was clearing out some things. I was lucky to find an old window they were getting rid of. It’s much closer to the size I need for a coffee table. Best of all – it saved me a trip to the salvage yard and the money to buy an old door or window for this project!

I also acquired some great tin ceiling tiles from a friend at work. These are going to be used for another project I’ve got up my sleeve for the bedroom. Thanks a bunch Becky!