Pallet Wall, Part I

This is a wall in the mudroom of the stone house that I want to make... more interesting.  The plan is a wood wall, bench, and shelves.

I decided to go with a pallet wall.  Why not, I've never tried it before, this is as good a time as any :)  As I showed you in my last post, I stained up a few boards, but they just didn't have the variety of colour that I was hoping for.

I added some paint, and voila, this makes me smile!

I liked the technique enough to go ahead and start putting them on the wall. At the end of the day, I was a happy woman.

Today I finished it, and I LOVE it! Here are a couple of close ups.

And...the finished wall!

Three people have seen it, and three people like it,

What about you?  What do you think?

The next step is the bench, you know I love building benches. Tomorrow is going to be a good day, I get to build a bench, and the babies are coming for a visit! Woohoo! I'm going to be a happy Grammie MacGIRLver!

I'll Be Dreaming About Pallet Wood Tonight

I decided it was time to get started on a project that's been waiting for me since last summer. I was asked to make a pallet bench in memory of a very special co-worker that passed away last summer.  He was a very special guy and certainly deserves something nicer than pallets, but at the same time I think he would appreciate the simplicity.  It's not quite finished, but I couldn't wait to share.  This one's for you Tommy!  If I had a can of Budweiser, and if I drank, I would raise a can right now.

Lots of sanding involved when working with pallets.

I was so pleased at how nicely this saw was working, that I chose to cut by hand rather than use the saw in the picture. Unfortunately I got in trouble with my son as it is his saw and he only uses it for drywall, oops, the tables have turned my friends.

This is how far I got on day 1, I was pretty pleased, as it came together pretty well.

Of course I couldn't leave it like that as it wouldn't be very comfortable. This is how it looked at the end of day 2.

So today I finished sanding and got it stained, Staining was very time consuming! I actually wasn't very happy with it when I was done, I think the stain is too dark, but I think it looks better in the picture than in person.  I'm going to paint a little something on it to dedicate it to Tommy.

So while that is drying I moved on to the next project. I've been trying to decide what to do with this wall with the window.  I know that I want to add a bench and some shelves, but couldn't decide between reclaimed wood (hoarding that, hate to use it up), faux ship lap (didn't want to pay for it), and pallet wood.

I finally decided to use pallet wood so I broke down the rest of the pallets that I had on hand.  I stained them...

and...I didn't like the look of the stain.  It's been a bad day for stain.  So I got out the white paint and dry brushed some white paint onto them.  When the paint mixed with the stain it turned gray, which I did like.

I did put up a few pieces on the wall but I forgot to take a picture, so I guess you will just have to wait.  This project has just begun.  

So I hope Sterling's not having a bonfire tonight, I noticed he has a nice collection of pallets up behind the garden, already got in trouble with one kid this week, hope I don't get in trouble again, but I guess I'm gonna risk it ;)

Don't Let Floral Upholstery Make You Blue

Wow, I can't believe how long it's been since I wrote my last post!  Time sure flies now that I'm retired. Life has changed since my last post, I'm a Grandma now, to two beautiful little babies, twins, a boy and a girl.  They are the most wonderful thing that has happened to me since I had my own children.

I've been wanting to try painting an upholstered chair for a long time. My friend Toni talked to me about reupholstering her wing back chair. It was in good shaped, but was outdated and didn't suit her new house. I thought about it, but it used to belong to her Mom, and had sentimental value, and since I've never done anything that complicated, I was afraid of messing it up. Besides, if I don't have time to write a post I sure don't have time to reupholster a chair of that size.

Oops! I guess I forgot to take a picture before I started painting it with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint.

Well, you get the picture.

She quite liked it with only one coat of paint, but when it dried it looked blotchy.

Here it is with the second coat, I can't find the picture of it once we waxed it, but it came out a little darker than this.  You can still see the pattern, but not the colour coming through.

This is not a perfect solution for all upholstery needs as it is quite stiff, but we saved a chair that just didn't fit anymore, and she loves the way it looks.  It is a chair in a spare room so doesn't really get used, but looks a whole lot better than it used to.

 What do you think, would you have the nerve to paint an upholstered chair?