If I had to put a number on it, about 70% of the furniture in my apartment was acquired because my parents or another family member was throwing it out, 19% is stuff I borrowed from my parents for a party and then failed to give it back, 10% were garbage picked “treasures” and then 1% was purchased off of Craigslist. I’m not lying!! Ok, wait, I did lie. I have one couch that was purchased from CostPlus World Market. You can reconfigure the math but I hope you get the full mental picture that I live in a Salvation Army store. On one hand, this is awesome because almost everything I “inherited” was free, but on the other, some looks a little worn. I decided a fun summer project would be to redo the outdoor furniture so my yard can be a little more HGTV and a little less “apartment hobo.” (Which is a real term for an apartment yard that consists of concrete, weeds, a paint-peeling deck and an “eclectic” grouping of old yard furniture.) If you check out the before, you’ll notice that both the table and couch had the lovely dull sheen of weather beaten wood that can only be accomplished by sitting in the Chicago sun and rain for an entire decade.
After my six stage process (for each piece mind you) of sanding, staining, staining again, polyurethaning (not really a verb but it should be because it’s definitely an action), sanding and polyurethaning one last freaking time, I was finally finished. Here is how they turned out…
Even though I spent a good majority of my time in the garage cursing and sweating, I was so happy with how everything turned out. Plus, it only cost me (ha, I say me but I really mean the boyfriend because he bought it for me) $30 for the stain, sandpaper and Poly. Not too shabby. And since I am a firm believer in “Whaaat?! You’re selling 20 blue Mason Jars for $10 ?! I have no idea where I will use them but I will take them!” my little centerpiece only cost me around $10. ($1.50 for the jars, $6 for the flowers and $2 for the Citronella candle. Everything else seen is stuff I had from a different yard sale purchase and I don’t remember how much I paid for them.) LOVE IT!
Now, I will leave you so I can make myself a shandy and hang out on my new deck furniture!!
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