Nobody Likes a White Ring

We have this little drop leaf table that belonged to the Husband's grandparents.  The finish is a bit worn and the veneer is chipped in a few places but it still functions. We had been using it as a bedside table in our former guest room and are planning to use it as a temporary desk in the new office during the Big Move.  There was a little something extra about the table that I couldn't ignore any longer.

If you look past my super-bad photography, you can see the big water stain on one end.  I'm so embarrassed that I've had guests that have used the table in this shape (Sorry Mom and Dad!)  I don't even know how it got there or how long ago it happened.  Here's a closer view.

Definitely not pretty.  Then I remembered reading about a quick and easy solution to the problem involving an iron (as in, I hate to do laundry and I never iron).  After a little googling around for confirmation I decided to give it a try. 

Using a dry pillowcase and the iron set to a medium-low temp and no steam, I ironed over the affected area for 10 seconds or so at a time, lifting the pillowcase to check the spot until it completely disappeared.  It was pretty amazing.

The finish on the table is still worn but the spot is gone!!  I can't believe I waited this long to take care of it.  Now, does anyone have any tips for making the finish look better?  We are planning to use it as a defacto partners desk until we find a better/bigger solution.

I've already moved into my half the desk.  The work has only begun though.  Workbench has already been disassembled and painting will (hopefully) happen this weekend.  Progress is slow but steady.  It's going to be great when we get everything done.  Now I can check de-waterspotting the table off my to-do list. 

A New Favorite

Source: burtsbees.com via Aimee on Pinterest

Over the weekend I had to run some errands.  While I was in Target I decided to treat myself to a little something and discovered my new favorite thing:  Burt's Bees Tinted Lip Balm in Red Dahlia.  I love this stuff!  It feels amazing and makes your lips feel so soft.  There's also just the right amount of color too.

I swear this isn't an advertisement I just wanted to share a little something that's making me happy.  Okay, now back to work and the chaos!   

In Progress: Another Kitchen

Thought I'd share another kitchen I've been working on.  It's not close to being finished but I thought you might enjoy a little peak at the work as it's being installed. I also think it's good to see the progress of something.  It takes time and effort.  It's more than just the pretty picture in the end.  I like to show the not always pretty work in-between too.

Here's the before.  The client wanted more light in her dark little kitchen.  She was looking for something clean and streamlined with a few industrial touches.

 Before:  sink wall

Before: ovens wall

Here's a little preview of what's to come in terms of materials and finishes.

And here's the progress that's been made so far. 

 in progress: sink wall

construction by DesignLine Home Transformations

The layout didn't change a lot but we did open up the sink wall with more windows for a lot more light - so much better!

in progress: oven walls

construction by DesignLine Home Transformations

We also relocated the Refrigerator to this wall to allow for more counter and window space.  This is a much more functional arrangement than she had before.

Now I saved the best for last.  My very talented client found this amazing piece that she's going to use as her island/worktable in the center of the room.

I LOVE this I can't wait to see it all come together.

Happy Friday everyone!

We're Moving!

 Atlanta Homes and Lifestyles via Blueprint Bliss

Well, sort of....Several weeks ago the Husband and I were talking about the house which led to a conversation about our dream house.   But talking about the future "perfect" house let us talk about ways we could achieve some of those goals with the home that we already have. Though it's not perfect, the house we have now is ours and I don't think we'll be going anywhere any time soon.  After a lot of thought I came up with a plan to rearrange half the rooms in the house (I even drew up plans because I'm that kind of dork!) and spent the next couple of weeks trying not to overwhelm my Sweet Husband with all the work that lay before us. 

Check out this graphic I made to help demonstrate the plan:

We are moving the music room downstairs so that the Husband doesn't have to lug his bass up and down the stairs on an almost daily basis when he has a gig.  The rarely used guest room is moving into our tiny shared office because something that is only used 2 or 3 times a year should not be taking up that much real estate.  And finally, the office is moving upstairs into the old music room spot for more space and happily more sunlight (yay!) 
The other brilliant part of this plan is that these rooms hadn't really ever been finished, meaning that we hadn't already spent a lot of time and money to make them functional as well as fashionable.  As I have mentioned on many occasions here on the blog, I wanted to install shelving in the office and have somehow managed to do that for more than a year now.  I had even taken the step of buying shelf brackets last month but I just couldn't seem to finish the job.  Now I know that I was just waiting for the perfect plan to come along! 
We'll be living in a bit of chaos for awhile but I'm really excited about how everything is working out. 

Which stone?

The Husband and I have several projects in the works for our overall Outdoor Improvement Plan.  One of the projects is to add stone mulch to the back of the house.  There isn't a lot going on in our back yard currently.  We spend almost all of our outdoor time sitting on our front porch, which we love.  In the back though there's an odd mix of mulch and grass/weeds, especially around the HVAC units.  We hope to tidy it up a bit with some stone.  I ran into the stone yard one day last week and picked up the samples pictured.  We laid them out to see how each of them looked with the house (brick foundation and siding) and the surroundings (lots of trees.) 

I know which ones I like and which one works best for our situation.  Which one do you like?

My Mama

Happy Mother's Day to my sweet Mama.  I haven't seen her since Christmas and I miss her so very much.  I am happy to say that will all be together again on Friday when my little sister graduates from nursing school.  My little sister is the baby in the picture which makes me the one with all the curls.

The above picture was taken in November 1976 by my Aunt Janie in my Grandmommie's kitchen at the farm in Rugby, VA.  To be more precise we were on the Davenport which I always thought that was what the room was called but found out during design school that davenport is another word for sofa.

I would also like to add that I have the best Mom I could possibly imagine and that I am a very lucky girl indeed.

MCP Project: 52 {week 15, 16, 17, 18}

Okay, so I'm a bit behind.  Let's catch up.  I'll start with this week and work backwards.  This week's theme (week 18) was "first thing in the morning." 



The Puppy is always the last to get out of bed.  To be fair, I'm the next to last one out of bed.  I'm not a morning person either!  The Puppy has been known to stay in bed looong after it was decent.  She's like a teenager that can't look at the sun before noon.  Actually, that's not quite true.  If you open the shade for her she can spend the day monitoring all she commands (and some that she doesn't!) from her perch looking out the window.  If there were only a sunny spot to lay in life would be perfect.

Week 17's theme was "princess for a day" in honor of that big wedding that we all watched (or maybe not).  I like to call this Princess for a Day/ Queen of the chicken yard.  This is my niece and one of her favorite chickens, Wendy (or it could be Dottie, the kids are way better and telling them a part!)  Sister can correct me if I missed it.  I love visiting with my sister for lots of reasons but one little benefit is getting sent home with the best, freshest eggs when there's enough to share.  Also, if you've ever paid attention to my header banner you know that the chicken is the official mascot of the Functional Space.  They are function and fashion all in one package.

 

Week 16's theme was "Furry Friends".  It was taken during our spring break getaway in South Carolina.  We had beautiful weather and lots of great time on the beach.  This is my Father-In-Law and his favorite companion, Popcorn enjoying the view.  I love how bright and fresh everything looks.  I also love the way the wind catches Popcorn's ears.

Boy, I really did get behind!  And finally week 15's photo "how others see you"  I think I captioned this by saying that this is a mirror image of what I usually see in the mirror.  I've never been able to shake the little kid notion that I walk around everyday with the part of my hair and my face mole on the opposite side of what I see when I look at myself.  What I see in the mirror looks right to me but it's the opposite of what the rest of the world sees.  This was a very quickly snapped self portrait.  Had I known that this would have been it I might have spent a little more time primping.  But, this is how others see me most of the time (a little unkept!) so I guess it's how it should be.

Whew, glad I got through all of that.  Have a great weekend!