Summer Projects

I am in desperate need of bookcases.  I have bought a few that sit atop a table or desk.  Then I bought this at a yard sale.  I sanded most of the stain off.  Then, I painted it white.  Then, I painted it orange. Then I sanded it again on the edges for a shabby chic effect.  Here is a detail of the top.

Here's what it looks like in my "library". I'm letting it dry a bit longer as the paint still seems a bit sticky.  I thought it was all solid wood but it wasn't.  The sides are veneer.  Just the top and the facias are solid wood.  Note to self: quit buying veneered furniture. I had to glue the bottom facia board back in place, too.  I wish I had some large furniture clamps. I wish I had a nail gun and compressor, too. Maybe Santa will bring me one if I am a good girl.

See desperate need.

Here is my other project from earlier this summer.  My tall friend painted the back of my kitchen cabinets with metallicized paint and then black chalk paint.  The reason is that "stainless steel" refrigerator in the background.  How can it be stainless steel when not one of my cherished refrigerator magnets will stick to it? The metal paint is a bit dodgy.  It has 2 coats.  I should have sanded it down. I should have used a smoother paint roller tube, too. I couldn't imagine the dust I would have had to clean up, though, if I had sanded it down. So I am just living with it.

Michaelangelo's David, Queen Nefertiti, King Tut, Marie Antoinette, Piero della Francesca, Pompei, Bernini's David (I have seen Donatello's David in Florence, too, but, they didn't have any refrigerator magnets of him) are some of the trophies I have collected among others. A few homemade magnets, too, including one I made from my own photo of the Ponte Vecchio in Florence.

I bought a refrigerator magnet of San Francisco because it needed representation! Then, I wanted to write something on the chalkboard. The first part says, It's your story. Make if beautiful. Fill it up with what you love.  Remember what matters. Forget what doesn't. Have a happy life. Yes, it's from a greeting card but, really, it is  a nice philosophy.