pretty fly DIY

I am not dead! I didn't break my typing fingers! And I did actually complete a project or two during my hiatus. This has only been on my To Do List for about 4 years now, so I would like to pat myself on the back for actually ever getting around to it. I know my neighbors never thought it would happen. I had doubts myself. So, I would like to officially apologize for my house looking like this in September.

Then in October...

And now finally, this...

Please excuse the peeling paint on the stairs. Also on my 17 mile long to do list.

In my defense, I did start this the day before I left for vacation. I also had a bit of a cob-webby brain that day, so standing on a 10 foot ladder didn't feel like the best place for me. My sweet and very productive little friend, Whitney, tricked me into thinking this was something I could knock out in an hour and it would look great. The problem is, my favorite thing in the world to do is start one project, work on it for a few minutes, and then start several others--all without finishing any of them. I am really, really good at it! Like I could co-captain an Olympic team if there were ever a need. So, in keeping true to old habits, that is what I did here. I am also not really sure why I felt the need to hand paint the numbers when I am sure there are very nice, precisely printed number stickers at Ace, but it's a little late for that now. Finding the right gold paint is honestly what took me so long, so I am happy to provide tips for any of you starving artists that want to do this after my glowing reviews. 

In a rare, outdoor update, there is also news to tell. We have been fighting a losing battle with grass in the front yard. There is this hateful tree that has been straight murdering our grass on that side of the yard for years. Case in point: this is not a split screen photo. This was actually taken at one time, in one frame. The mean, hateful tree obviously lives on the right side of the yard. 

We just recently decided to throw in the towel and live a grass free life in the front yard, which as it turns out is quite ironic. We thought, if you can't beat the dead patches, join them. I was pretty pleased with the initial progress and results. 

Que the irony. We have contacted the city about this lawsuit of a tree waiting to happen numerous times and had gotten nowhere. It looks so bad I was afraid it was going to squash me on my walk to work any day now.  Two weeks after we decided to rip up all of the grass (and paid a pretty penny for new plants), we heard from the city. They were finalllly convinced the decaying dying DEAD tree needed to go. They basically swooped in and cremated it in a matter of minutes and left us with a stump, all of its leaves, and 38 pounds of saw dust to remember it by. 

You have got to be kidding me. Well, now we are living the grass free life also sans dead tree. Our front yard almost looks like we moved into a cul de sac in Agrestic. I barely recognize it. Now we only have ourselves to blame if we can't keep these plants alive. 

Stay tuned. I might actually find the motivation to do a final before and after post on the kitchen. AH. 

a little DIY on the side

I am usually a big proponent of the DIY. Unfortunately, with this kitchen project I haven't been able to incorporate as much DIY as I would have liked because I simply haven't had the time. When you are out of town on average 9 out of 10 weekends, finding the time to do insanely time consuming projects is like playing hide and seek by yourself. The free time isn't hiding from me, it just simply is nowhere to be found in 2015. 

The projects I had in mind probably aren't insanely time consuming for the average person, but when your name is April and you operate at the pace of a handicapped turtle, simple projects tend to become akin to everyone's favorite childhood movie, The Neverending Story. 

I knew I wanted a small table and chair set in the sunroom near the bar. The sunroom is one of my favorite rooms in the house and is sadly probably the most under-utilized. But, there is nothing like the thought of throwing away $$$ to get me motivated. Que the inspiration photos from last year's trip to Paris:

Foter

Frontgate

When I was in the phase of talking with my countertop fabricator on an hourly basis, I managed to get in my 20 questions and then some. I started thinking about portions in the slabs that were having to be cut out to accommodate features like the sink and the range. I knew my fabricator didn't charge me based on the number of slabs, but just for the total square footage needed for the job, so cut outs were actually included in the total square footage. Butttt, where do those cut outs go? Who gets them? Wasn't I paying for them anyway? Was someone trying to rip me off? Ohh hell to the no. 

So I asked my fabricator and they told me they would "give" me the cut out for the sink and would only charge labor to finish off the edges. I am not telling you this to say they were trying to rip me off, I just want other peeps to be aware to speak up about the cut outs if you think you might want them for a future project to top a side table, small vanity, etc. If I hadn't asked, I don't think I ever would have seen that part of the stone again. And, it is something I had already paid for. Motivation found.  

Once I got the sink cut out portion back from the fabricator, it was smaller than I had hoped, but through no fault of their own. A typical sink is going to be smaller than most cafe tables anyway, so I don't know what type of miracle I was expecting. Maybe a Jesus multiplying two fish and the loaves of bread type of miracle. Or better yet, turning water into wine. Either way, not realistic for this little project. I got the countertop back and it is roughly 17x27.  You can check it out for yourself:

It really is a perfect little size because it is going in a small space anyway. All I needed was two chairs and a table base. Solutions found.

1) Two chairs, and what a steal they were. I am kicking myself, well not really kicking, I am just mad at myself for spending way more on some sister chairs for the kitchen.

Safavieh

2) Table base. This next part is basically rocket science, so I hope you are sitting down. My first step was getting on the world wide web. I headed to http://www.google.com (similar to the website formerly known as askjeeves). I entered the search terms "table bases". I clicked on the first result listed, which took me to the astutely named website, tablebases.com Ground breaking stuff here, I know. 

I actually did look for other options, and I have to say this site was the clear winner by far. I didn't have time to go get kidnapped hunting down craigslist finds, or to waste an entire day digging through a flea market that never seems to love me back. I did find one other place out of CA that was less expensive, but the website kind of sketched me out and I wasn't in the mood to have my identity stolen so I settled on tablebases.com. Easy enough, I got my table base quicker than I got through the work week. And, here we are:

When the table base arrived, I put it together in less than 5 minutes. Ok, maybe 10. And with zero help from my worthless assistants who were clearly sleeping on the job.

And lastly, all I had to do was find a piece of wood to affix to the marble top so I could screw the table base into the wood instead of affixing it to the marble.

And I know you thought I would never get to it, but now I would like to showcase my pretty pathetic attempt at reintroducing a little DIY in my life. Enter stage left: my new uber charming Parisian cafe table and chairs for the corner of my sunroom. Tres charmant!

I promise to post a better picture when I have actually removed the packaging materials from the chairs. And when the floors aren't 100% covered in saw dust.