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.