I know I already posted once today, but I just wanted to pop in and show you this really quick little makeover we did a few days ago on this table I found in our garage.
Actually what happened was that Kennedy came home from school not feeling so well and so I put her to work helping me with a DIY project. What? Doesn’t everyone force their kids into child labour when they’re sick?
Don’t get too worried, she only helped for about 5 minutes and after that she was mostly playing on her ipod and just popping in for the photo opp when it was time for me to take pictures of different steps.
Can we have a keeping it real moment here? I saw this table in the garage last year sitting next to the big work bench. It’s really roughly built and I think was just used to keep some tools on or something, but I really liked the shape of it so I stole it for my bedside table. I’ve been using it like that, with weird grease stains and stuff on it, for the last year. Also, when I took the before picture, I was actually just too lazy to move all the messy stuff out of the picture, but let’s say that I’m just not afraid to show you how my house really looks most of the time. So it’s like this on purpose, k?
I promise you that I’m coming to the rescue of my poor ugly bedroom very very soon.
The table was in pretty rough shape, but something about it just makes me happy. I wanted to experiment with it a bit and see if I could make it a little bit better. If not, no big loss, really.
We (I) painted it with a couple of coats of Martha Stewart “Crevecoeur”. It’s a nice greeny grey that reminds me of a rainy day, but in a good way. You can see Kennedy’s not really that sick. And look! Another keepin’ it real moment! This time in the living room.
Now all this up until now was all fine and good but the real fun part was adding the “nail head” trim using cheapo thumb tacks. Worked like a charm! The best part was that it was actually easier to push them in with my thumb rather than use a hammer. I spaced them out an inch apart for a little more of a relaxed look. I used the hammer in the end just to make sure the tacks were all pushed in all the way. That was fun too.
I honestly don’t think the overall look is that different from “real” nail head trim. I’m pretty smitten with it, even if it is a little crooked in places. Remember how I said I was going for a more relaxed look? Let’s say the crookedness is on purpose too.
Overall a pretty successful little afternoon experiment, I’d say!
Courtenay Hartford is the author of creeklinehouse.com, a blog based on her adventures renovating a 120-year-old farmhouse in rural Ontario, Canada. On her blog, Courtenay shares interior design tips based on her own farmhouse and her work as founder and stylist of the interior photography firm Art & Spaces. She also writes about her farmhouse garden, plant-based recipes, family travel, and homekeeping best practices. Courtenay is the author of the book The Cleaning Ninja and has been featured in numerous magazines including Country Sampler Farmhouse Style, Better Homes and Gardens, Parents Magazine, Real Simple, and Our Homes.