Not everything needs to be painted

I’m a fan of natural wood overall. Don’t get me wrong, I paint plenty of things. However, most our indoor furniture is natural looking wood. My husband does not care for painted furniture and his motto is everything old is new again. Not really his saying, but that is what he believes. I have to say I agree overall with him. I love the look of painted furniture most of the time. There are some amazing transformations with paint. But to me, there is something to be said for natural wood. Especially if it is an old piece, it has history, is gently worn and weathered looking.

So in essence not everything needs to be painted. Of course, it is your furniture to do with as you please.

Welcome to this month’s edition of our Thrifty finds.

So I have mentioned my Mom is coming to hibernate here with us in the South this winter. I have been super busy sprucing up the place for her. Trying to clean out closets so she actually has room to hang her winter clothes. My Mom has a lot of clothes. She is a little fashion bug I tell you. Lots of accessories too. Oh boy, I better get a bigger house:)

She is going to be occupying the upstairs for the most part. I already shared the Unisex bedroom makeover.

I have a small TV room that used to be the boys game room. Truthfully, it is barely used anymore. With Alex gone, Jack in band, no one goes in there.

I wanted to find a little coffee table for my Mom that she can set her coffee, magazines, kindle or whatever little stuff she may have. I just want her to be comfy and cozy, and feel like home away from home.

I can’t spend a bundle doing this. So I took a trip to Goodwill and as luck would have it, found the perfect piece. At only 10.99 this piece came home with me.

Welcome to this month’s thrifting series. I had to skip last month because we were too busy moving Alex into College and I have learned the older I get, if I can’t do something, I simply don’t. I can’t overwhelm myself.

I do enjoy this series though and it is very fitting for me because I love thrifting and makeovers.

Very sturdy little piece of furniture. All solid wood too. First things first. Clean the crud. I love this simple green cleaner. It not only smells good, it works really well.

As you can see the top is weathered and dull looking. Not exactly in pristine condition. But still, for $10.99 I can bring this piece back to life.

I already had the stain on hand. Two coats, and I was good to go. I used a stain paint brush and painted in the direction of the wood grain. I let it almost dry after a full day and then went over it with a cheese cloth so that the stain would absorb. When working with stain be sure to wear gloves and do the job in a well ventilated area. I did mine in our garage with the door open. Also, be sure to put down a drop cloth just in case of dripping.

Still drying here. I can’t wait to accessorize it.

And like everything else I do, no perfection here. But it certainly turned out fresh and looks much better than it did before.

I only had to do the top. The legs and bottom were in perfect condition. I also love the little weaved wicker shelf down below. My Mom loves birds, so this little home accessory is perfect.