Dining Evolution

I am pleased and astonished to announce..... the dining room is DONE (well, as done as any room in this designers house gets) In the 3 years we've lived in this house, the dining room has been through several evolutions to get to this point.

The first iteration was the "drop what we have in the existing space" method.  Not terrible, but it always felt dark and drab (aka SO not us!)

The second iteration was a HUGE step in the right direction.  I added picture rail around the room and painted the walls an awesome (in my humble opinion) purple.  Even though the walls are a darker color, somehow the room felt larger and brighter.

Then I made an attempt to finish the space with chairs and a new chandelier, but something felt off still. *coughTABLEcough*

Which brings us to today.  A proper photoshoot of this space is necessary, but I'm just so excited to share the space with you that I can't wait!

Well hello, sexy, refinished, correctly proportioned table.  (Check it out pre-modification/refinishing here)

I have also started using the picture rail for its intended purpose- imagine that!

Of course since I never leave well enough alone, I may modify the chair color at some point, and install a built-in liquor cabinet on the far wall.  But for now, the space finally feels appropriate to us and the house.  It's about time!

I really apologize for the quality of these photos- with the high color contrast and the position of the room in the house, I just can't figure out the best light and camera settings- any suggestions??

A Little off the Sides

This past week I've had to make the mental shift back to full time flipper in preparation for Frankie.  On this project, I'm attempting to do a little less 'hands on' and hire a bit more out so I can focus more on the project management and the schedule.  Not exactly the fun stuff, but certainly the necessary stuff if I don't want to burn out on flipping after only 2 houses- Don't worry, though I can't help but be hands on and I'm excited to get started!!!!  Hopefully the closing will stay on schedule for Wednesday and we can get started right away.  You know what that means?  Weekly  Flip updates will restart this Friday!!! Until then, I'm still trying to get a few things knocked off my to-do list.  Like trimming down my new dining room table!

If you remember, this is where it was a few days ago.  I didn't actually mind the size too much, but I felt that the large overhang on each end made the legs less of a focal point (detail oriented obsessions of the designer mind).  And since those legs are the best part about the table, I devised a plan.

I feel like I should note- I didn't feel too bad about modifying an antique table since it had already been modified.  It started it's life as a drop-leaf, gate leg table like this one and was modified in recent history to be fixed.  I just wanted to customize it one step further.

The plan was to trim down the table on all 4 sides  (so that there was an even 3" overhang on all sides, unlike previously) and rounded the corners.  As with most of my woodworking projects, I enlisted Handy Dad's help to make sure I didn't screw it up.

We used a circular saw to trim the sides, and clamped on a guide that Dad had created to ensure a straight line.  I swear one of these days I'll have him share the tutorial for the guide- its a simple, but very effective tool.

Taking turns wielding the power tools, Dad and I cut the sides with the circular saw,

rounded the corners carefully with a jig saw, and router-ed the top edge all around with a simple bullnose.

And there was sanding.  Lots and lots of sanding the new edge to make it smooth as a baby's bottom.

I still have to refinish or partially refinish the top and unfinished edges, but until then it's back in place in the dining room.

It's not a drastic change, but it feels right in my opinion.  Before it felt like an oversized top plopped on some really cool legs.  Now it looks like it was always meant to be a table of this size (or at least I think so).  And it's going to look even better once I get the top all refinished!

I'd love to hear what you think- would you have trimmed down the table or left it as is?

Cherry on Top

You know, I really should start buying pieces that don't need modification.  I think I have a problem.  Where's the fun in turn-key pieces though? Yesterday, Craigslist was kind to me, and I purchased the table I showed you on Wednesday for $70.

I knew going into it that I would probably need to modify the size a bit, but I was hoping it would work as is.  Alas, she's too large.  She takes up the whole darn room.  So I have to figure out exactly how to make the top smaller, and what size to make it.  She's so pretty though.

Why's it a she?  Cuz she's got some sexy legs.

Definitely a good buy though, it's solid cherry and I couldn't build this for cheaper.

Ok, well with you as my witnesses- I am officially cut off from buying projects!  No more new projects until I tackle the ones I already have!

Does anyone else have this same problem?  It can't just be me!