a year long vision...

So, this was a project I started one month ago. I wanted to stain my furniture (that we were taking to New York) a darker color. We were donated this furniture (a credenza, 6 chairs, and a dinner table with a leaf) and I LOVED it. I felt like we had won the lottery. It was totally vintage, and I had an immediate vision to re-upholster the seats and strip off the warm oak color and replace it with a dark ebony stain. Almost one year later, that vision became a MESS on my deck.
Problem #1: I underestimated how LONG it would take me
Problem #2: I underestimated how DIRTY it would get
Problem #3: I was cocky and thought I didn't need a drop cloth - well low and behold I spilled paint and it went through the deck floor onto the patio below us (oops) and I had to pay the lady downstairs for the damage (stupid Ciara!)Well I re-upholstered the chairs with my mom when she was here in February and now the project is complete. It took many steps...stripping the old paint off, (medium) sanding the surface smooth, painting a layer of stain, letting it dry 24 hours, (fine) sanding, repeat the staining/sanding 2 more times, then painting 2 layers with a clear polyurethane top finish with fine sanding in between each of those. Needless to say it took a lot of sweat, waiting, and patience.

I am pretty happy with how things turned out, and if you don't look too too closely it looks pretty great (in my humble opinion). Mind you, I don't plan on going into business or anything, but now we've got furniture that I will be more than happy with for another few years (and hopefully beyond that)!
Next project - STOP AVOIDING PACKING AND DO IT ALREADY!