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The Impatient Gardener

Cottage, DIY

Mid-project updates

October 17, 2013

I know that sometimes it seems like nothing is happening here in Impatient Gardener land. You don’t hear from me for a few days (unless you follow me in Facebook or Instagram where I’m much more likely to post regular updates) and you assume I’m probably asleep on the couch with my laptop half on my face. You would be right a lot of the time.

But right now I have a bunch of projects in motion. The problem with projects, I’m finding, is that apparently they can take some time to finish. So instead of waiting what could realistically be months for the finished project (I literally have two big pieces of furniture in the basement that have been 80% finished for going on a year now), I thought I’d show you some of what’s going on.

Probably the biggest project I’ve been working on is the kitchen table. Yep, longtime readers will recall when I did it the first time. I won’t get in the why I’m redoing it right now, but suffice to say, something needed to be done.

This is what the table looked like until last Sunday.

Fast forward to this week. This is what the table looks like now (below, and keep in mind that the quality of the photos here is vastly different). I’m getting some positive comments on Facebook but there is work to be done. I’m probably going to take a wire brush to it to scuff it up (after I just got done sanding it by the way) and then use some liming wax. In any case, the final protective finish will be wax. Oh, and I’m repainting the legs too, but just the white that the rest of the kitchen is.

Meanwhile, the basement is full of orange. I don’t think I’ve ever been so into orange before, but here I am with two different shades of orange going on furniture in the basement.

I’ve been working on redoing these cane chairs I bought two years ago on Craigslist and have gotten to the point where I’m on the last coat of paint, so it was time to double check to make sure I was happy with the color (oranges and reds, in my opinion, take at least three coats if not four to develop to the correct color). I brought one of the chairs up to the room where it’s going and draped some of the fabric that I’m recovering the cushions in (yep … I went for the most overused and expensive fabric you can find on the Internet; I can’t help it, I adore it).

The color—Benjamin Moore Starburst Orange—is actually showing up a tad pinker than I expected, but I think once the finish goes gloss, which it is, the color will change a bit.

In other project news, I’m painting another ceiling (funny how I keep doing that even after swearing that I would never do that again). I’ve also determined that painting the garage is not going to happen this fall. The weather has turned and I don’t want to take a chance of the paint job not working. By the way, thank you all for your nice comments on the garage project.

So that’s what’s happening in my world … what do you think?

chair DIY kitchen table
by Erin @ The Impatient Gardener 
4 Comments

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Comments

  1. Katie @ Team Skelley says: October 17, 2013 at 7:05 pm

    I think that I am seriously considering painting my kitchen door a dark color after seeing yours.

    Reply
  2. Jenny Hickson says: October 18, 2013 at 7:59 am

    We just finished doing our table as well. I know how long it takes to do all that sanding and finishing, but it will be worth it in the end. Yours is looking good already 🙂

    Reply
  3. Heather - New House New Home says: October 18, 2013 at 11:56 am

    Love the new tabletop, Erin. It really "grounds" the kitchen.

    Orange chairs – you are one brave girl. But I love, love, love the fabric and how it works with the orange. You are not shy when it comes to colour 🙂

    I hate painting ceilings – always leave that for my husband to do – I do most of the other painting around here.

    We just got a new kitchen floor installed – not sure if I "LOVE" it, but I do love it. the old floor was dark red brick linoleum and this is a beige/white marble texture vinyl (couldn't splurge on the ceramic). It makes my kitchen look totally different and makes me realize how much I need a new countertop.

    Other than the usual yard cleanup and organizing, nothing project-wise going on around here.

    Reply
  4. Casa Mariposa says: October 19, 2013 at 3:29 am

    So pretty! I love both the orange chairs and the refinished table. What a beautiful eating area. :o)

    Reply

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The Impatient Gardener

Do you love gardening? Me too! I'm Erin and I garden in Southeastern Wisconsin, zone 5. The Impatient Gardener is all about real-life gardening: the good parts, the bad bits and even the funny stuff. It's part information, part inspiration and a little bit commiseration. Thanks for visiting.

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Erin Schanen 🌿 The Impatient Gardener
These sister dahlias are big, beautiful girls. Pen These sister dahlias are big, beautiful girls. Penhill Watermelon (first picture) and Penhill Dark Monarch are the best two HUGE dahlias that I grow. They share slightly twisty petals (Watermelon more so) and, when you look closely, subtle striations that add a beautiful depth of color. Watermelon grows taller than Dark Monarch (7 feet tall or more sometimes) and they both need serious staking, but it’s worth it because they produce a lot of flowers for a large-flowering dahlia. 

I like them both but if I was forced to choose (and who would make me do that?) I’d give the edge to Dark Monarch because it’s a little easier to manage size-wise, produces more flowers and has a bigger variation in flower color so it’s always interesting. 

Which do you like better?
I don’t love tools that only do one thing. But w I don’t love tools that only do one thing. But when there’s only one tool that does that one thing really well, I’m here for it. This pottery/container knife from Sneeboer makes it possible to actually get plants out of pots without breaking or damaging the pot. It’s also really expensive. 😀
A little snippet of a bouquet from the weekend. Zi A little snippet of a bouquet from the weekend. Zinnias, pycnanthemum muticum and bronze fennel shown here.
My love for Nicotiana is not a secret. I love tryi My love for Nicotiana is not a secret. I love trying out new varieties and I feel like they just work so well in my garden from both a design standpoint and a cultural standpoint (they are happy here). Because I grow so many, the ones that self sow can be surprises. 

All of these self-sown Nicotiana are probably at least partly the children of the F1 hybrid Perfume series, which grow to be about 24” tall or so. Last year I grew purple, pink, white and lime versions and these are likely new variations on those. 

Picture 3 is, in my opinion, a good example of how these self sown second-year hybrids can go wrong. I’ll probably rip that one out. 😀

And the last photo is of my favorite colorway, lime, popping up amongst the Zinnias. I find these self-sown Nicotiana popping up all summer, so there’s always a fresh-blooming supply. 

Are you as enamored with Nicotinana as I am?
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