Oh shellac, how do I love thee?

Let me count the ways:

1)

2)

3)I could go on, but I should probably stop at 3...

What I did over the long weekend

Turned these e-bay finds...

...into this side table for the living room.

The top still needs finishing. I was going to use just polyurethane but apparently since it's spalted burl maple (which is why it has that marbling in the wood) I need to use shellac first. Or so the internets tell me. In any case, once it's finished the marbling will be even more pronounced.


I was inspired by this and this. And George Nakashima. And probably by watching back to back episodes of Design Star on Hulu.

The living room has curtains!!!

The oversize ceiling fan that threatened to decapitate anyone over 6 feet tall has been moved to Brad's office (which has the highest ceilings of any room in the house). Still need to put down the rug. The pillows on the sofa came with it. The colors are ok, but they're not fun to lie on. Gonna replace those, and also make new covers for the footstools. I seriously had no idea how closely the green on the wall would match the armchair, it's a little disconcerting.

Living Room in Progress....

Paint Job - Living/Dining Room

BEFORE

AFTER

The sofa for the living room

We haven't ordered it yet. We're waiting until May when Raymour & Flanigan has its 15% off friends and family event. It'll probably be the only piece of furniture we don't get secondhand. I've been trolling craigslist and the pickings on secondhand sofas are slim my friends... very slim.

More lighting...

For the living area:

From Ikea.