New Orleans 2015 – Tourist Time Part 1

The last time I was in the Crescent City, I was there for three months & didn’t really do any of the touristy things I should have done – I kept thinking I’d have time to do it later…then it was too late. So, this time, I was determined to fit as much into my two weeks as possible.

Cardiff – all good things come in small packages

Wednesday’s ‘World Day’ 🙂

But we’re not going quite so far afield to find awesome this week. For those that have never ventured to my home country, let me introduce you to our capital city, and my one-time home, Cardiff!

When looking for city-break locations, you wouldn’t go far wrong by choosing the ancient city of Cardiff (Caerdydd if you fancy learning a bit of the lingo).

Project: Dining Room Table

My Gran used to have this drop-leaf table in her house, that I spent a lot of my childhood playing under.

We found one exactly the same in work a few weeks back that was heading for the skip, so I asked for it to be detoured to my place instead – waste not, want not 😉

Now.. it’s solid enough, but the dark varnish is worn & the fold-away chairs that should be stored inside have gone AWOL, so it’s a bit of a fixer-upper.

Anyhow, I’ve tried it out ‘as is’ in my living room, but it just isn’t right, so I’ve decided to strip it back & see what’s under that varnish.

I’ve seen a lot of images of tables with cream/off-white bases & clear-varnished tops which I quite liked, but seemed more country kitchen than French Quarter vintage. I want it to look a little more distressed – just not as traumatized as it did originally!

So… I’ve got the Saints game on & I’ve started with the furniture stripper already – the timer is ticking away in the background & I’m itching to scratch off the old varnish (no pun intended!). The problem is, I’m not sure I have enough solvent to do the whole table tonight

Of course, that is a good excuse to head to the local decorators store tomorrow 🙂

I might see if they have some liming wax or crackle glaze as well. I’m still not sure what direction this refurb is going to take, but I’m heading towards either antiqued paint or lime-wash, or both!

The nice part about up-cycling your furniture? The thought that if you don’t like it, you can start over without a worry. Whenever I buy something new, I hate if it gets damaged, or doesn’t fit in with the room anymore. So much easier fixing things up yourself!

Besides the table, I got a bargainous haul at the charity shops yesterday.

The plates & mug will be nice additions to my mix-match ‘dinner service’, and I can always find somewhere for the handmade fleur de lys – maybe Christmas tree decs?

The frame at the back will become part of a picture wall in the hall or on the stairs, probably painted or distressed somehow – I might event paint it gold, who knows.

As for the record, no…not my musical taste either, but the cover is cute and I like the title. I’ve seen record frames in Ikea, so they’re going on my wish list, along with some fold-away chairs for the dining table.

Oop! Timer just went. Yay!!! Now to see what was under that dark varnish.

I’ll have some photos of the finished deal next week hopefully. I wonder how it’ll turn out x