Pottery Barn Inspired Pedestal Table

From drab to fab in a matter of days. I found this beauty (please see photo below) on craigslist. It was listed for $50. I had a feeling I would be able to snag this 'beauty' for less than asking price and was thrilled when the owners accepted my $30 offer.



A steal of a deal.
Solid wood ... check.
No chips or cracks ... check.
Included large leaf for table ... check check.

I've been dreaming of a pedestal table for awhile now, I just couldn't find the right price. Thank you craigslist for helping me find my bargain!

With my $30 table on hand, I was ready to begin! This is 'kind of' what I had in mind. Something like this ...



or this ...



because, as usual, what's not to love about Pottery Barn and the looks they create. I can usually be found drooling over their catalogues and trying to dream up new ideas on how to get the PB look for a fraction of a cost.

So ................... with sander in hand, I began sanding out the dried cherrios and left over food from the table.







After sanding, I used the air compressor to blow off all the dust, then wiped clean with a tack cloth.

Armed with my mini roller and black paint/primer combination, I was ready to begin painting this table a few coats of paint.



A few coats later. Finished!



As for my kitchen chairs, I'm almost embarrased to admit what I did for my chairs. I lightly sanded them down with a 200 grit sandpaper, wiped clean and then spray painted. Yes, like the kind of spray paint you buy from a can. I went through 4 cans. These were chairs I already had and was using with my old kitchen table. They were FREE so I couldn't complain to much.



The results!





You might be wondering why such a dark kitchen and why black? First of all, our appliances are stainless and black and our granite is speckled with black. I'm definitely a matchy-matchy type of person and felt black would suit our house best. Plus, for a $30 dollar table, I figured if it didn't look great, I could always start over or try something else. I guess I just have a thing for dark cherry wood and black right now. That's half the fun of DIY'ing and decorating ~ is redoing it when you get sick of it.





I still have a long way to go in our kitchen with decorating, tile backsplash, etc. Baby steps, I keep reminding myself.

This post is linked to: The Shabby Nest, Finding Fabulous, A Few of my Favorite Things, It's Fun to Craft

Thank You Craigslist

I've been on the hunt for a coffee table that fits with our sectional. Man, is that a tough task. My husband and I shopped all over our local area, only to find that Pottery Barn's Metropolitan collection's table was one of the few that would actually work. However, I've had a hard time justifying the extra shipping costs I'd encur by shopping PB online (since it's the only way I could order the table).

I did a little random online shopping one day though craigslist and found EXACTLY the table I was looking to purchase. And, it was $265 less (not including shipping fees, taxes, etc). I was sold!

I'm still deciding what to do with the table - paint it? refinish it? stain it? I can't decide. But, for now, it's sitting our living room just waiting to be refinished to match our other furniture in our family room. I did find out it's the older model of the current Metropolitan table, but I still like the smooth lines and classic, yet contemporary feel. Here's a close up.



Here's the table in our family room with my new pictures in the background. I made these myself thanks to a tutorial from Lowes. I'll be explaining how I made these in another post - stay tuned!

Pottery Barn Inspired Children's Table

What's not to love about Pottery Barn kids? There furniture is adorable, the colors are fantastic, and everything would look so great in my daughter's bedroom and play area. So what's not to love? The price tag. Gulp. Yes, the price tag's not to love.

During one of my recent shopping trips to search for play room ideas, I came across the cutest little kids table and chair set.

However with a price tag of $308 for the set - $139 (set of 2 chairs) and $169 for the table - it was easy to turn around and say, "Um, no thank you" and walk out of the store. Of course, I still loved the idea of the table and thought the colors were oh-so-girlie and too cute to resist.





What's a bargain mom like myself to do? Start shopping! And shopping is what I started to do. I headed to the nearest Goodwill for a thrifty shopping day and what did I spy? The PERFECT children's table. I truly think this table was meant to be mine. Who could have resisted a blue beauty like this. And, with a price tag of only $4.99, there was no second guessing.



Yes, the picture above is shown in the sanding phase, but isn't this a beauty? A solid wood, blue kids table. LOVE IT!

What did I do to turn my Goodwill treasure into a Pottery Barn inspired children's table?

Step 1: Sanded table. I used a lower grit sand paper first and then used a higher grit for the finishing touches.

Step 2: Wipe down table with lightly damp cloth.



Step 3: Primer. I used Kilz Primer. Let dry.





Step 4: Paint! I headed to Home Depot to pick up one of their sample sized paint containers. I debated and debated about paint colors, but finally decided on a mint green similar to Pottery Barn's color.



A closer look at the paint color and label. The perfect size paint for smaller projects like this one. And, with a price tag of less than $3 per container, the price can't be beat!



Drum Roll, please. The results?



My Pottery Barn inspired children's table is perfectly paired with two chairs from IKEA.



What a bargain, and for a fraction of the cost.

My final price tag:
$40 - two chairs
$5 - table
$3 - paint
primer, sanding supplies, cloth, paint brush (used from my supply drawer) - free

TOTAL: $48 for my DIY children's table or (Remember the pricey tag of $308 for Pottery Barn's version?)

I definitely had to sacrifice some on the look (the chairs are not the windsor PB style), but I think the colors go well with the look I was trying to achieve and my two year old will never know the difference. Add a tea set to the top and voila, perfect-O!

I love it! This was such an easy project and didn't require tons of tools. I still need to put a coat of polyurethane on the table, but wanted to make sure I had enough time for the paint to cure because it's been really humid in California the last week.

What's not to love? Nothing. It's purely perfect and fit for a little girl to have tea parties and host friends for playgroup.

I'm partying with ...

Frugal Friday Linky Party by The Shabby Nest

A Little Bit of Inspiration

A sneak peak of some birthday party prep work for my two-year-old daughter. Yikes. Why on earth did I make this so time consuming. She is only going to be two-years-old. Probably because I saw these (see below) in a Pottery Barn Kids catalogue and fell in love with them, but not with the price tag. I thought they would be a fun accessory for her playroom upstairs.

Then I started thinking, wow, hmmmm, I could really do these. When my husband and I decided on a Jungle Safari Birthday Party theme for Ms. A's (as I will refer to my daughter) 2nd birthday bash - we decided it was a must for the little kiddos to celebrate with lifesized jungle animals. Let's just say it's a good thing Ms. A has been low key this week watching movies and having quiet time while her little ears heal from their ear infection and her cough subsides. It's given me plenty of time to draw, cut, paint, and paint, and paint some more.

I would like to add that these PB Wall Decals will run $99 to $129. Or at least for the jungle themed ones.









I put my thinking cap on and went straight to work. My supplies - my creative hand, paint, poster boards, drawing pencil, paint brushes, and a little bit of elbow grease.

Next, I hand drew all of the animals (with inspiration from Pottery Barn) and cut those babies out with a pair of scissors.



Proceeding to paint and paint and paint some more, the animals came to life. One by one. I am more than thrilled to see how well they are turning out. My price tag is probably 95% less than the Pottery Barn decals so I'll take it!









Here's my favorite one thus far. A little blue elephant. At a price tag of $1.97 for a large blue paint, $1.97 for white paint, and $.97 for a small blue paint. Let's just say $5. And, this paint was shared with other animals as well and I have TONS leftover for future projects.

My elephant. My $5 DOLLAR, elephant, might I add.



Or, Pottery Barn's Elephant. At a price tag of $119.



You make the call! My adorable little blue elephant for $5 or pottery barn's WAY OVERPRICED elephant for $119.

The decision is easy. Thank you, Pottery Barn!

And, this is only the beginning of the fun safari decorations and jungle themed birthday party plans I have up my sleeve for next weekend.