Manly Monday

While many other people might have been out enjoying the gorgeous January weather in SF, I was holed up in the basement drinking beer and playing with power tools.


Let's have a quick discussion of how I ended up there.  Today was Day #1 of my DIY resolution.  I pulled the not-so-lovely end table out of the living room and into the backyard to enjoy said beautiful weather.  After a trip to Home Depot where I was educated on gloss vs. satin stain I was armed with all of the supplies needed to sand and stain my project.  

Before.

Ok, we are going to go another step back.  I first need to thank Katie over at Bower Power for the information and motivation necessary to take on this (and many) projects.  What she is able to accomplish in her home is so far beyond anything I will ever try, but I have realized that I am not incompetent and rather than spending $100s on new furniture I can work with what we have.  

Back to supplies...I spent $60 (including hardware) at Home Depot.  Not too shabby when I will end up with a "new" piece of furniture.  I could have spent considerably less but I am a newbie and was a bit unclear on how gritty my sand paper needed to be, and sadly didn't even own a paintbrush.  

The supplies.  Note the number of sandpaper packages!

My project began with me and a piece of sandpaper in the backyard.  In my head the sanding was going to be easy-peasy-lemon-squeezy.  Oh how wrong I was.  Within 5 minutes I realized I could be there forever trying to get off that green paint and would likely have a crippled right hand from sanding.  I decided that I wasn't up for having forearms bigger than Lou Ferrigno and set out for trip #2 to the hardware store to get an electric sander.  It is GLORIOUS!  

My new best friend.

While I am not sure that an electric sander necessarily qualifies as a "power tool" it is the closest I have gotten and I am feeling quite proud.  In to the garage I went (where the power lives!) to take on my table.


I am pretty sure that whoever painted that table used the worlds thickest, most adhesive paint of all time.  I went through 6 sanding disks and I am still not finished.  I know I could have used a paint stripper but the idea of gloves, masks, and chemicals seemed a little ambitious for me at this point.  

The current state of the table.

Not wanting to make a third trip to the store, I called it a day and took to filling some gashes with wood filler and testing out two different stain colors on the bottom.  I am SO excited to get the whole thing stained.  I was feeling a bit defeated not finishing in one day but seeing how great it will be was reassuring.  

Hard to see (which is probably a good thing), wood filler on the right.