Adding Planks to a Kitchen Table

Good morning everyone -

It rained cats and dogs here yesterday - and when it does that - for some reason my brain starts getting a little creative...............( think of trying to entertain a child on a rainy day - ain't easy )

Smack in the middle of working on the plank wall - ( because I seem to have a huge problem with finishing anything lately ) another idea was born................what if I took my little farmhouse table ( which does in fact open up to double the size in the photo below - you can see that post HERE ) and added planks to the top to make it even bigger - a real " work station " type of top?

in our previous home

I quickly ran to get the left over planks - there were 5 left over - and would you believe it - 5 fit perfectly for what I wanted to do - ( if that's not a sign that it had to be done I don't know what is )  I'm not sure why it looks lower than the counter top in photos - they're almost the same height

Suzan says - OMG John - I just had such a fantastic idea
John says - Oh no............
Suzan says - I want to plank the antique farmhouse table in the kitchen
John says - ARE YOU INSANE?  THAT'S AN ANTIQUE - I'M NOT SCREWING ANYTHING INTO THE TOP OF THAT..................
Suzan says - But
John says - NO - N.O. - NO WAY - FORGET ABOUT IT

I have a thinking ( SHOWER ) cap that I keep in the linen closet - ( you can actually see me wearing it HERE ) I sometimes use it when I'm painting - seriously - especially if I'm painting a tall piece where paint may end up on my hair -  but it also works for thinking strangely enough - and within minutes I had a plan ( because I'm nothing - absolutely nothing - if not determined.

Suzan says - What if I had a way where the original top would not be affected at all?
John says - Well that's impossible - how are you going to stop the piece from sliding all over the place without screwing it into the wood?
Suzan says - LIKE THIS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

First we put brackets underneath the planks to hold them all together

Next we flipped it over and ran a pencil along the underside where the " real " table ends

And put a piece of molding on either side to hold the plank top in place - like this

Ideally we would have put molding on all 4 sides - but I couldn't afford the space it would take to make the table larger in depth - only length - but a piece of anti slip rubber ( like you use under carpets ) will hold it perfectly.
This is how it looks underneath - locking it in

Next I painted the top with ASCP Pure White...............again imperfection is fine - this is only the first step

Once that was dry - I made a wash with French Linen ( I eyeball it at this point - but half water - half paint is usually a good rule of thumb )

This took very little paint - maybe 3 tablespoons - this little bit was all I needed

After brushing it on

Next - ( and I don't have a photo of this step ) I took a damp cloth and wiped the entire surface.
I'm a very fast painter - if you aren't - this last step should be done in sections because a " wash " dries very quickly.

When you're done you should have a piece that looks like sun aged driftwood

This piece is now large enough for me to have a small prep area

I feel like I should have my own cooking show now !!!

Suzan says - can you take a couple of photos for me?
John says - of what?
Suzan says - of me, in the kitchen, in front of the new table
John says - Okay

I hurriedly pulled together some accessories

John says - Oh for God's sakes, I don't have time for this nonsense
Suzan says - c'mon - it'll be funny

Suzan says - Wow - I thought I was the world's lousiest photographer
John says - Is it bad?
Suzan says - Well it's very blurry which I don't mind at all - but I don't look anything like Giada de Laurentiis
in this whatsover..................
John says - Who the hell is that?

Are you impressed with my planked table idea?
No?  How about if I told you I painted it and white washed it in my favorite  little black dress?
Yes I did - I most certainly did!  ( I like to live on the edge like that )  I used to go dancing till the wee hours when I felt like having fun.  Now I sometimes paint in " good " clothes instead.

John says - that's the last thing we're doing to that table, you understand?
Suzan says - yessir ( but only because I can't think of a single thing more I could do to it myself.

We added a shelf on the bottom HERE

and height to it HERE

and now we've added some " girth " lol
and it's removable if and when we choose to take it off
NOT A SINGLE DROP OF THE ORIGINAL WOOD WAS DAMAGED IN CREATING THIS POST...................

Have a wonderful day all !
I'm going to chop and dice up Corn Pops and have a bowl of cereal at the table now - and then I'm going to put polyurethane on it to protect it.  ( 4 coats - since it will be getting a lot of use )
In my little black dress.

If anyone from the Food Network wants to contact me please drop me a line here on the blog - we can discuss salary.
Have a wonderful day!
Much love,

Partying here !
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A PAINTED CUCKOO CLOCK !

Hi Everyone !

I've been wanting a cuckoo clock for the little guest room but these things are very expensive!!!

Upwards of 200.00 ( and very upwards in a lot of cases ) 

I didn't need a fancy one - I didn't even need a wood one for that matter - so when I came across this on Amazon I jumped on it !

Because I figured that within an hour or so of receiving it - it would look like this !

I knew it would look very plastic-y in the dark brown - and it did - it looked like someone dipped it in chocolate actually - mmmm - an Easter chocolate cuckoo clock 

I taped up the mechanisms

Stuck a plastic glass over the clock parts - 

and spray painted the entire thing - chains and all with white primer

I then gave it a coat of ASCP Pure White chalk paint because I wanted to give it a little texture - however once I removed the glass I really didn't like the brown plastic ( had it been black I would have left it ) so I painted over the entire clock face as well

I'll stencil in the numbers one night this week - but for now I painted the little doors in ASCP Antoinette - shabby doors  ( the paint is still wet in this next photo )

and I carefully - very carefully - painted the clock hands too -

and voila - a cute little cuckoo clock for under 30.00  ( I didn't want to take out the battery - so the pendulum is blurry )

Here's the cuckoo ( complete with sound and all )and when I put the numbers on the face I'm actually going to paint the wings blue - crazy I know but I want a blue bird - the wings flap every time it chirps " cuckoo "

John says - Don't tell me we're going to have to listen to that bloody thing every hour
Happiness and sunshine - really he's all about happiness and sunshine.

So the batteries have been removed - but I know what to do now when he drives me crazy

And they will be going back in whenever the little ones are here - I know they'll get a kick out of it.

I certainly do anyway lol

Then I cleaned the paint brush and started on the plank wall - this is just the first step - ASCP French Linen
haphazardly brushing it on - I do NOT want perfection on this wall................and don't worry I'm not going to give you little bits of this every day - I was just so excited that the wall was actually up !
I'll do it all - and then I'll do a tutorial ( it kills me when I say that - ME giving a tutorial is just hilarious )  I want it to look old and weathered and rustic because something quite glamorous will be adorning this wall.
( give to me your leather - take from me my lace )

Oh - and nobody reminded me about my giveaway for reaching a million views !!!
Saw it yesterday - but I think it happened a week ago - sooooo.......................PIORRA MAISON  has agreed to join me in this milestone - stay tuned - I'll let you know all about it on Friday.

And I also just realized that it's Wednesday - I'm supposed to be featuring a house - Oy Vey.................

Have a great one - I HAVE to get back to that wall don't you know !
Much love,

I'll be at these fabulous parties this week - join in if you have something you'd like to share !

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