{Post 1,690} Hoping the Temperature Will FALL

We have finished phase 3 of the foyer/living room switcheroo. I put up all my fall decor tonight (except for a missing quilt) in hopes that the climate would take the hint, and the temperature would fall as well.

Phase one was relocating the quilt hanging rod to the opposite wall in the living room.

Phase two was completing the new table top for the console table, seen here, now decorated for fall.

Phase three was removing the coat hooks from the foyer coatrack/shelf, adding a carved rope piece to hide the screw holes, then painting the whole thing “Turkish Coffee” brown, which obviously is in the same color family as our leather couch.  Voila’!! Here’s a before, just for fun, with the shelf resting ON the couch...

Here is the after:

Last, but not least, is the table one faces when they come in the front door...

Phase four is building then hanging a new coat rack in the foyer.

{Post 1,689} Table Top Is Nearly Ready!!

Last night and today I worked on staining and sealing the finished console table top. Here are some pictures that I hope end up in order. First is the original table:

Here is the top as I started applying the stain:

In my limited experience, staining is a crap shoot. Every type of wood receives stain differently. This one (although it looks even and sweet in the above picture) did not take the stain evenly. You will see what I mean in the next picture. There were a couple spots that for no reason, did not accept the stain.

This would not have been a problem since it will probably always have a runner of some kind, but it was right near the front edge of the table.

Here is the after. I ended up using acrylic, cheap, craft paint of a matching hue. It was still touch and go, but it looked much better.

And here it is after four coats of Polycrylic. I am going to bring it upstairs so I can decorate it tomorrow. So excited to put some pumpkins on there!!