I have one of those ideas in my head that I should ignore. But I don’t think I’m going to. Uh oh. Here we go again.
me, two years ago just before Christmas when I decided to build bookcases in my dining room.
It has been exactly 2 weeks since my house has looked like the bottom of a dumpster. I’ve been out of a major mess, (after finishing my new, old dining room floors) for exactly 14 days. That mess involved floor sanding, floor finishes, paint trays, paint brushes, stained clothing and plastic hanging in my doorways to contain the sawdust blizzard to one room.
I am always in a mess. Not sometimes, not usually, – always. Mainly always anyway. I’m definitely in a mess more often than I’m not in a mess, as anyone who has ever come into my house on any day other than the day a magazine is shooting here will tell you.
And actually even then it’s a mess, but it’s not my mess, it’s the photographer’s mess.
Let’s review just a few of the messes I’ve gotten myself into over the past couple of years shall we?
A Look Back at Some of My Extraordinary Messes
This is my backyard mess from building my pizza oven.
This is the mess from building my library/dining room bookcases 2 Christmases ago. It’s actually the clean up of the first mess (putting in the bookcases), before the starting of the second mess (cutting and installing the trim and crown mouldings).
The redoing my kitchen mess. I remember it fondly.
The more recent “I’m just going to pull up one floor board to see what’s under here mess.”
The “I really like what’s under those floorboards, I’m gonna rip up ALL THE FLOORS IN MY HOUSE!!!“, mess.
This is just a small sampling you understand and doesn’t include less significant messes like tearing out walls.
Now, with Christmas just moments away I’m considering getting into another mess. It’s my dining room table. I love my dining room table. I had it custom made from antique barnboard. The entire tabletop is only 2 boards. One of those boards is 27″ wide!
My dining room table at Christmas a few years ago. The photo is desaturated a little bit, so the table is actually more orange in real life.
But when I had the table made I thought the man making it would leave the original patina. I mean, that’s why you buy 150 year old pieces of wood, right? But he didn’t. He sanded that wood down to a glossy new finish and I’ve been disappointed with it ever since. He did a beautiful job finishing it and building it. It’s a masterpiece. It just isn’t exactly what I wanted. I wanted a table made of old wood that looked old. But I didn’t convey that well enough. Also. It’s orange. That’s the thing about pine. Finish it in any way other than a water based finish and your lovely pale pine goes orange.
From the day it landed in my house I’ve said I was going to refinish the table eventually. And now I don’t think I can stop myself from doing it. I want to strip off the finish and stain and bring it back to a natural wood. Right now. Moments before Christmas. I blame it on my new/old dining room floor. I love the floor so much and it’s the look I’ve always wanted for my dining room table.
I just don’t want the mess.
Have a good weekend!
I say go for it. What a wonderful gift for yourself for Christmas and consider how wonderful it will look on Christmas morn for BKF.
My late husband and I did our kitchen over totally one year. The guys were great. They stripped the kitchen to the walls and then left to work on the cabinates at their shop and left us with a microwave to cook with but no sink or stove. We did still have the refer, thank goodness. A week and a half went by before they were back. They did such a great job we decided to add a new room off the living room as a family room. Tore out the wall and started in on the remodel. 3 weeks before Christmas. We had a sheet of plastic between the living room and the remodel. In Spokane, WA in Dec. Finished 5 days before we were expecting a family of 16 people for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day dinner, etc. It was beautiful and we did have a great time, (after the mess). But it was touch and go during that time of “the remodel” So I say go for it.
Also as a mess gift, (it helps to drink) I give you our family recipe for “Killer Eggnog” This is from my dear friend Ardys Haupt by way of her Aunt Marty Schumacher.
Beat the yolks & whites of 1 dozen eggs separately. Pour together and add:
1 pinch baking soda
6 oz. rum
about 4 cups of powdered sugar
Beat into stiff batter
add 2 qts half & half
2 qts rye, bourbon, or brandy
Stir and let set in refer over night
Stir well and store in bottles ( I use screw tow bottles)
Shake well before serving.
Makes a lot. We frequently give some as gifts in fancy bottles.
Forgive me Ardys, for giving away the secret, but I felt Karen needed this.
Thank you! I’ve copied and pasted it into my recipe folder. :) ~ karen
My reaction to the first pic was, “OMG, it’s almost Christmas. WTF is she up to now?” But orange pine??? No. Just. No. The orange has got to go. Just do it!
You may make a mess, don’t we all, but YOU end up with something FANTASTIC! Can’t wait to see the end result! :)
To with the the mess,it’s meant to be !😉
is there any chance the craftsman did not finish the underside? I would rather switch to that if possible than shave off more of the present surface. If 90 million readers already suggested this -sorry…
May I just take a moment to say that you’re my favorite crazy person?
Christmas isn’t for 2 1/2 weeks. You’ve got tons of time. And you’ll be so happy with the results! I can’t wait to see it.
You still have enough time! Go, go, go!!! :-)
There’s not a doubt in my mind ~ YOU are doing it & I suspect at this very moment in time ~ you go girl‼️ I absolutely love your humorous, adventurous & creative spirit Karen❣️