Category: house

Our house has been undergoing a renovation for the past 6 months (ughhhh… be done already!).  While our home has come a long way from when we bought it 4 years ago (see original pics here!), it is still a ways from being finished and decorated.  I have once again started working on some budget friendly house updates, or BFHUs.  A recent project being inexpensive wall art.

First I found some photos on my iPhone from various urban hikes around San Francisco that I liked.  Then using my phone I cropped the images, turned them black and white, and ordered some prints at my local Walgreens.

I wanted simple frames with clean lines and white matting.  I ended up going with a couple of CB2 frames for the living room.  They come in various sizes and prices range from $25 to $70.  And I picked up some similar frames from Target for the dining room for $17 each.

 CB2 gallery frames

Target gallery frame

And voila!

Inexpensive and meaningful artwork all over the house 🙂

(Bisou working on her Tinder profile pic…)

xoxo
-ash

 

I have always coveted raw edge dining room tables. That being said, the one I found and fell in love with was $25,000! Can you believe that? So, I set out to make my own, to seat 8- and under $2,000! 

I first needed to find the wood slab. I started by of course googling “raw wood slabs” in my area. This came back with no luck. I then got the idea to call local cabinet shops. Sure enough, a cabinet shop near me had several different types of raw wood slabs! This is the part of the project that can cause you to stay in budget or go way over. Depending on the type of wood and size, you can find one for $500-5,000. I went over and found one in my budget (under $1,000)  and roughly the proper size. They offered to cut it down a little bit on one end- which was helpful. It needed to be fully dried- so they continued to do that for me, and a few weeks later he had me come take a look. 

It had a few splits in the wood that needed to be filled with resin, and the owner of the shop also recommended re-enforcing them with “bowties” so it would not continue to split. At the time I was doing this, I was very pregnant so a few of the tasks- like the resin, I could not do (heavy duty chemical). So, for a fee of about $300, they completed the bowties and resin for me. 

When I finally managed to get the slab home, I took a power sander to it and smoothed it down- both sides. You can imagine my husband’s face every time I needed it turned over. It is HEAVY! I removed some of the natural bark along the edges, but chose to keep some of it to make sure and give it that raw-edge feel.

Once sanded, it was time to seal it. The owner of the cabinet shop suggested using Waterlox. It is what he uses in his shop. This required several coats with a foam brush, and in small sections- both sides of the table and along the edges. The directions on the Waterlox website are excellent- please refer to those for more detailed instructions. Make sure to be in a well ventilated area that is free from dust! You don’t want little particles getting in your sealer. I also recommend a mask- this stuff is STRONG.

After it was completely dry, I installed the legs. The legs I designed with a gentleman I found on etsy. There are several vendors on there willing to make metal legs- It just depends on the style and price point you are going for. We worked together to figure out the best legs to give me the look I wanted, while staying in budget,and most importantly supporting the massive slab.

drum roll please….

 

Final cost: approx. $1700. 

I get more compliments on this table than any other piece of furniture in my house. I love being able to say I made it! I have now used the table for close to 3 years. I am proud to say that it doesn’t show a bit of wear- and that is saying something, with two little kids eating, coloring, and crafting on it daily!

 

xox

aj