baby steps

the great room finally has two more pieces of functional furniture in it: side tables for the couches.

what. up. it's only been a year.

finally: a place to set my coffee in the morning and wine in the evening, thus ensuring i will start to spend more time in the great room in the morning and evening.

the best part? we didn't have to spend a bunch of money for some manufactured, veneered piece of blah blah blah. instead, we spent $70 for two old school desks. and i loooooooooove them.

when they came home with us from mr nice craigslist guy, they were that silly putty/band-aid beigey pinky gray institution color, and the tops were super shellacked and full of doodles and stray marker lines. i kind of loved the tops because they showed where these desks have been, but the color didn't work for me. so i sanded down the base, marc sanded down the tops, and we had a clean slate. the bases got a few coats of a gunmetal gray spray paint, and i stained the tops with a minwax color called "provincial," then gave them a coat of clear wax.

and now the tops gleam and look amazing, and there are still some marks from their former life.

and if there is any doubt, i left the insides alone.

i'm beyond happy with my little desk-tables. and if i was a home blogger, i would have had some before/afters for you. or "in progress" shots. but, no. you just have to take my word for it.

so, to recap: one year ago this room needed ...

1. couches

2. possible side chairs

3. side tables

4. coffee table

5. rug

6. pillows

7. curtains

8. lighting

well, now 1, 2, and 3 are done. with any luck, we can get some curtains up and pillows on the couches by thanksgiving. i think some of those chiang mai pillows of amazingness will be on their way here in a few weeks. beyond happy about that. pillows. yeah, that's all it takes. i've been looking at lamps and haven't really seen anything that jumps out at me yet - other than the fact that a) they're all kind of ugly, and b) the ones i don't find ugly are the ones i find cost $300 a pop. but i'm still on the hunt. right now, these are contenders:

(ballard design)

(crate & barrel)

... but i'm not sold.

i'm pretty sold on the tables, though.