Greetings all, welcome to a fun little get together all about the favorite things in your town!  I look forward to reading about where you all live and what you love about it. 

Quickly, I’ll share my three favorite things about where I live.  For those who don’t know, I live in a great little town called Petaluma in Northern California, which had a little feature in Country Living last year.  It’s 45 minutes north of San Francisco, 30 minutes from the coast, and next door to Sonoma in the heart of the Wine Country, which brings me to my first favorite thing about where I live . . .

1) Proximity   I’m a lucky gal, I get to make day trips to San Francisco and some weekends we head out to the coast, but my most favorite thing about my town is being surrounded by vineyards and having quick access to great wines.  

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I’ve mentioned before, we have a little guest studio above our garage that we’ve rented out in the past, but mostly use for guests, especially this time of year.  A few months ago I refinished the kitchen cabinets, and last weekend I thought it time to refinish the old Pottery Barn pedestal table that sits in that space.  It used to be our breakfast table, and over the course of ten years it has had its share of damage done to it.   

I’ve got to give PB credit, they make a a high quality solid wood table, but over the years it had suffered the typical wear and tear that comes with daily living.  Scratches, dents, paint residue, kid crud, you name it, that table had it.  After all the damage, I decided the time had come to refinish the surface. 

So often, when there’s damage to wood, the first inclination is simply to paint it and I confess I do that all the time.  For this table, I thought it would be better to take the time to restore the beauty of the cherry wood and I’m so glad I did.  With all the light and bright in this studio, I loved the idea of a classic wood pedestal table grounding the space.  Besides, let’s face it.  Dark wood pedestal table?  Totally timeless. 

Here’s a glimpse of some of the damage before . . .

. . . and today !

Here’s the skinny on how I restored the surface of this pedestal table in a weekend:

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Hello friends, hope all of you on the east coast are safe in the aftermath of Irene.  Watching the news, I was reminded how important it is to be prepared for emergencies and natural disasters, so we’re taking a few additional steps to beef up security around here.  I also made a trip down to my local True Value store where I shopped for stain and other supplies for my latest project.  I sanded and restained a circular pedestal dining table, and I’ll be sharing that with you soon!

Speaking of True Value, as a member of the DIY Blog Squad, this week is my turn to answer your DIY related questions.  The process is simple.  1.) Hop on over to True Value Facebook Page and 2. “Like” True Value if you haven’t already. 

3.) Next, click where you see “DIY Blog Squad” and then 4.) click on the tab that reads “Ask The Blog Squad”.

Other members of the Blog Squad like Katie from Bower Power and Layla from The Lettered Cottage have already answered a lot of questions, so head on over to browse through their responses for even more tips and inspiration.

In addition to blogging, I’ll be answering questions over at True Value for the rest of the week! 

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Hello everyone!  I teamed up with Abi again to bring you another weekend roundup, we hope you enjoy these inspiring finds.   

Looking for some wainscoting with a little more pizazz?  Pay a visit to Tracy at Soul Style and read about the clever product she installed in her living room, love it!  

On the fence about whether to paint an inherited piece?  Maria shares some sage advice at Colour Me Happy.

Jesyka D’Itri Marés

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Hey all, happy Friday!  Y’all know I have a weakness for French style dressers and can’t resist a good one when I spy it, especially at a thrift store!  I thought I’d share a quick little dresser makeover I finished up this week.

I spied this vintage dresser just as it was coming in the door at a local thrift shop. The wood was damaged in places, but it’s a well made piece and solid wood.  Wood putty filled the cosmetic flaws, and two coats of AS Chalk Paint in a custom mix prettied it up in a shade of barely gray almost blue.   

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