Fabulous Haven 2013

Wow, Wow, Wow!

I had a FABULOUS long weekend.

I'm going to warn you right now there are going to be a lot of exclamations points throughout this post

AND

 words written in all CAPS

AND

 I'm going to use the word FABULOUS

A LOT!!!

Have to tell you right now that I'm a little reserved when I meet you in person

but I'm jumping up and down inside and trying to contain myself, just like I am as I write this post and remembering how FABULOUS this weekend was!

First off, everyone and everything at the Grand Hyatt Buckhead was FABULOUS!

The staff went out of their way to attend to every need and was so very helpful. Everyone that I encountered from the parking attendant, valets, driver, front desk, bellmen, banquet servers, wait staff....ALL were so friendly and helpful. 

I loved my home away from home while I was at the conference.

Our sponsors were FABULOUS, as well and treated us with like queens! (there were  a few kings who attended Haven, as well)

I ran into these ladies Thursday night at the Homes.com mixer. Later, we all went to dinner with another Kim (you'll see her later.)

Y'all know who these ladies are right?

Kim from Savvy Southern Style (on the left), Yvonne from Stone Gable (center) and Shirley from Housepitality Designs.

Ran into these ladies the first night too. Heather and Vanessa from At The Picket Fence. They are even sweeter and prettier in person.

Finally got to meet Becca from Adventures In Decorating. 

Doesn't she look fun?

The Home Depot and Rustoleum  hosted a cocktail party for us on Friday night where we got to rub elbows with some more FABULOUS bloggers... Janette and Jordan from Two Seasons with Rhoda from Southern Hospitality in between them.

 Ryobi invited all of us to a swanky soiree at the Intercontinental Hotel later on Saturday night and it was, 

you guessed it, 

FABULOUS

 The Ryobi guys showed up with their Ryobi umbrellas and danced to "It's Raining Men". I was too busy hootin' and hollerin' to take a photo. Sorry about that!

Ryobi's photographer did, however, capture some crazy bloggers doing the "DIY Shuffle"

Ryobi Power Tools

 My first Cosmo...so pretty!

Here's the lady whose blog got me hooked on blogs...Susan from Between Naps On The Porch. 

 Fun at the Ryobi Party...

Ryobi Power Tools

Ryobi Power Tools

The Sessions were FABULOUS too.

Ana White gave the opening session.

I learned so much. The information in the sessions were definitely worth the price of admission.

My head was swimming after one session called Google guice (juice). And no, you don't have it for breakfast as Mr. Fanatic joked about. 

Saturday morning was the second day of the Ballard Designs Bookcase Challenge. I pegged this one right away as one of the winners.

 I wasn't biased in the least because my new friend Kim from La Belle Epoque was on the team.  Kim's the cute blond on the far left.

I was so excited to meet Ana White. She is so sweet and talked with me as if we had known each other for a long time. 

 Then there's KariAnne, another sweetie. She was smiling everytime I saw her.

Found Roeshel from DIY Showoff on Saturday and had to take a pic with her. Hers was one of the first diy blogs I followed.

Then, there was the FABULOUS swag that I got to bring home.

Kreg gave everyone a choice of  one of three Kreg tools. Mr. Fanatic wanted a Rip Cut. Not sure what that is, but I'm hoping he will make something fabulous with it.

Now here's what I really want....A Ryobi Impact Driver. It's lightweight and has more power, making it easier for me to use, instead of having to wait for Mr. Fanatic to do something. 

I was already starting to look forward to Haven 2014 when we all got together for the closing session.

There are so many other bloggers that I didn't get to meet...guess there's always next year.

Thanks so much to the Haven team who put together such a FABULOUS conference! You know I will be first in line for next years event.

Who would you like to meet at Haven next year???

Pam

joining:

 Other Haven Conference Recaps Here

Pottery Barn Inspired Picnic Table

Hope you had a fabulous weekend...I sure did! 
It was AMAZING and FABULOUS and I promise to tell you about it by Wednesday, so be sure to stop by again soon.
In the meantime...

We're working on our deck makeover;

a deck refinish with a 

new color, 

new furniture, 

new accessories and

new everything...

except for the grill

(the grill is good for a few more years).

It was about time. We bought our Tropitone patio furniture wayyy back in 1986.

Don't say it...I know...

Some of you weren't even born yet. 

Since I don't have big bags full of money, this makeover had to be done on a budget. 

A seriously tight budget. 

I've wanted to make for Mr. Fanatic to make me a picnic table ever since I saw this beauty on The Reading Girl blog.  I sent the link to Mr. F two years ago...

and waited...

for just the right place to put it.

The top of our very old patio table had been accidentally broken years ago by one of our daughters, who shall remain nameless. 

Mr. F fixed it by making a top out of tile, but alas, the tiles were falling off and the top was falling apart.

We definitely needed a new table and NOW. I scoured Craigslist and found

NOTHING I liked.

So, it was time to make the Reading Girl's table.

Now how to finish it...hmmmm

I saw this great table on the Pottery Barn website and really loved it. The price, not so much.

Looks like the price dropped a bit...When we started this project, the price was $1,199. I love the contrasting zinc top.

 Loved this table I saw on Style Decor too. Both of these table were our inspiration.

It was settled and Mr. Fanatic and I went off to the store and bought some wood. 

If you go to The Reading Girl's website, she has a link to Ana White's website(I met her this weekend!) that has a cut sheet with instructions.

That's what Mr. F did.

The wood cost us pretty close to $100. Not bad.

One Saturday, Mr. F cut all the wood, then dry fit it.

He used his handy Kreg Jig so he could attach all the screws so you wouldn't see them.

One of these days, I'm going to learn how to use one because it looks pretty simple.

Mr. Fanatic cut all the pieces for the table, then

this is where I came in...

I used the solid stain that was leftover from staining the deck...

You know, the first coat that I hated on the deck floor and then proceeded to try just about every color on the color chart?

Yeah, that one.

It was perfect to give the look of the Pottery Barn's zinc topped picnic table. 
The color is Nantucket Gray in  Olympic solid color deck stain. 

KariAnne over at Thistlewood Farm created a faux zinc memo board that had THE most perfect finish from Martha Stewart that I would have loved to do, but it was expensive, so I used what I had.

I went to the Home Depot and bought some transparent waterproofing deck stain in Cordovan Brown for the legs and apron. I loved both colors on the first try, unlike my deck color choosing fiasco that ended up costing too much money. 

Here's a tip: if you are refinishing your deck and are choosing a new color, go to The Home Depot and try our a few samples. Their little samples are only $3.68 in our area (at the blue box store, you have to buy a whole quart for $15+)

I stained all the pieces before the table was put together, just to make it easier.

then Mr. Fanatic put the table together. He used a 2 x 4 to line up the ends of the 2 x 6's for the top.

Then, he lined up the apron and attached it to the table top.

The instructions called for brace pieces to secure the top to the apron. You can see more detailed instructions on the link below. Ana White's website has a cut sheet and detailed instructions, plus photos from several people who made this table, as well.

Love these vintage clamps he uses.

After the legs were attached to the apron, we were almost finished...

She's a beauty!

If you notice, the stringer wasn't finished, so I put two coats of stain on it when it was all finished.

I also applied one more thin coat to the top of the table and touched up some spots on the legs.

When Mr. F took the table out to the deck, I was ecstatic!
I just love the contrast of the Cordovan Brown legs against the two different grays. 
Don't you  get excited when you love a project when it's finished?

diy Design Fanatic.com

I found the two chairs on a trip to HomeGoods. 

Only two chairs??? What about the other side, you say?

Well, that's our next project. Mr. Fanatic is going to build a bench with storage that's also works as a chaise lounge. (saw it on Pinterest)
Can't wait to dress it up with accessories, too.

I'm hoping our total deck makeover will be finished in time to have at least one party or get together with friends...
oh, I am so looking forward to that!
Do you have a deck in your backyard and how do you keep it looking fresh?

Pam

link to Ana White's website with cut sheet and instructions on how to build this table HERE

PS: I was not paid by The Home  Depot, Kreg Tools, HomeGoods or Pottery Barn (or anyone else) for this post.
I just wanted to share my experience with you. 

Disclaimer: The above post is how we made our picnic table. I don't take any responsibility for any errors or results obtained from using this information. When using power tools, use safety equipment.

Refinishing Our Deck

Oh, the trials and tribulations of doing a diy project. 

Ok, not always, but every once in awhile.  

Have you ever started a diy home project and it seemed like it took 

forever?

Well, that's how it's been with regards to refinishing our deck this year.

Back in 2010, our deck looked fabulous and so well put together.

But, this year, our deck started to peel in a bunch of places, so I pressure washed  it...

Until it looked like this and all the loose old finish was removed. We did a little light sanding, as well.

We had purchased Olympic Nantucket Gray solid deck stain awhile back and we applied one coat on the deck floor, all except this corner(where we had put the furniture and the grill).  (you shouldn't really stop in the middle of the board; for best results, you should do one board all the way the the end so you don't have any marks, but I was lucky)

anyway...

This was back in June

Then it started raining.

Every 

day

 We finally had a few days of only small showers and then 2 days of no rain, so I finished the corner.

Turns out, I really HATED the color, but at least the deck floor was refinished with one thin coat. 

  

So, I went back to the store and bought another sample/er quart of stain.

I didn't like Olympic Eiffel Tower

So, I bought another quart of Olympic Pewter...

 didn't like that either...(too gray)

So, I went back to the store and bought another quart of stain.

I didn't like Olympic Deep Charcoal either. 

So, I went to the Home Depot to try one of their colors. Their stain samples were only $3.68 (instead $15+ for the quarts. 

I tried Behr Solid Color Weather Proofing  All In One Wood Stain and Sealer in Autumn Brown.

This time, I painted a piece of pine and set it against the brick.

Autumn Brown was actually too brown for me. (It's actually browner than it looks in the photo)

So, I went home and did what I usually do when I choose a paint color. 

I take what I have and mix up a couple of colors until I like the color. 

I applied the color I mixed up to a pine board and

 went back to the Home Depot and asked them if they mix custom colors for deck stain and could color match what was on my sample board.

They could and it was perfect! 

Here are all the samples I had to go through to find my perfect deck color. The final color is in the gallon.

 Of course it rained again 

for

 days

 but we finally got a break and I applied the first coat of the new color on the deck. 
and then, there was this on stairs...

what do you do?


I got another break in the rain last week for a couple of days and finished the 2nd coat on the deck floor and stairs. 

I was able to touch up some of the railing too.

Still have the bottom of the posts and the stair railing to do, but it will have to wait at least until next week. 

Mr. Fanatic likes the custom color too.

Our deck is getting a total makeover, including furniture. Mr. Fanatic made a gorgeous picnic table ~ here's a sneak peek: 

 I'll show it to you and how he made it in a couple of days. 

He also has plans to make a chaise/bench with storage for the seating on one side of the table.

Here's what I'm planning to add some color to all the gray, brown and white.

I can't tell you how HAPPY I am to finally finished the deck floor(and 1/2 of the railing).

Have you ever started a diy home project that took you forever, or is it just me?

Pam 

joining:
Savvy Southern Style for Wow Us Wednesday

Between Naps On The Porch