New(ish) look

First item:  We have been thinking of refinishing our table for a long time.  It's sturdy and has served us well, but the mid 90's honey pine was really getting to me.   

Strider bought some ebony stain and glossy white paint for the legs.

Then we sanded our little hearts out. Well, I sanded about 5 min for every hour he sanded. 

He worked so meticulously and the finish is gorgeous. It's a light black, if that makes sense.  Maybe charcoal.  

Before:

And after:

Obviously making the chairs & bench match is next on the agenda.  All the spindles and crevices have us dreading the task.  We are thinking of just priming all of them but instead of staining the seats black, just using black paint on that part.  Then the wood won't have to be completely sanded perfectly.  Hmmm.  Jury's still out on that.

Second item:  We weren't searching for a new range, but my sister's inlaws are doing a kitchen remodeling, including their range that is nice and not very old.  They offered it to us, and even delivered it from Bountiful! 

I didn't think I was a black appliance person, but it looks pretty spiffy with our black cabinet hardware and new ebony table.

I am trying to get used to the flat top.  I have to clean it a lot, but when it's clean it looks way better than the always nasty coil + drip pan look I had with the white stove.

Bonus is that we were able to give away our other one (that still works great) to a neighbor who really needed it.  Yay for new-ish stuff!

(Check out more crafts and projects at TCB).