Perfect Barnwood Mirror & Valentine's Day in Napoli

Hope you had a Happy Valentine's Day! Zack & I enjoyed a typical, late (10pm) Valentine’s Day dinner in the city of Naples. ❤️ For special occasions, Italian restaurants typically present a pre-set menu. We ordered the Terra (or Land) menu. 

Blogger's Driftwood Gray Hardwood Floors & Trulli Homes in Alberbello

Okay, I’m in love with these darling little homes and I don't care who knows it! They’re called trulli and from what we read, they’re only found in this Puglia region. We are in Alberbello, where trulli homes are abundant and date from 1400 AD. I think they’re enchanting. 

Rustic Mantel & Basilica di St Niccola in Bari, Italy

Yesterday we had the fabulous opportunity to check out Basilica di San Nicola- otherwise known as the tomb of St Nick- or Santa Claus. Did you know Santa was a legit person, a saint from 280 AD? I sort of did, but now I know it for a fact! 

DIY "Barnwood" Garage Doors

Yup! We are on our way to ITALY! Can you believe it? We plan to spend the year traveling the country bottom to top- and I hope to speak fluent Italian when it's all said and done. What an incredible experience and I hope you guys will cheer me on. We start our journey for 3 days in Rome, just to get adjusted, then we will travel via train to Catania where we'll be for a few weeks. 

Farmhouse Style Wood Bar

Back to the basics. I know you all love is what I've been doing with my stain. How much do we love the colors of your favorite vintage farmhouse? Well, you can finally have them. Easy peasy, just apply to wood and watch the magic happen! You're going to love this tutorial to easily achieve the Chip and Joanna farmhouse look.

Materials

• Any wood project
• 1 Garbage Bag
• Citristrip
• Mineral Spirits
• Palm Sander
• Weatherwood Stain's Light Oaking
• Weatherwood Stain's Varnish

Directions

For this project any old piece of furniture made from real wood will work.

1.] STRIP: First you'll want to apply a thick layer of Citristrip to the table. Citristrip has a tendency to dry out before it can eat away at all the layers of stain and lacquer. So covering the wet stripper with a garbage bag helps keep the moisture in while it works.

 

2.] SCRAPE: When the stripper turns white, it's ready to be scraper off. Remove the bags and scrape as much of the mixture off, as you can. You'll want to try and get down ti the raw wood if you can. But being careful not to scrape or damage the wood itself. 

3.] CLEAN: You will want to wipe the table down with mineral spirits and a rag to remove any existing residue. This should remove any sticky residue from the tabletop.

4.] SAND: Here's the labor portion. You want to use a palm sander and 80 grit sandpaper to make sure the wood is completely down to raw. 

5.] STAIN: Weatherwood released a new stain that can turn oak into a beautiful driftwood gray, called Light Oaking. This product can work on any wood, so it's less complicated than some of their other products. You can layer this product for the perfect gray! Just wait 30 minutes between coats.

6.] PROTECT: Seal with 2-3 coats of Weatherwood Varnish topcoat.

You're going to love our newest stain. The Light Oaking is simply gorgeous and so easy to use. I'd love to see your Weatherwood projects. 

And please don't forget to give me your feedback about paint. This is going to be an amazing year!

Weathered Exterior Beams

Zack and I launched another product in Forks, Wa  few weeks ago. You guys know that's one of our favorite spots in the US and we get there about yearly. This time we launched a book Zack wrote, It's called Harvest Moon. For those of you who like to keep up with us- here's the link. 

Faux Reclaimed Wood Bookshelves

T-minus 5 days before lift off to Italy! This week we are in Florida- one last hoorah before 12 months abroad. I am currently trying to get my life whittled down to one 44 lbs bag. I know- I know! It's gonna be tough and it's giving me some angst. It's not even the clothes & shoes, but more the every day objects that make like life easier, like a heat pack! ha!

Restoration Hardware "Gray" Millwork

Maple floors and millwork are less common now, because maple doesn't take traditional wood stains very well. But they were super common back in the day. You will find maple millwork and floors, in older homes, especially in the east and mid-west. 

Fortunately, staining maple is no longer a problem if you use reactive stains. I mean, just look at this millwork! This is a great project for old and new wood. Not to mention, reactive stains are super easy to use.

Ammonia Smoked Wood - in 1 Safe Step!

Happy 4th of July to my American friends! We are celebrating in Florence, Oregon- running a 5K, hitting up the parade, and of course, fireworks! How about you?

Today's post is pretty exciting. See back in the day, Europeans started ammonia smoking their oak floors to get gorgeous wood floor shades that were impossible to achieve otherwise. People hardly do this anymore because ammonia smoking floors is super toxic and dangerous. Ammonia fumes can kill you and folks used to seal up their whole house to allow the fumes to interact with the tannin in the wood. 

Farmhouse Look for Floating Shelving

Hey guys! Here's a few promised photos of our time in the Olympic Peninsula! It is a truly magical part of the country, including Forks, WA. Annnd it's where the Twilight Series "happened" if you remember those books; we walked La Push, First, Second, & Third beaches.  This week we were in Portland, WA hanging with old friends and it's been a blast! 

Rustic Wood Counter

Hey friends! We spent last week in Vancouver and can I just tell you, that city is gorgeous in the spring time! Have you been? We walked their Marine Walk and took a boat trip thru their harbor, saw the art museum, Fort Langley and did an architectural walking tour. the city was lovely and clean. But perhaps the highlight for this sweet tooth, Zack and I split the YUMMIEST desert, called "sugar pie." 

DIY Driftwood Gray White Oak Floor

Hey party people! Everyone on the East Coast seems to have these old oak floors in their home, which is awesome because you can hopefully give them a major makeover. I have this amazing  floor tutorial for you. It makes your floors easy enough for you to DIY them! 

Refinishing a Piano with Stain

I am getting over another bug, I mean bug, gosh. We have only been in Winter for 6 weeks and I've already caught 3 different viruses. But I wanted to make sure you were inspired during my misery (lol) so I am sharing one of my top 10 favorite Weatherwood projects with you. It's from my bloggy friend, Jen at The Created Home. 

Barnwood-Looking, Home Depot Barn Doors

This week we're working our way up the Oregon coast and boy, did it get cold fast! We will be in Seattle for a month. Does anyone have any recommendations for us to do or see? What about at Christmas time?

I thought I'd share a quick little project that will take your $$ and give it a $$$$ look! This sliding barn door was made from brand new raw wood and turned into authentic looking barnwood! Here's how to get the look.

Stunning Reclaimed Cypress Countertop

Hope you guys are keeping warm this December, the weather in Sicily has been amazing! Thanksgiving was a "balmy" 61 degrees and this time last year it was 42! For the holiday we walked the town square and popped into the Catania Cathedral, final resting place of St Agatha.

Create & Hold White Washed Gray Cabinetry

I know what you're thinking, my cabinets are already painted so I'll never use this project. Stop right there, for one- this color can be used anywhere- on furniture or walls, etc. For two- big box stores, like Home Depot, sell unfinished, raw alder cabinets! This home sold for tens of millions and you can have this look very easily! You could get this VERY high-end look for a fraction of the cost. 

Low-Cost Alternative Wood Wall

Hey guys! This week's project idea comes from a high-end resort designer. She wanted a much wider, 12' planks for her design, but also wanted the warmth of wood. In the end, she found a wood plank alternative that save money and offers a wide range of customizability. 

Cerused Oak Table Refresh

Hey friends! Did you happen to catch my big news I shared last week? It was a year long secret, so I've been dying to share our news with you. Onto other news, this Scandinavian look is just so hot right now and the white washed look works on everything wood. Well hear it from me, this white oiled look is MAJOR right now. Here's how to use the product to achieve a cerused oak look.

Achieve the Scandinavian, White Oiled Look

Hey friends! Did you happen to catch my big news I shared last week? It was a year long secret, so I've been dying to share our news with you. Onto other news, this Scandinavian look is just so hot right now. You know how we work with all the largest architectural and design firms, in the world with Weatherwood? Well hear it from me, this white oiled look is MAJOR right now. I've shared how to get it, for two different projects.

Reclaimed Ash Sliding Barndoor

This barn door was made from reclaimed wood, but we still used Weatherwood stains to make it look old. That might not make sense to you. But when you cut into old reclaimed or barn  wood, the vintage look disappears and you have brand new-looking wood, again! For that reason, a lot of reclaimed wood distributors use these stains to give their reclaimed wood a reclaimed look! lol