…only it’s no longer an entry piece…

After clearing out boxes and piles, we realized some of the furniture placement was just… off… so we set out to rearrange things a bit and are both much happier with the results.

The formerly white piece (see the before photos here) was just too small on the entry wall, so we decided to put it between the living and dining areas to give them a small bit of definition without closing them off.

Detail shot to compare with the before

Before the switcharoo, we’d already hung the letters from our wedding on this wall and the now silver piece worked just perfectly below them.

Letters above, gold frame and photo from the Mark Jarratts and souvenir wine glass hand painted by Hadley for savannah’s bachelorette party

The new placement gave us a great place to store the previously homeless cookbooks. This was super exciting. Yay.

The cookbooks have a home! More on the shelf above. New gold knob.

Looking back, we probably definitely would have done things differently. There aren’t any process photos because 1) we forgot and 2) it was a much longer process than it should have been. The silver and gold paints we used were a mess and would show finger prints and grease and even change color completely when touched. The first clear sealant we used was a MESS, took away the shine and pealed off like glue in places, so we ended up sanding down and starting all over on the shelves.

Details of finish

Moral of the story, even if you think rolling on a clear coat that someone on the internet likes, don’t do it. Just suck it up and paint on the Minwax Polyurethane with a brush–it’s not that difficult and will actually “finish” and protect the piece. Lesson learned. In the end, we are pleased with the result.