Adventures in Contact Paper!

So last week we got a little table from a friend's garage sale. It had potential, but someone had covered the top of this little guy with contact paper, it did have a wood grain-like design, but WHY? No idea why it had been done. So it was my task to remove this sticky mess...and I didn't feel an urgency to apply all that elbow grease. But then yesterday a nice UIC student came in to purchase the table for an art installation and the table got moved to the top of my to-do list.

Here's my process and all the helpful things I learned.

So as you can see- this one's a fixer-upper. 

I went to the hardware store and asked their advice. The helpful employee recommended a rounded scraper and goo gone. So here's my first attempt. Very slow work. 

Then I had a light bulb moment- heat! That definitely sped up the process. 

Just a few seconds with my handy hair dryer set to high and the sheets came right off.

After removing all the contact paper the sticky residue was still there. 

I saturated the table with goo gone and let it sit 10 minutes. Then I scraped the majority off and used a cloth to rub away the rest. 

And here's the top contact paper-free! 

Now I just need to fix the missing wood trim. More photos to come of the finished product.

Fresh Finds

I've almost finished my first week of working in the store full-time. It's going to be an adventure, I can tell. Lots of consignment appointments, marketing strategies, and painting projects. I should have gone into business. Oh well, good thing I have had the help of so many great, supportive friends and family.

I wanted to take a minute to share some of our newest acquisitions. They are all pretty awesome.
Hope you like.

Retro Side table 79.99 

I love pieces with a story. An nice lady brought this hand carved trunk in. It was intended to be a gift for her son from her African safari. I guess it wasn't his style. Now it can be yours. 179.99

Sweet handmade birdcage 69.99

What I think is a very manly lamp 69.99

Classic cherry dresser with mirror 125

Our newest estate sale find. It was is the garage!  Sold it! 

Vintage distressed Ethan Allen chair with mustard yellow cushion 99.99

One of our more modern pieces- Glass topped coffee table 79.99 

Shabby chic vintage ice chest 129.99

1800s Mercury Glass Mirror 79.99

Dainty mid century modern Mosaic Side Table Sold it!

Faux Bamboo Nesting Tables 99.99

Antique Musical Sewing Basket 34.99

Repurposed Shelving Unit 49.99

So as you can see we have quite a variety right now. Pictures don't do most of these amazing finds justice. Come see for yourself in person. 2058 W Chicago Ave

As always more to come.

New Hours!!!

Starting a business is an adventure! All summer I have been working at a school in the morning and opening the store in the afternoon. It's been interesting to be a teacher by day and shop keeper by night. 

I'm definitely learning a lot about how to run the business and find the type of product our customer is looking for. 

We are so glad to have so many people stop by the store each day. It is so nice to get to know our neighbors and appreciate the hospitality and diversity of Ukrainian Village. 

This week I have been finishing up my previous job so that I can run the store full-time. I'm sorry to say this means our store will be closed until September 14th. However we are excited to announce that starting the week of September 17th we will have expanded our hours. One of the most common things people say when they come in is that we never seem to be open or every time they come by we are closed. Not good. 

Well, all that changes next week! We will be open Tuesday thru Friday 12- 6pm and Saturday 12- 5pm

So come stop by and see me. I'll be the one behind the counter with a big smile for you (and the one covered in paint most likely...)

Hope to see you soon. 

Coming Soon...

We are so excited to introduce this beautiful line of glass giftware by Odyssey Imports. These will be perfect for the holidays. 

My First Time...with Stencils

So we had a beautiful antique gate-leg table consigned, but someone had primed it at some time. So since there was no going back I decided to paint the table a soft butter yellow. When I finished with the yellow, it just seemed to need something more. I decided this could be a great opportunity to learn more  about the stenciling process.
After some research I had the basic idea. Here are the steps I took to give this table a little make-over.

Ready with my stencil purchased from Michael's and my dainty roller. I bought stencil spray adhesive, but it just seemed like I would turn into a sticky mess so instead I secured the stencil with tape. It works well as long as you make sure your roller has a LIGHT coat of paint. Here we go. 

First square done. I used a robin's egg blue to complement the yellow. This one definitely took the longest. Once I had the second square lined up it was smooth sailing.

I soon realized that by how I had placed the stencil, I would have to go back and fill in the edges at the end.  Oops.

I thought about stopping here and just having the stripe, but I decided to commit and finish the whole top.

Make sure to clean your stencil in between rolls or you won't be able to line it up easily. 

Success!

Detail with the edges added. 

5 hours of painting later...

The finished product. Sold at our Grand Opening Party for $150.

After the paint was dry I added two coats of Polycrylic and two coats of Minwax Paste Finishing Wax to make sure the top would be able to survive everyday wear and tear.

If you would like a custom painted dining room table email me at galeriactr@gmail.com or leave a comment and I would be happy to make that happen for you. Happy stenciling!

Our First Month

It's been an exciting first month here at Galeria CTR. We've been getting our name out there and working on adding to our inventory. Starting this month we will have a beautiful line of imported glass giftware by Odyssey Imports in store, so look forward to that.
I've been up to my elbows in up-cylcing projects. I wanted to share of few of them with you today.
We have been scouring garage sales, estate sales, and thrifting like mad to find little gems that need some TLC.

Let me show you the latest...

This Salvation Army Find needed some personality.

TA DA. I had a memory game of Charley Harper prints that fit perfectly. 

Here's the side view. A coat of epoxy and this little coffee table is ready. $99.99

Two tables with damaged tops. First we sanded. 

This little side table needed a modern update. First I added the primer.

Then I painted the top with a green glaze. Once the glaze was dry I added dark stain to let the wood grain show through. 

I decided this one needed a coat of color because the top had a large water stain.  So first the primer. Then a nice blue. 

Here's the round topped table updated with a coat of ocean blue paint. 

Two coats of paint, poly-crylic, and wax later. Color block blue gate-leg $79.99

All finished. $39.99