A Vintage Table Given New Life

Since we are a little lacking in furniture to fill up our new home, my generous mother-in-law brought over this family heirloom table to help us furnish the place.  Even though the finish on this table had gotten a little tired, I saw the potential with the table's design and great legs!  The table was made by The Imperial Furniture Company of Grand Rapids, Michigan--my home town. Grin.

I started by sanding down the table and cleaning it with a product called Krud Kutter.

Then the table was primed and painted with Restoration Hardware's Blue Sage paint.

The paint needs to dry for a couple of days and then I think I'll antique this table.  It has some really pretty details that would really stand out with some antiquing. (I'll update with photos when it's done).

So the table was free and the paint was $36.  Not bad for a cute new piece of furniture. Just took a little elbow grease. Wink.

~The Lemonista

Our Family Heirloom Lemon Bar Recipe

As many of you may know, the only way to get Grandma LaVallee's amazing lemon bar recipe in the past was with a box of my homegrown lemons. In honor of my lemon tree that sadly could not be moved, I've decided to share the coveted Lemon Bar recipe today. I'm not sure if I'll leave this post up indefinitely, so be sure to print yourself a copy. 

Without further adieu, here is the recipe for the best lemon bars I've ever tasted. 

Grandma LaVallee's Lemon Bars

crust:

1 c. butter

1/2 c. powdered sugar

2 c. flour

1/4 tsp. salt

Combine above ingredients in a bowl and press in the bottom of a 9"x13" pan.

Bake for 20 minutes at 325 degrees.

filling:

4 eggs beaten

2 c. sugar

4 Tablespoons flour

4 Tablespoons Lemon juice

Zest from lemons that you juiced. (yellow part of peel only)

Mix together above ingredients.  Pour over hot crust right after you take it out of the oven and return to oven at 325 degrees for an additional 20 minutes or until filling is set when you jiggle the pan.

Dust with powder sugar. Cool. Cut in squares and serve.

Please enjoy. This one is very special.


~The Lemonista

Accenting With Color

We are moved into the new house. Phew. Let's hope we don't move again for a very long time because that was a ton of work.  As we settle into our new house, I find myself very emotional about the little house we left behind.  It was a great house, in a great neighborhood, and both will be deeply missed.

I've begun decorating the new house, and while this will be a very long process, I thought I'd share one of my first projects today.

My new kitchen had a broom closet door that was left unfinished.  Everyone seems to comment on this door when they pop in to take a peek at the house.  "You gonna paint that door, Erin?" Wink.

I gave the door a lot of thought.  I considered leaving it as is, staining it, pickling it, and finally painting it.  At first I thought I'd paint it white like the rest of the kitchen cabinets, but the kitchen is so neutral in color, that I felt like a punch of color would help tighten up a huge wall and give the eyes something to soak in.

The color is Sea Green by Restoration Hardware in the subtle velvet finish.  I just love how this turned out!

I also added a large Mackenzie Childs Taylor ball knob to match my dishes.

Perfection :-)

Oh, and remember the Civil War picture frame that I got for my husband last Christmas?

Only took me a year and two months, but I finally got around to framing the photo I had in mind.

More home decorating to come but I've got a stack of boxes calling my name first.

~The Lemonista