When I was a kid[many years ago]I used to make mudpies. Loved to play in the dirt,climb rocks,ride wild horses.Was sort of a tomboy,no girls in my neighborhood. In jr. highschool they used to call me witch.Don't know why. Now it seems I'm doing a second childhood, playing in the mud.I like these results much better.My favorite project is, like sarasaid,the one I'm currently working. This one is a water feature.It is a sphere[two bowls,mortared together.with a cut out].Mounted on a pedestal cast from the same bowl mold.The pedestal has 4 semicircles cut out so it has legs, these legs have been fortilied to provide the strength to support the sphere. It will be painted black inside,hold water,with glass 'rocks' at the bottom and a floating candle in it. I have great hopes for it. Don't know if I should paint the outside or not. I'm still trying to learn my son's camera so I can't post pictures, maybe one day I can.

This is Menard's "choice and best" or something like that grade in solid red oak, $1.71 / square foot on sale in 2009, unfinished pieces. We threw out almost a quarter of the stuff because it had knots or wild grain or some kid of burn from the plane or an irregular lip. A very kind friend donated 3 days labor and expertise and I supervised by sorting boards and handing the guys the next hand-chosen piece and took their guff for every one of them. We rented a nailer for 3 days. We put no stain on it but used 5 coats of Ace Hardware waterbase urethane, each coat followed by a session with a rented sander/buffer and a mound of disposables for it. Not sure how much the DIY cost ended up to be. Mat in photo is Gel Pro "Wicker" in Oyster Grey. Cabs are unstained red oak with lacquer finish. Roughly 9 months later, we are pleased with the floor. No problems so far. It does show dirt but we're hoping that once our landscaping is finished the dirt clumps will not be so common. Chocolate lab hair shows but not as bad as black lab hair.

I say paint it. It's beautiful as is, but you've considered this for years and aren't making a hasty decision. It will definitely be transformed and in a sense given new life. It may respond well to the joy it brings you. I do agree with others that it's a good idea to try out your technique on a little test piece from a thrift store. Yours is big and a bit complex. I recently refinished a small student desk and I ran out of inconspicuous spots to test my colors. Even now, I open drawers and see splotches on the inside of the drawer fronts. Can someone point me to a link about chalk paint? At first I thought you all were talking about chalkboard paint and I thought, oh for love the love of God, no. Clearly it's something else.

All the rooms colors have a similar depth and tone to them. Most of the colors are earth-toned, but we do have two rooms with a Federal slate blue. Since the house is small and the walls of some segue into others, I the colors to have the same intensity and depth so as not to look disjointed: 1st Floor: Kitchen ~ "Nora's Kitchen Green", a custom blend with a slight olive/mossy undertone...which shares a wall, although divided, with the... Living room ~ "Beeswax", a beautiful ochre gold Guest bath ~ "Beeswax", because it's off the living room. Den and guest rooms ~ "Stormy Blue", a Federal slate blue, reminiscent of a color found in older homes. 2nd Floor: Bedroom ~ "Winter Wheat, a medium earth-toned mushroomy color (okay, brown LOL), which leads into the... Master Bath area ~ "Winter Wheat" I like things orderly, including my flow of colors. But one wild thing are my kitchen counters, which are a port red. Love, love, love them!