Wax on, Wax off.

So many people are asking for an update on the stairs. It's coming! I promise. They're so so close to being finished- but they're just not quite there yet. So in the meantime I'm going to tell you about a little thing I discovered at Home Depot the other day- Fill Sticks.

I've recently been toying with the idea of ousting the first piece of furniture I ever bought myself- my Ikea coffee table. From what I can tell they no longer sell the model- but I did/do love it- it's basically a big chunky box with a glass top, and the ends pull out to reveal drawers. I bought it for 150$ and it saved my butt in my tiny 385 sq. ft. apartment- I refused to buy anything that didn't have built in storage.

And while I still love the functionality of it- let's face it- Ikea furniture was not made to be moved twice, once across the country. My basic rule with Ikea furniture is that I won't buy it unless I'm okay with leaving it behind when we move, or it can be easily moved without being dismantled- our Expedit media unit got left behind for my cousin when we left our apartment for that very reason. My little Ikea coffee table was beginning to show it's age.

Every edge on it was worn away. We are not of the "keep your feet off the table" variety- we plunk our tootsies on the table while watching TV, doing homework while I was in school (I cannot work at a desk!), or drinking a beer. And you could really tell. I'm all for the distressed look in some places- but the clean lines of this table do not lend themselves to shabby chic.

So I'd begun to keep my eyes out for a replacement. To be totally honest, the proportions of this coffee table are to small for this room- I'd like something bigger. But I'm not prepared to give up my storage so the right coffee table really needs to come along.

Then while at Home Depot I discovered something called a Fill Stick. It's basically coloured furniture wax in a crayon. It looks like this:

I bought one in black- thinking that I could extend the life of the table a bit by improving on it's look. It was worth a shot and the 7$. The application is really easy- just rub it on the spot you want to camouflage, and then wipe off the excess with a tissue. That's all! And what a difference it made!

It made it look brand new!! No more worn edges!!  The upper edges were pretty bad- but the drawer corners were even worse. But look at the difference!

That's the exact same corner, just rubbed over with fill stick. Great isn't it?

So for 7$ I've managed to give my little Ikea coffee table new life- at least till I find something bigger and better- at which point it'll get retired into the basement and Hubsbeast's man cave.

Next post will be about how my Mom made me a custom bay window curtain rod, and hung my living room drapes! Then the stair reveal!