Home Maintenance~Sealing and Polishing Granite

I hope you all are having a great week so far!

I wanted to share some home maintenance tips 

that I worked on over the weekend.  

After taking all of the 

Christmas pretties down I really wanted to 

deep clean the kitchen.  

One of the things on my list (for a while now)

was to seal and polish my granite counter tops.

I have used the Rock Doctor Granite Polish 

many times before but I had never used the Granite Sealer.

Since I really liked and trusted the product 

I decided to give it a go and try it out.
I found both products at Lowe's.

I cleared everything off of the counters and while I was at it 

I took apart the stove for cleaning.

Here is a close up of my granite on the island.  

You can see the small whitish marks. 

Those are small pits in the granite.  

The product, along with the polish 

is supposed to fill in these small pits.

I sprayed the Granite Sealer onto the counters and waited 

the 2-5 minutes before wiping it off.  

 The directions said to drop water onto the counters 

 and if it beaded up well then go onto the polish.  

 If it doesn't bead up well then apply another coat.  

 I was on the fence after the first coat 

 so I decided better safe than sorry 

 and I applied another coat.

Now onto to the polish...

You are supposed to spray it on and buff it in 

small circles with a clean 

cotton cloth until it forms a hazy sheen.

Think "Wax On, Wax Off"

Hazy it is!  

Now, wait at least 30 minutes before 

buffing it out completely.

While I was waiting for the polish to dry 

I started another project:

This little table was rescued at an Estate Sale for $15.00.  

I needed a small table for the side of the sofa 

and I thought that I could paint it if I couldn't 

revive the wood.

I am embarrassed to say that it sat like this 

for a few months! 

Isn't it cute though?  

I love the slanted book shelf on the bottom.

OK, let's take a good look at the top of this table.  

Water stains, scratches and just general wear and tear.  

Resor-A-Finish is a product that my mom told me about.  

I have used it on just about EVERYTHING!

I thought I would give this product a try first instead of sanding and refinishing. 
I can only seem to find this at Home Depot.

It is so easy to use, you just wipe it on with a soft cloth 

and wipe off any residue.

Let's see if it worked...

OK, WOW!!!

It took all of the scratches and water marks away!  

The finish is even and back 

to it's beautiful self.  

Do they sell this for faces?  

OK, I love how it looks but it seemed to lack luster.  

I wiped a little lemon oil on it and it just soaked it up!  

I had to apply it at least three times.  

But think about it...

Your furniture is thirsty in the winter!  

I know that I have been reaching for the hand cream 

 a LOT this winter.  

 I have a whole house humidifier and 

 I still feel the dryness.  

 Wood in the winter needs a little more TLC.  

 Just wipe your furniture down with the lemon oil once a 

week and watch it suck it up like it's a Margarita!

 OK, let's see the Before and After...

Now THAT makes me happy!

Back to my granite...

How shiny is that?  

It's like glass!  

I redecorated, cause that is like 

the reward for my hard work...

I kept some things and added some things from storage.

 My favorite Vintage Tole platter.

A sweet cow print.

And in the upper cabinets,

I added a little bling with an old silver platter.

And another cow painting to carry on the theme.

My built in hutch is one of my most pinned pins!  

I kept it simple on the sink side.  

I don't like to have a lot of clutter or appliances out.

My favorite white rooster, a fresh tea towel

And a little greenery.  

This is the only plant in the house that I haven't killed...yet.

Thanks for stopping by,

Until Next Time,

Beaux R'eves

Sharing with:
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Company's Coming!

I've been busy getting ready for a visit from my Mom!  She comes in tomorrow night to stay for a couple of weeks.  It's hard not living close to any family.  It makes you cherish the visits that much more...

Today I was working on the Hearth Room.  This is where we spend the majority of our time as a family.  The Kitchen and Hearth Room are all one HUGE room.  I can cook and still be a part of the TV watching and Miss Beaux does her homework at the large island.  It is really my favorite room so I like to be surrounded by the colors and things that I love. (There is a little fluff ball if front of the pillow)

 What would a good photo shoot be without a Dog?

This room gets so much use so we have Random Width plank wood flooring all throughout the Kitchen, Hearth Room, Eating area and back to the Mud Room and Garage Entry.  The color on the wall is Benjamin Moore HC31 Waterbury Cream. It's a soft buttery yellow color.  Yellow is a difficult color to get right and this one has always turned out fantastic whenever I have used it in a client's home. 

 Here is the left side of the Fireplace.  The cabinetry is all built in and houses the Media Equipment.  We originally built the house in 2001 and we had a Flood in 2009 that wiped out 3/4 of our house.  I'll save the details of that for another post.  We originally had two large Built in Cabinets with a TV in one side.  That was before the Flat Screens were hugely popular.  I had NO wall space and I always felt like it was difficult to deal with accessorizing the large built-ins because they had small cubby-like shelves.  In the re-design I opted for these cabinets.  They are designed to look like a movable piece of furniture and my wonderfully talented painters have finished them and distressed them beautifully.  I just showed them a picture of what I wanted and Viola!  

 I've been hanging plates up and I keep adding to them whenever I find something pretty.  

 My favorite thing to collect are small Landscape paintings.  Whenever we travel that's what I am scouting for to bring home.

  This large wooden platter is from where else?  Nell Hill's!  

 Isn't she a Beauty?

My little lovebirds moved over here from the Hutch.  That's what happens, I steal from one area and it's bare and then I steal from somewhere else and the process starts all over again.  Do you do that?

 Stole this Bird from the little hallway Etegere that goes into the Master...

 There it is!  My Hearth Room.  We'll step into the Kitchen on the Next Tour.

Beaux R'eves

XO Cindy 

Sharing with:

Gina at The Shabby Creek Cottage for Transformation Thursdays
Sherry at No Minimalist Here for the Open House Party on Thursdays
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Courtney at French Country Cottage for Feathered Nest Friday
Honey at 2805 for Potpourri Friday
Heather and Vanessa at At the Picket Fence for Inspiration Friday
Debra at Common Ground for Vintage Inspiration Friday
Sherry at The Charm of Home for Home Sweet Home Friday
Kristin at My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia for Tuesdays Treasures

Kim at Savvy Southern Style for Wow Us Wednesdays