There are always health & food fads swirling around over the internet. I remember a few years ago, the big thing was fiber. Manufacturers added fiber to everything - even Splenda! Lately, it's been all about protein. Protein shakes, quick protein, slow protein...everything that has protein in it is marked VERY clearly as such. Then there's the superfoods. Avocados, blueberry, acai berries, chia seeds...the list goes on.
I won't lie, I usually buy into these food trends. It seems ridiculous, but I love discovering new foods and things that I never would have otherwise tried. I generally try to put them into permanent rotation in my house, as long as Nathan and I like both of them.
Lately, the trend has been that sitting is the new smoking. Yep, you heard that right. I read an article that absolutely terrified me. You can find it here, if you dare. It convinced me that I need to make a few changes. My problem is not really that I sit all day at my desk job, or that I come home and spend a couple hours working. It's that I do both. Especially during wedding season, I will sit all day only to come home and spend a couple more hours sitting down again. I realize some sitting is good for me, but not that much. And honestly, it gets pretty exhausting.
Cue my latest project! I decided I wanted to have a standing desk at home. That way, when I come home, I'll at least be standing while I'm working on photography, rather than sitting all day. My wonderful husband picked out all the wood, cut the legs, and assembled the whole thing. My job was the fun part - staining it!
So, without further ado, here's what I've been working on for the last couple of weeks. Behold, my standing desk, and the process to get it finished and looking good (in iPhone pictures)! And congratulations to Keisha C, who wins a 5 dollar gift card via random number generator! Send me an email at mariagracephotography@gmail.com so I can get it to you :)
The first step...sanding
Next, I had to clean the whole thing off with steel wool to get little dust and dirt pieces out
My choice of pre-stain wood conditioner. This thing makes wood look so much better!
After applying the wood conditioner. Shiny :)
Time to stain!
Looked amazing, even after the first coat
Now time to start staining the underside. Ignore my slippers...it was late!
The finished product
I'm excited about how well the stain turned out!
Life=improved
