New Dining Room Table

One piece of furniture I've been wanting to build for quite a while is a new dining room table. Ours was about 10 years old and a cherry wood color which didn't go with anything else in the house. It was a good table and it survived through two children growing up (at least out of the toddler stage).

I wanted something that was larger than our current table. By larger I mean a bit wider and the length to be somewhere between our current table without the leaf and with the leaf. That way you could sit 6 people easily and more could squeeze in if necessary.

I searched on Pinterest and Ana White to find a table that I wanted. I wanted something simple with a bit of character. Something that would last for a long time, sturdy too.

This is the table that inspired me: It can be found here: http://thehandcraftedlife.blogspot.com/2013/12/dining-room-progress-completed-dining.html

 

Loved the clean lines of it and the character it also had with it. 

I decided to make the table in two parts; base and top. It would make it easier to move and lighter. It was very heavy.

This is the base; it's not completely finished at the time I took the photo. I'm guessing it needed another coat of stain and then poly to protect. I added about 4 coats of poly to make sure it would hold up well.

Here's the completed base with the top added. I basically made a small frame on the underside to go around the base and "lock" it into place. I had planned on just screwing it in but it's such a tight fit that it sits there just fine by itself. As long as no one is standing or dancing on the table it should be just fine.

I also wanted benches to go along with the table. Something sturdy that the kids wouldn't be tipping over or falling off themselves. The 4x4's really add to the sturdiness.

And this is the completed table. It's hard to really get a good photo of the color with the sun shining in but it's so nice and really spiffs up the space.

It didn't take very long to finish the building of the table. The tricky part was in the finishing, mostly the poly coats at the end. I definitely learned quite a bit in finishing it off. I did have to sand it completely down once and start over because the poly just wasn't looking nice. Since it's such a large surface it was hard to get the poly on without it drying too quickly. But in the end, with a lot of coats and patience, it was able to be done and I love it.

Vintage Pew Bench

After searching on Pinterest for a new piece for my entryway I came across this photo for a vintage pew bench. I did some quick measuring and realized it was perfect. It looked a little daunting but I figured if I followed the plans I could get it done. Of course the plans were on the Ana White site, which most of them are.

Sometimes I follow the plans by the book and other times I take the idea and run with it. This time I chose to follow the plans since the measurements and everything about it were perfect.

I usually choose pine for the wood. This time was no difference except I went with the nicer cut of pine when available so there would be less knots and less sanding. (My garage is already covered in sawdust.)

I like to just cut all the pieces before I start. It makes it easier to put together and the cutting (and cleaning) can be done in one shot. Always read through the directions first because sometimes there are things that should be cut during.

This was my first time using the jigsaw although I found it easy to use.

Here's a photo of it all put together, minus the drawer handles which were added at the very end. 

A photo of the bottom with a close up of the detail.

After it was all put together all that was left was the finish. I chose Minwax Polyshades in Espresso. I've used this stain on a few different projects and love the color and it's easy to use. Two coats was all it took and it was done.

I added the drawer pulls and it was complete. My favorite piece so far!

Sorry I didn't have any pictures of the progress because this blog was an afterthought but I'll try to get more on future builds. I'll be adding posts about previous builds in the near future, stay tuned.

New Blog

I haven't been blogging much lately with Facebook being so active but I thought I should start blogging about some of the things I've been building. I've been enjoying building new things and am really enjoying it. The house needs a few more things built so I'll document them here. I might not post too often because I don't build in the winter without a heated garage but I'll try to go back to some of the things I've previously built during the winter months.