During this time of social distancing, I can’t help but think about how one day soon, we will be able to gather again with family and friends around our new dining table. The idea for this table came with much thought; how I could make something beautiful, yet not spend a fortune in doing so. For years I have wanted to build a dining table, and I only needed to make a table top since I had acquired pedestals taken off an old table I purchased from a thrift store for only thirty bucks! The top of the table, however, was not to my liking so I tossed the top and began to think up ways to create a top that would suite my style. There are thousands of DIY tables on Pinterest that are beautiful and unique, and while I have taken some inspiration from many of those, I also wanted to design the top in my own way, to my own personal liking. Originally, I had wanted to use huge reclaimed beams sliced in half to make a top with a lot of character and warmth. The pictures below show something similar to what my inspiration was if you combine the two.
As I sourced reclaimed lumber, I learned very quickly I wouldn’t be getting wood for cheap any time soon. Most beams run about $10-$25 per board foot, which is the length x height x wide. So, when a board is four to six inches thick, eight feet long, and a foot wide, things add up quickly. I was looking at $500+ dollars just in the lumber alone, and then I would have had to pay someone to slice it up into thinner pieces, since my table saw wouldn’t have cut it… pun intended!
I figured enough was enough, and needed to put those pedestals to use and just come up with a new design altogether. They had been stashed away in the furnace room, taking up what precious little space we have of storage in there. But, even more so than using the pedestals, I needed to get rid of our old, worn out table that had taken much abuse over the last 15 years. It was a cheap buy from a furniture store, purchased for our first home when we got married, and though it is structurally sound, it was time for something new!
Continue reading “A table to gather around…”
31 Downing Street 