Thursday, August 30, 2012

It's Done!!!

Can I dance for joy? My dining room table is done, all done! And it looks amazing, if I can brag just a little bit. 

Progress from last post. 
Spent one day staining my boards - decided to go with a walnut colour from SamaN (Home Hardware product).  For never having stained anything before (at least not wood stain - I've done the food stains before! LOL) it was a pretty easy product to use.  It's a semi-transparent stain, so the natural grain of the wood showed, and even better, all the little dings and nicks took on a deep colour. Sure added to the rustic look of the table. 

 Top picture is with one coat, second picture is with two coats. I'm loving how rich and deep the colour went. It's exactly what I was dreaming of in my head. 
This stain dried incredibly fast, and by supper time, the boards were back inside and ready for the next step. 
Of course, now I was panicky. See, our old table was still in the dining room. I had listed it on our local classifieds site, but hadn't had anyone really interested in it. We had one spammer, and one person who didn't want it because the top was laminated, so it wasn't "real" solid wood. Not sure what it was she was looking for, but the laminate was real wood and the table was solid wood. Then the day the stain was done, we had someone call, and they came to look at it, and they took it home with them! So now my dining room was empty and ready for the new table. 

Our last meal at the old table. That table has seen 17 birthday parties in our family (10 for C1, 7 for C2), it's seen laughter and tears (I believe I was at that table when we called my parents to say that we were expecting, and when I called to say we had lost a pregnancy), it saw first meals as a couple, biscuits that were hockey pucks, and rice where I doubled the rice, but not the water (I was still learning to cook and bake at that point). It's seen fancy china and disposable dishes. It's seen really good meals, and meals my kids threw back up on the table.... (ick!)  It's had many card and board games played on it, it's served as my craft table, my sewing table and a storage space.  There's so many memories made with that table, it was bittersweet to see it go, but I know that the memories won't leave with the table. They are here to stay. And new memories will be made with the new table. Hopefully, for at least a few generations. 
Second picture shows how we ate a few of our meals.  Table just wasn't quite ready to move into the dining room yet.  I moved my bench to this wall for something different. I kind of like it. (It usually sits under the chalkboard). 
ouch... that's all I can say.  Remember from last post all those holes I predrilled? Well, I was having some problems with my screwdriver bit staying in the drill.  See, I had to add an extender on to the bit because it was too short for the depth of the holes and the bit kept falling out and staying in the holes. I was trying to screw the boards to the top of the frame, so I figured if it was falling out with the table on it's top, maybe if I flipped it around so it was standing on it's legs, the bit would stay in the drill. Well, that didn't help at all - actually got the bit stuck in one of the holes so tightly that it took the Hubs a lot of wiggling and banging at it to get it out. But by that time, I had the table together. I put those screws in by hand (about 45 of them!). One big blister popped. There was one more that a few more screws would have made it pop. My thumb and fingers were that really sore feeling you get just before blisters form, and my thumb on my left hand is still sort of tender. 

It's finally in it's new home! I added some nails to the top for a little more rustic detail, and a bit of extra oomph - have one board that's a little warped, nails seemed to help hold it in place a bit better. 
I'm so glad that it fits the space, and it suits the space so well too. Can hardly wait for company to come over so I can show it off. 

A little tablescape. A little bird I found at the thrift shop, a glass dome - I think it's from a clock, but it works this way. And my favorite scent at the moment - Cranberry Chutney (I will be heading back to the store to get more).
Two chairs fit perfectly on a side, so it will seat 6 on chairs, and at least 4 kids on the bench. There's also enough room on the sides that if we have to squish 3 chairs to a side, we can. Now I  just need more chairs! With selling the other set, our spare chairs left too!  Those chairs will get a makeover yet too. 

Well, table is ready for company. Coffee can be made quickly - anyone coming?















 

11 comments:

  1. WOW!!! i can't wait to see it in person!! don't know when that will be though.... Any time you want to come here and find projects to do, come on over!!! ~Amanda

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  2. I'm up for a visit, i'm good for a pie. This is marvelous! I love the rich color of the table top, it's a great contrast with the base. Fantastic table Krista!

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  3. Excellent job, Krista! Your tables memories were really well written. I enjoyed reading this post.

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  4. Great job, it suits your space beautifully! ~Jen

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  5. beautiful job! that planked top is stunning!

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    1. Thank you Cassie. :) It was a hard project to start - a little bit of fear with making it wrong or having it fall apart the first time it would be used. But, I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out, and with all that I learned from the project.

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    2. Marvelous results on your table Krista!! Really well done!

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    3. THanks Patty. We've loved the table. The only thing I'd do different next time - I'd send the boards through a planer (it will make them smooth with no warp) but other than that - I'd not change a thing.

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