DIY Dining Table

 
This has been a super fun project! I have been wanting to build my own table for quite some time, for a couple reasons;
#1 The biggest reason is we needed a bigger table. Our family was barely fitting around our current one and having other people over was getting close to impossible.
#2 To save some money because it seems like furniture is either grossly over priced or not sturdy enough to last more than a couple years.
#3 I wasn't loving anything I had seen in stores.

So I started down this journey of building my own table. It was my biggest build yet and I was very intimidated and hesitant to start. I waited until the weather was finally nice enough outside and in the garage that I wouldn't freeze or fry.

I started by searching plans. There are lots out there, but ultimately settled on THIS PLAN. I loved the style and the estimated cost to build! :D So I started there but I did make some modifications along the way and I have a couple suggestions if you decide to build a table of your own.

To start, I decided not to use 2x6s for the tabletop like the plans called for. I don't have a table saw to square the edges of the lumber like she suggested and I didn't want the table to be so heavy that I couldn't move/scoot it around if I needed to clean or whatever.Instead of 2x6s I got a sheet of 4'x8' plywood and had Home Depot rip it down into 6" strips. The first guy we asked said they couldn't do it that small, but my dad was with me and asked another guy and he did it no problem. Then I just connected the strips with pocket hole screws.

The second modification I made was that I couldn't build the X under the table. My saw wouldn't do the angle that was required and I couldn't understand the alternative that she explained. So instead I cut 2x4's at a 45 degree angle to attach to the middle stretcher bar and also to the legs.

Since I used the plywood for the table top. I got 1x2s to create a border around the edge and cover the exposed edge of plywood. It adds a lot to the table, I think.

 There was one thing I didn't modify, but wished I had. The plans called for 2x4s for the legs and to shave off a 1/4" on each side with a table saw. Well, again, I don't have a table saw so I went ahead with the 2x4s and I didn't love the gap the rounded corners created. I tried to fill the gaps with wood filler but it is still quite obvious once stained. What I wish I had done was just gone ahead and gotten 4x4 posts for the legs. It would have created a much more seamless and squared off look. 

I love love love how it turned out. I went with a Dark Walnut stain. It took a loooong time to decide what color to do. I tried very hard to get a dark grey color but non of them turned out right.

In the end, I did two coats of stain and then 3 coats of poly. Just to be safe. Kids will be eating at this table after all. lol

  A couple more tips...






When I trimmed all the planks, I needed a way to keep me straight. I grabbed an extra piece of wood and squared it up crosswise to the planks and clamped it on. This helped me trim the ends straight across.

Lastly, spend the extra $10 and use pre-stain wood conditioner! It made such a difference in how the stain turned out. In most of my test patches, I didn't use the conditioner, but since I was getting frustrated I grabbed some to see if it made a difference and it really did!

Now just more pretty pictures :)

Laundry Room to 'Mudroom' Makeover

I have died and gone to heaven!

Laundry room organization heaven that is!

I am so excited to be sharing our most recent project with you! This was a labor of love. I knew I was going to love the end result or I seriously might not have finished it. lol.

It wasn't overly complicated or hard or anything. It was just a lot of trips to the hardware store and trying to find a time to work on it between naptime/bedtime (loud saws and hammering) and keeping the kids out of the way.

So technically, I don't know if I should call this a mudroom. I mean it is still my laundry room, but when someone says 'mudroom' this is the image it invokes.

Our laundry room is a small room that you pass through when coming into the house from the garage. The washer and dryer are awkwardly situated behind the door to the garage and there is a large utility sink that, as much as I love using it, sticks out too far into the room and is too close to the washer. The door actually bumps the sink most times I open/close it. We had a 'nine cube' for our shoes and other miscillaneous things. There was already a rack for hanging coats but it goes over the sink and as useful as it is, the coats hang down into the way of the washer/sink.

So my desire for some kind of mudroom shelf/bench/built in was born. I knew we needed space for shoes, coats, backpacks, and somewhere to put gloves/hats/scarves in the winter to be easily accessible but also not on the floor.

After telling my husband about my idea, he hit Pinterest (I know, right?!) and started finding ideas and inspiration that would work for our space. We combined the look of a couple different projects, but ultimately we used Ana White's Smiling Mudroom as a basic guide for the bench and shelves because it was really the only site that had actual plans. Then modified it to the length we wanted it and added shelves to the shoe part for even more storage.

First I removed the baseboard and quarter round in the are we were going to be working in. We started with the beadboard, our area needed two sheets. We got plywood from Home Depot and had them do the long cuts for us and I did the rest with circular saw and miter saw. I painted everything (for the shelves and bench) before assembling. I painted in my 1st graders room while he was at school so I could lock the door to make sure no one made a mess.

 We didn't have a pocket hole jig so we just made due with either seeing the screws or got creative about hiding them. Here's one of the dividers for the shoe shelves. We used a 1x2" to make a brace for the shelves.

Here you can see we also cut the corner of the bench to allow space to pass through when coming in the door. 

Like I said above, we didn't have a pocket hole jig so we had to figure out how to cover the screws, especially on the top of the bench where we attached each of the dividers. We got a sheet of super thin plywood, 7/32" thick. I had Home Depot cut this down again to the strip we needed for the top of the bench. I took it home and stained it, then glued it down to the top of the bench, and added 1x2" around the edge to finish it.

Next we built the upper shelves and focused on securing those to the walls.

As you can see I had a bit of trouble finding studs lol. I even bought a new stud finder but it just wasn't jiving with the beadboard so I resorted to more 'manual' options. I poked the holes in a place that was going to be covered by the shelf so it wasn't too big of a deal.

 So to attach the shelves to the wall, I first put a 1x4" on the wall, attached to studs, for the shelves to 'rest' on. while I held it, my husband drove screws through the back of the shelves (also 1x4"s) and into the studs. This was actually really hard, beadboard is a beast to get through. I highly recommend pre-drilling with a bit slightly smaller than the screws you are using.

Don't forget to test that it's secure....😉

From there, we finished the look with 3 more horizontal 1x4"s; one flush against the bench, 1 for the large coat hooks, and one for the smaller coat hooks.

Then we ran the 1x3"s vertically (6 of them) to line up with the shelves above and below. These were just punched on with a nailgun. Then came the hooks. And lastly a whole lot of caulk/woodfiller and then painting or touching up any last bits.

Now there is a place to sit and put on/take off shoes, hang coats and bags, and a place to put shoes so we're not tripping over them. I absolutely love how it turned out and I love that it actually makes the space feel more open than what we had in there before. I put some bins up in the cubbies that we already had to store hats and gloves in for now. In the summer, I'll put their sunglasses, sun hats, sunscreen, and any of the other summer essentials for quick access on the way out the door.