DIY Amazingness

Buster hath finished the table! Actually, it's been done for a week or more, but I'm a slacker.

As I mentioned in my last post, we were stressing out over our first official dinner party. It happened Friday night. And it was wonderful! The table looked beautiful, dinner was a hit, the company was nice. But it was a lot of work, and I don't want to do it again any time soon!

So, here are some photos of the table from start to finish. And just a reminder, these plans were based off of a table from Restoration Hardware, which retails for upwards of $3000.

The frame, built of Pine (purchased at Lowe's for about $60):

just wait... it gets better!

Buster ordered the lumber for the top from a local woodshop, because he wanted something that was a bit more durable than Pine. Also, the quality of the Pine wasn't too great at Lowe's, and much of it was warped, twisted, etc. So, he chose Poplar for the top. And it was pricier. Also, we think we were overcharged a bit, and most likely won't use the same woodshop again for our next project (they charged us an extra $100 versus what they quoted... and all they were doing was cutting the lumber. Annoying!). The eight poplar pieces cost us $280.

Here are some photos of the unfinished table (sorry for the poor quality... these were taken with my phone):

All of the wormholes and gouges you see were carefully placed by Buster! He created a couple "tools" that helped him distress, and he beat the shit out of the table. Who knew it would have such a beautiful effect?

We went back and forth regarding the stain color. Initially he had chosen a Red Oak stain:

Red Oak stain on Pine

At first, I really liked it. But then I feared that it might be a bit too dark, and Buster agreed. So he tried out several different stains, and we decided on "Early American":

Early American stain on the Poplar

It's worth mentioning that Buster made me take the above photo of that exact spot on the table. It's his favorite spot. The wood grain coupled with the distress... just beautiful!

And the final step was deciding on what type of finish. I did not want anything too shiny. I would have been fine with no finish, actually. But Buster was adamant that we needed one. He did not want any water rings from glasses or spillage messing up his table. So, we decided on a satin finish. In some of the photos below, it looks shinier than it really is, due to the light overhead. But in person, it's just the right amount of shiny.

(And I apologize for the odd angles. The table is 8 feet long, so it's difficult getting it all in the photo!)

The color in this photo is a bit blown-out, and makes the table look more orange than it really is.

This is a very accurate representation of the true color.

I know the artwork looks off-center, but it is in fact in the center of the wall!  There is a door on the right side of the photo (that you can't see).

And finally, the table set for our dinner party! As you have realized by now, we went for the red chairs from Pier 1. They are wonderful! Comfortable and easy to move. Honestly, the most difficult part of decorating was choosing my placemats and napkins. Initially we had chosen some red leather placemats that match the chairs, but it was just too much red leather. I wanted something more neutral for the placemats, and luckily found some nice ones at Target, along with napkins that I think really tied it all together.

So there you have it! The story of our dining room table. The total cost of materials (stain, finish, lumber, etc) was about $380. Buster put in a week of work on the table. And it was so worth it.

Next up, he'll be making one for his mother. And then one for our friends. And then my mother...