Adventures in Wood Working

Our dining room table is complete!  My hunny was very eager to get this project started and after taking some measurements in our dining room to see how big we wanted the table to be, he picked up the lumber and got cracking.  He researched some plans online, dismissed a couple of ideas after we couldn't find a piece of wood in the size we wanted and then decided to go with this design.

Its a series of hunks of plywood, secured to a base on the underside.  This sucker is heavy and very strong.  After measuring, putting everything together, sanding and staining it, its now happily living in our dining room.  

The skirt didn't take the stain as well as the other pieces did, but I like that its a bit lighter and coordinates with the chairs we got from Ikea.  I am still hunting for some chair cushions, but the wood chairs surprisingly aren't that uncomfortable.  I love how the table looks natural, between the knots in the wood and the color of the stain.  

Ok folks, honest opinions here.  What do you see when you look at this picture?  All I can see is a huge ostrich face complete with two eyes and a beak!  It definitely adds some charm to the table. 

Now that the project is done, I can show you this hilarious picture.  DBF called me down to the garage to proudly show me the progress he'd made on the table (this was day one).  It looked beautiful but I was worried about the height of the table since it seemed a wee bit high.  We decided to bring down one of the chairs to test it out.  Once I sat down, the table was neck high!  We could both barely breathe from laughing so hard.  After going through the various options (getting really poofy chair cushions was one), da boyfriend took the legs off and cut them down.  This is one for the scrapbook!