My husband is a saint

I've wanted to make over the dining room for awhile.  And I wanted to start with a new table.  We've loved the one we have. Just an IKEA wood table we bought 7-8 years ago.  It's held up very well but I just wanted a change.  I searched around for a new table and every one I wanted was WAY more than I wanted to pay for it.

So, I decided I was going to make one.  (Of course you did. As my sister would say :)  I found instructions for a sturdy farm house table, started pricing wood, etc.  And then I thought I really just wanted to do a different table top.

Anyway, to make a long story short, after talking to Aaron about it, we decided to use the table we had and just add a new table top.  So much easier!!

We were going to make one that lifted off the existing table but then that got to be too much and too heavy, so the new top went straight onto the old one.

I already knew what I wanted to do.  A herringbone design.  So off to Home Depot I went to get wood, glue, sandpaper, etc.

I measured out the table and wood as best I could (me and my math skills) and then just went for it.  Aaron helped cut the wood since the table saw makes me nervous. I hate it when the wood kicks back and flies of the table if you're not doing it just right.

Then came the fun part.

I got out my handy nail gun I got for Christmas the year before.   Yippee!

And I basically just keep nailing until I covered the entire table.  Some angles got the teeniest bit off, so I had to fill the cracks in with slivers of wood and putty. 

Then came the messy part.  Sanding.  This table is big and heavy so we just kept it in the dining room while I worked on it.  So now I hung sheets over the doorways hoping to keep some of the sawdust out of the rest of the house.

I sanded and sanded.  And then Aaron cut off the edges of the nailed pieces of wood to line up with the edges of the real table.  I tried but I couldn't keep my lines straight! I added strips of 2 x 1/4 in to the sides to cover up the line between the two tops.

Now came the scary part.  I chose poplar because of price and variation of the wood but it is notoriously hard to stain just right.   I thought I could handle it but now that the time came I knew I was just going to mes it up.

This is where my husband's patience comes in.  I started this table in....yikes.  I just looked up when I took that first picture and it was Jan 17th, folks.   That's how long our dining room has been out of commission!  Ok, I've been done a few weeks now but still!  My sweetie is a saint and was just supportive as I figured out what I was going to do.

And I warn everyone that was where my own, personal Crazy started peeking. 

1. Tried "Driftwood" stain to bleach it out and add grey. The look I was going for.
2. One coat, waited two days, second coat.  And don't like it.  Just looks dirty, mottled, messy.
3. Sand everything down.  And set it aside for a week to come up with Plan B. (Yes, I did test it in a smaller piece of wood.)
4. Decided to change look completely and go for a dark brown finish.
5. Stain looked great!  But you totally lost the pattern I had worked so hard to make. Waited a few days, still didn't like it. Didn't take a picture.
8. Sanded it all down.
9. With the two different stains and sandings, the top actually looked like I wanted it!  Happy mistakes!
10. Polyurethaned it to finish, seal and protect.
11. Poly completely drew out all the yellow. So nothing looked grey or bleached out anymore, just yellow.
12. Found out most poly's did that.
13. Found a "non-yellowing" poly finish.
14. Sanded everything down again.
15. Used the non-yellowing finish on the table.  All the yellow was again showing up on the wood!
16. Decided "I hate this table." And just left it

 Aaron loved it. Or atleast said he did because was as done with this table as I was. I painted the legs a dark grey because that's what I had in the garage and then I decided I didn't care anymore and left it. 

  I

For about a month....but in the back of my head, I just didn't like it.  It's not what I had in my head and after mulling it over for a few weeks, I decided I didn't want to leave it when it wasn't what I wanted. 

I know. It's my Crazy.

I knew enough to wait until Aaron went out of town for two days so he didn't have to see this crazy.  And yes, I sanded it all down a.g.a.i.n.  No judging.  I am aware.

I decided to color my own wax from a stain I had and just used wax.  And I now love it!  No, the wax isn't as durable as polyurethane, but I'm not caring at this point.

Aaron handled it perfectly and just smiled when he got home and said he loved it too. 

I know it's not everyone's taste but I love it and when I get the whole dining room together, I'm thinking it'll all look great.

I have these whites Eames-knock off chairs I want to put in here with upholstered end chairs.
 

I also painted the room again. From a beigey-green to white.  Changed out the chandelier (which is a whole other story) and added curtains so far.  (I still need to hem them.)  I want to do a paneled wall and add art work but that comes in stages. I've moved on right now. We painted and decorated on of the guest bedrooms and I painted the playroom, which had paint test patches on it for two years.

 

Anyway, back to the table. I like that it's a bit rustic, nail holes, imperfect wood, etc.

I took a long time.  Longer than I ever thought.  But I'm pleased and I am so grateful for my dear husband who was patient and supportive the whole time, even though we had enough sawdust in the house you'd think we rebuilt the entire dining room. 

 I haven't told him yet but I've a hankering for more nail gun projects.  I have a few that have been rolling around in my head for a while.

But don't worry honey, these ones will take shorter than 4 months, I promise.