The Making Of…

Christian and I have been in the new house for almost two years now – time really flies.  When Thanksgiving was upon us again, we realized the house looked exactly the same as last year – we hadn’t added any new furniture nor did it look any more lived in than the day we moved in.  We wanted to finally add a dining table to our empty dining room.  And so began my adventures in woodworking with the fast approaching deadline of Thanksgiving!

Thanks to one of my new favorite websites, Ana White, I found the perfect building plans and started my project.  My only experience with woodworking had been shop class in middle school, so it was a long, educational experience.

First things first – I had to learn how to notch a piece of wood out.  Seems simple enough, but it made my whole body sore from all the cuts required to notch a single piece out – and I had 10 notches to make just for the table.

You may also notice in the picture to the left how big a mess it makes – sawdust everywhere…

While learning to notch wood, I quickly realized tools are not made for women, and our world is just not made for 5′ tall women either…

Here is how I managed to get high enough to hold the saw and be able to see what I was doing:

Once I got the legs notched, everything started moving faster!

Tahoe (coconut shell in mouth) checking in on my progress

Finishing off the frame of the table

Building the benches

Unfortunately I didn’t make my deadline of Thanksgiving for finishing everything.  By Thanksgiving I had finished the table and constructing the benches.  But something I didn’t realize was how long it would take to let all of the finish dry on the benches.  After a quick run to my favorite home improvement store, and consulting with the super helpful Home Depot employees, I was talked out of putting the final stain and finish on the benches, unless I wanted all of my guests to sit on wet polyurethane!  Good thing was that we at least had seats I guess….

So after Thanksgiving, I was able to put the final touches on the benches, and we now have a dining room table!  All for the cost of less than $200.

The end result!

Another view