Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Building Furniture

We had a few rainy days last week so I was able to work on another project besides the yard.  (We are very close to being ready for some trees to be delivered.  I will show more photos on that later.)

While we were cleaning up along the property line to start working on our raised tree beds I came across a stack of barn board half on our property and half on the neighbors.  Some of the nicest, long, sturdy pieces quickly made it into our garage. 

I have been dreaming of furnishing our deck (which doesn't look like it will happen this summer).  One of the things I wanted was a long, skinny table that would serve as a buffet table to go along the walkway that connects our bbq deck with our sitting area.   I knew this piece would have to be custom made because I didn't think the odds would be good on finding an outdoor table about 18" wide and 9' long. 


Assembling the table top was extremely easy as 3 of the boards were the exact same length and width.  I just screwed them to my support pieces to hold them together.


Then using the table saw that my husband happened to have at home working on another project, I created 3 'x' style legs.


And screwed them to my support pieces.




Now don't get me wrong.  I think the natural color of this aged wood is absolutely gorgeous and would be amazing in the right place.  However, it wasn't quite what I had in mind for the deck.  I did love all texture and pronounced grain that years of weather had exposed on this wood.  I simply stained the wood with some leftover exterior timber stain. 


I was hugely surprised when the timber stain was applied and dried that it looked so dull and the wood seemed to loose so much of its richness and texture.  It does not do this on my timbers.  In the bottom portion of the above photo you can see what  I mean.  In order to fix this problem I used two heavy layers of Hemlsman's Exterior Spar Urethane over the stain.  You can see the rich depth it brings out again. 


The completed table.


In its new home on the walkway of our back deck.  Ready to serve.


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13 comments:

  1. Wow- great job and very inspiring. Being able to create something so beautiful out of reclaimed pieces around your home is great!

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  2. I absolutely love this!! I pinned it! : )

    I hope you will stop by my blog, www.cherishedbliss.com

    I host a weekly link up party on Tuesdays. It is still going on. I hope you will link up!

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  3. I love it! I also need to redo our deck...but its going to have to wait so were just going to fix a few boards. I love building furniture its so much fun and better then buying it new. You did a great job.

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  4. That's really nice. And a very handy job.

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  5. Marci, that is just fabulous! I am so not a DIYer but wish I was. Would love to see more pics of your deck.

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  6. This is perfectly rustic. I'm sure you'll be enjoying it all summer long :)

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  7. This was featured on my blog today! Don't forget to stop by and pick up your button! Hope to see you back this week.

    http://www.cherishedbliss.com/2011/06/craft-and-tell-no-11-and-features.html

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  8. You did a great job! Turned out great. Well done.

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  9. Holy Cow. I'm in LOVE. and jealous. and I want one. :)
    LOVE IT! A quick glance at my blog and you'd see my OBSESSION of wood.

    Pamela @ pbjstories.blogspot.com

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  10. Your excellent guidelines will be of great help to many. Nice post. I enjoyed reading it. Thanks!
    Decking Timber

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  11. I find this so inspiring! I'm really getting into building my own furniture and taking existing furniture and re-making it. I love your site! Thanks for all the sharing! Feel free to check out some of my projects over at
    izoriginals.blogspot.com!

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  12. LOVE that table - rich and solid - fabulous!!!

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