Building Your Own Furniture

AprilZ81 · January 2016

Our current dining room table is nice but doesn't fit our new dining room as well as I would like it to. The table is square and the room is rectangular and it just feels awkward when we try to center the table with the light.

Our current table seats 8 and I would love to have a table to seat 12 for when we have family or friends over. Looking at tables that are 120 inches long are EXPENSIVE and not great quality unless we get something custom built by the Amish (really super expensive) so we are going to build it ourselves.

I found plans for a table I liked (http://littlegreenbow.com/2012/06/detailed-table-plans/) and adjusted the measurements to what I wanted. I'm going to paint the legs and base black and stain the top a medium brown. It looks pretty basic so we should haven't too much trouble. My goal is to keep our current 8 chairs and add two fabric chairs for the ends, but we will see how it all looks once it is done.

As much as I would like to use a maple wood for the top, it is $45-50 a board and we need 6. That is a lot of money for what is basically an experiment, so we are going to probably do poplar if I can get it, pine (with as few knots as possible) if not. If the table turns out nice enough we can always buy the maple boards down the road and re-do the top.

DH built a bar in the basement last winter and I've helped my Dad with some projects so while we are both beginners we should be able to handle this. Wish us luck!

Mustard76 · January 2016

I love that look!! Good luck and be sure to post pics when you're done!

JoanE2012 · January 2016

Ahhh, exciting! I would fail miserably at this. Can't wait to see photos!

blondie42107 · January 2016

Looks great! Good luck, sounds like a fun project!

smerka · January 2016

Good luck! That is huge. How big is your dining room?

AprilZ81 · January 2016

smerka said:

Good luck! That is huge. How big is your dining room?

Our dining room is 172 inches long and 130 inches wide. I measured carefully and then used graph paper to draw a scale model to make sure it wasn't too big. I was hoping to get an 132 inch (11 ft) table but that is a little too tight.

This table should comfortably sit four on each side and two on the ends. We might be able to fit 5 on each side but it would be pretty tight.

smerka · January 2016

You might want to mock up the table using newspaper in the room ( like tape newspaper to the floor). I think 52 inches on the long ends isn't enough room for two chairs on each end.

AprilZ81 · January 2016

smerka said:

You might want to mock up the table using newspaper in the room ( like tape newspaper to the floor). I think 52 inches on the long ends isn't enough room for two chairs on each end.

Depending on the exact wood we end up with our table will be roughly 120 x 43 1/2. It will seat 10 comfortably based on the general guidelines for seating space. We might (but probably not) have room to seat two people at the narrow ends.

A table for 10 will be a big improvement over our current table if it works!

smerka · January 2016

You might want to mock up the table using newspaper in the room ( like tape newspaper to the floor). I think 52 inches on the long ends isn't enough room for two chairs on each end.

Erikan73 · January 2016

We love building our own furniture, it's so fun to be able to say you did it yourself. Plus it allows you to have something unique. I've attached photos of 3 different projects that we've done ourselves. We turned a old door into a headboard. We also turned a beer keg into a side table/lamp for the man cave (the back is cut out & shelving has been installed for storage), and we built a table for my dad out of flooring from the factory he worked at that we found after it had been shut down.

cbee817 · January 2016

Do you have a good sander? You're going to have to sand the planks quite a bit to make sure everything is even on the table top. Maybe buy a sample of different wood types and test it out.. make sure it accepts the stain well and doesn't splinter too much. I would think pine or poplar would bow a lot and be too soft- where oak, maple, or cherry (stronger wood) would be more straight and solid for a dining room table. It's a neat idea- GL!

brij2006 · January 2016

cbee817 said:

Do you have a good sander? You're going to have to sand the planks quite a bit to make sure everything is even on the table top. Maybe buy a sample of different wood types and test it out.. make sure it accepts the stain well and doesn't splinter too much. I would think pine or poplar would bow a lot and be too soft- where oak, maple, or cherry (stronger wood) would be more straight and solid for a dining room table. It's a neat idea- GL!

All of this. I would definitely budget and plan to use the harder wood on top. I've built a few things with poplar and 5 years later, it needs replaced. Heck, it needed replaced earlier, but I'm too cheap.

Also, you will want to add an additional center beam to give support for making it long enough for seating for 10.

AprilZ81 · January 2016

brij2006 said:

cbee817 said:

Do you have a good sander? You're going to have to sand the planks quite a bit to make sure everything is even on the table top. Maybe buy a sample of different wood types and test it out.. make sure it accepts the stain well and doesn't splinter too much. I would think pine or poplar would bow a lot and be too soft- where oak, maple, or cherry (stronger wood) would be more straight and solid for a dining room table. It's a neat idea- GL!

All of this. I would definitely budget and plan to use the harder wood on top. I've built a few things with poplar and 5 years later, it needs replaced. Heck, it needed replaced earlier, but I'm too cheap.

Also, you will want to add an additional center beam to give support for making it long enough for seating for 10.

The long span will be supported by 2x2 boards every 9 inches or so.

This table only gets used about 6-8 times a year so for our first building project I'm okay with using a softer wood. I'm okay spending $150ish on materials for an experiment but not $500ish.

If the table turns out nice then we know we can get the same result in a harder wood when the top needs replaced.

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