DIY Hairpin Leg Dining Table

Our "dining room" has been a source of contention for a few years now.  I say "dining room" because we are talking about a 8x7 area of space - hardly adequate dining room material. It's cool though - most of our meals are centered around our sofa.  Our ability to balance plates has been mastered.

But, with a kiddo coming, and the holiday season upon us, it's time we retire the sofa, and actually sit and stare at one another.  Do I dare say, converse?

I'll tell you, the thought has always been there to utilize our dining room space.  Which is why we have gone through 3, soon to be 4 dining room tables in less than a year.

First we had our pine harvest table - pretty, but pretty big.  And, for all of you wood fanatics, you are probably aware that pine is annoyingly soft wood.  I swear putting a fork on the table left an imprint.

We sold our harvest table and graduated to a Versa table from West Elm... because that's what adults do.  But it ended up being way too small.  Two chairs, easy.  Four?  Hard.  A great pet peeve of mine is when you can't push your chair in all the way.  I'll chalk it up to being a preschool teacher in another life, and seeing kids smash their faces on the ground after tangling their feet in the legs.  I mean, I'm okay with my face.

Credit: West Elm

As of now, our lovely Versa table is hanging out in the basement, soon to be used as a Lego landing station for epic builds.  After the Versa, we opted for a round table - haven't tried that shape yet!  Round, danish style tables aren't the easiest to comeby, and the ones we did see were either white, or more bang than what we had for bucks.  We took to AllModern for a solution, and found one with deep discounts.  The table was easy to assemble, and certainly great quality for $250.00, but we were back to square one, again, with the chairs not having space to be pushed in.  The table has a nice walnut finish, but I don't exactly know the type of wood used - it's soft or faux, this I know, because we nicked it up with little difficulty.

Credit: Felices Dining Table - All Modern

A week ago I started looking around for yet another table.  I've always had a thing for hairpin legs, and found a nice little set on Amazon.  With little thought, I ordered four 28" legs in black matte, and started reading up on other desperate DIY dining room table enthusiasts.  I found some great tutorials on DIY Hairpin Leg dining tables that are very simple.  You can check them out here and here.

Now that I had my inspiration, all that was left was to convince the hubby that we needed this.  And because pregnancy trumps all... well, there you have it.

Sometimes in order to get what you want, you have to do your research.  In this case, research meant measurements.  I took some painters tape and measured a 40" x 6' space and marked it off.  Visuals are huge with the husbands, ladies.

The other DIY table sites went with premium wood boards from the lumber yard.  Most boards in the lumber yard are pine, and since we have already dealt with a soft table, we wanted to check out some other options.  Our town doesn't have a lumber yard with specialty/exotic wood that I'm familiar with, so Menards seems to be our go-to.  There, we checked out their specialty plastic-wrapped wood.  In the past, we have used a lot of poplar for projects because of its gorgeous variance.  But if you look at the wood scale, poplar is, once again, soft.  And for those of you whose mind went there (like mine every time I type wood, soft or hard), I'm talking about trees, although I'm sure we can all agree that hard is always best no matter the situation.

This go around, we grabbed four 1"x8"x6' maple boards and one 1"x6"x6' hickory board (to use as a decorative runner essentially).  All hardwood.

Another thing we did differently is we used the Kreg Jig instead of screws and a drill to get the tightness and precision we were looking for.  Both ways will create a stunning table, but if you are seeking longevity, maybe check into a Kreg.  Pretty inexpensive ($39.98) for the magnitude of what it can do.

Once all pieces were secure, we attached some supports underneath using premium oak from the lumberyard.  First, we pre-drilled our holes to avoid splintering before securing the wood using screws.

After the supports were in (underside):

Topside of table:

The table was stained using Varathane wood stain in dark walnut, to match our cafe chairs.  After applying the stain, wait 3-4 minutes before wiping off the excess.  Reapply as needed to achieve your desired color.  We opted to do one layer to achieve the look we were going for.  To help aid in protecting the wood finish, add 3-4 coats of clear matte polycrylic, lightly sanding with 220 grit sandpaper in between coats. Like other sites, I would agree that using a coaster for cold, sweaty beverages will help protect the table, and prevent any unnecessary water marks.

Staining process:

Once the table dried, we attached the hairpin legs.  Our hope is that this little table will stick with us for awhile as our family grows and memories are centered around it for generations to come.  After all, there was a lot of love and teamwork thrown into it.

As far as materials, we spent just under $200.00 - which in the grand scheme of things is pretty damn cheap when you compare it to an average of $600.00+ for other store bought maple hairpin leg dining tables.  Our plan is to build a matching bench in the coming months, and will certainly update this post with our progress.  Without further adieu, the after:

     

I hope this post serves as some inspiration and confidence boosting for your future DIY dining table endeavor, because...

Thanks for reading and happy building!

Campaign Dresser 3.0

So, I'm here again.  You know when I said that there are times where I do shit, and I can't leave it alone.  There is something off about it, or something I half-assed (let's get real here), and you can't appreciate exactly what you did until that little thing is fixed?  Have I rambled enough?  I think so too.

These campaign dressers.  Man, I knew they were going to be something that would require work. Who knew I would be talking to you about their third update.

Just to recap - remember when?

Not terrible.  I was clearly very excited at the time. But, let's get back to half-assing.  I never actually got around to attaching the wood.  In the two years or whatever, the wood slid around, scratched up the top and my ego.

Then I had an epiphany.  These dressers were never conjoined in the first place.  So why dress them up like they are?  It was time for these sweeties to part ways.

They got a new paint job - different colors.  And were encased (or topped) with some good quality poplar wood, stained and secured with brads.  The hardware got a new metallic paint job too.  If you can make your original hardware shine with a little love and elbow grease, by all means.  But this brass hardware went from pretty to dingy in a month.  Plan B.

Spray Painting Hardware Tips:

For perfect hardware the first time and every time, pick up some Clean Metal Primer by Rust-Oleum. This is one serious heavy metal ass kicker.

Give your hardware a nice, even coat of primer and let dry.  Flip hardware over and spray other side.  Any knicks or debris can be sanded with fine grit paper.  Spray additional light coats as needed. Once your primer is set, any paint type, color, sheen, you name it, will be flawlessly applied.  Let dry.

While the hardware was basking in the sunshine, I began sanding away flaws that I overlooked the last time I decided to "fix" these dressers.  I noticed there was still a lot of leftover laminate stuck in various spots.  The medium-coarse grit sandpaper and orbital sander took care of that.  With the wood settling over the years, there were some tight spots.  A little buffing allowed for the drawers to glide a bit more easily.  Once the sanding was done, I took a damp shop cloth and wiped down all surface areas.

Onto the painting!  I did two different colors for two dressers - I used Rust-Oleum's 2X Ultra Cover in Antique White, Satin finish, for the babes room and Stone Gray in Satin for our bedroom.  Hardware was painted in Rust-Oleum Universal Pure Gold.

When it came to the wood, I can't remember if we went with a large slab of poplar (my favorite), or pine.  The wood was cut to size, sanded, and stained.  I ended up applying a few coats of poly to the top of the babes dresser - just in case convenience factor plays a role, and we use that space for a changing table.  I don't need shit getting into the grooves.  No puns here.

Otherwise, the wood was stained with Minwax in Puritan Pine and Natural.

The babes dresser was completely encased in wood.  Only a top and bottom trim piece were added to the dresser in our bedroom space - it's interesting how much room an inch takes up when you have limited space to work with.  Small brads were used to secure the wood to the dressers.  We opted to carry the dressers inside before securing the wood slabs.  One of the smarter choices we've made - because those dressers are heavy AF with the added wood. 

Here's a little snapshot of the beans dresser:

And ours:

Same same but different.  But still same.  On that note. 

Happy fall!

DIY Babe Bedskirt

Lately I've been having one of those this is your brain and this is your brain on baby moments.  Baby brain is not a joke.  When pregnant mommas would use baby brain as an excuse, I always secretly thought, eh... whatever you need to tell yourself.  I'm sorry.  I take it all back.  With that said, I have a baby-brain friendly DIY project for you, pregnant mommas.  Just don't touch the iron.

What you'll need:

• Hot Iron/Board
• Ironing Tape
• Pom-Pom Trim
• Pins and Needles
• Crib Bedskirt
• Scissors

For starters, I was at TJ Maxx and came across a periwinkle-blueish crib skirt for $3.99 made by Aden and Anais.  When shopping for crib skirts (and other baby things), remember to check your local Maxx - totally worth the savings.  With the extra money, I went to Hobby Lobby and picked up a few yards of giant pom-pom trim - apply your 40% off coupon for added savings.  Add on $2.99 for iron-on adhesive, and the project cost was around $14.00.  A full-price crib skirt by Aden and Anais runs you between $29.99-$49.99.  Deals, deals, deals!

Step 1:  Pre-iron your crib sheet to get rid of any creases or wrinkles.

Step 2:  Line up your pom-pom trim with the length of your crib sheet and cut.  On the backside of your trim, iron on the adhesive - the adhesive I picked up has two sides.  One side is ironed on first.  Once secure, you remove the top paper layer, and lay it on your fabric, ironing again.  Make sure to follow the instructions to achieve the best application with your adhesive tape.  

Step 3: With the adhesive paper removed, begin pinning your trim directly on top of said adhesive strip.  

Step 4:  Carefully iron your trim, holding it for a few seconds to create a nice, strong bond.  As you continue to iron, remove pins as you go.

Step 5:  Continue all the way around the bedskirt as desired.  I only attached the pom-pom trim to the front and sides, avoiding the back, because with the way we set up the crib, no one sees that part anyway.  Out of sight, out of mind.

Step 6:  Install... er drape, and you're done!  Way to be awesome mom... or dad.  Your kid will surely enjoy looking at those balls during 3 AM feedings.  Onto the next project!