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Wednesday, May 4, 2011

How To: Build a Dining Room Table for $100


We've been needing to get around to building our dining room table for a while. I'm happy to say that this past weekend, we finally did it! The process was really simple and required very little money, time and DIY know-how. Here's how it went down:

Supplies:

We went to Home Depot and get the following stuff:

Minwax Stain: $7
Wood Glue: $6
Screws: $4
1x6 Pine Boards (6): $68

I also get two Vika Lerberg trestle legs from IKEA at $10 a piece.

Total: $105 (Obviously, if you have screws lying around the house you'll be coming in right around $100!)

Inspiration: 

I originally saw the table at Helt Enkelt. I fell in love with the simplicity, clean lines and modern-meets-rustic quality of the table.
Then I spotted this reinterpretation and DIY from Stylizmo. Once I saw that it was this simple I knew it was what we needed in our dining room.


The Build:

I put the trestle legs together first. They're super simple to throw together and very sturdy. Plus, $10 a piece! That's insane!
The great part about the trestle style is that they can also function as saddle horses during the build.
The typical width for a dining room table is 33", so we used six 6" pine boards. You could choose any kind of wood you want, at any length. The inspiration tables had jucture 2x4's underneath, but we decided to include two on each side. Since the Vika Lerberg legs don't have any holes to affix the actual table top to, we used both to create a sandwich for the legs and reduce potential shuffling of the top.
This entire process should be done in a well-ventilated area, preferably outside. Since we live in an NYC apartment, we did it in the middle of the dining room. Do a light sanding of the boards to ensure that the varnish or stain applies thoroughly.
Because of the size of the room, we decided to have barely any overhang from the edge of the legs to the end of the boards. Effectually, this eliminates the possibility of comfortably seating additional chairs at the ends of the table--if you'd rather have more seating and have the space in the room you're dealing with, just create more overhang. Once you know how much overhang you want, just measure the distance from that point to the top of where the trestle hits. *Note: This picture shows the trestle turned around in the opposite direction that we ended up having it sit.
Apply wood glue to each of the boards and glue together. Clamp together and allow them to set for 5 minutes. Wipe away excess glue with a damp rag.
Use your measurements and mark where you'll be connecting the 2x4's. Remember to make sure that the inside 2x4 begins at the inside of the leg top and the outside 2x4 is an inch toward the outside.
Drill starter holes throughout the 2x4's and complete with screws.
Now, you probably don't need to do this much, but we lock our shit down like Fort Knox.
Repeat on the other side.
Allow the wood glue to dry for a recommended 24 hours. Flip the table top and sand off any excess glue that might have popped up on the other side.
Apply the stain you've chosen. We decided we wanted to keep the pine light, so we went with Minwax natural. I just used the rag method, but you could use a paint brush if you want.
Here's the finished product! Enjoy the gallery below.