Let me present to you our brand new harvest table.
But there is one additional piece of information that is important ... (drum roll please) ... we made it ourselves.
Yes, that's right. With the help of a wonderful family friend who has a lot of super duper huge wood working tools, we created this beautiful piece of furniture.
My excitement quickly fizzled though at the reminder that the table is too big for our current house. We don't have a formal dining room and it's too big to fit in our eating area. Let me explain ...
While we were creating the table (did I mention we built it ourselves!), we had to choose how big i.e. long we wanted the table to be. We thought about going shorter so it would fit in our house, but the thought was that you get a chance to make an awesomely huge harvest table once in your life, so let's not skimp. Let's be dramatic (it's eight feet long). We hope to put it in a cottage (yet to be built but on the five-year plan) or a future home. For now, it has a date with our garage or sun room.
Our final task before storing her away is to stain and protect. We have been debating what colour to go with. Although I love dark wood, I hesitate to finish in a walnut as there are such beautiful details to the wood that would disappear under such a dark finish. As far as other options, I am not a fan of cherry or that really bright golden pine look. I love the look featured in Restoration Hardware right now and that is what we used as a design inspiration for ours. I'm thinking we may just use a clear stain and protector. I know, kind of boring, but I love the look of it as is so why mess with it right? Plus, there are a lot of different types of wood used on the table top so I'm worried that a stain would be soaked up differently by each type, creating a weird stripe look.
LadySmith
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Impressive LadySmith! That table is exquisite. No experience staining personally but what you said about the different woods possibly staining differently makes sense. I would leave it as is too. It will look great in your cottage-to-be, until then, you can use it for outdoor meals in the nicer weather, especially if having a BBQ.
ReplyDeleteThanks Jennie
ReplyDeleteWell Done!
ReplyDeleteThis table will have it's rightful place one day...perhaps then you may have a better idea of what stain will enhance it.. whether in your cottage or home.
Wendy: Many wonderful family memories awaits it - whether blond or walnut :)
ReplyDeleteI agree with a clear coat or maybe a natural rubbed oil finish. There are so many interesting color and grain patterns, it would be a shame to hide them. What a rewarding project and a beautiful outcome!
ReplyDeleteDuane
Thanks for writing Duane. and thanks for the advice. I asked around about the natural oil finish but didn't really find anyone who had a clear option ... maybe i will try again. Alternatively, i'm leaning clear satin.
ReplyDeleteIt was such a neat experience - biscuit jointing the wood pieces for the top, planing all of the wood, sanding with super duper power sanders, bracing the bottom with steel pipes, hand picking our wood, removing all of the century-old nails, and of course bringing it home. I'm really antsy to use it though and that's the bummer. Please visit again soon.
THAT IS NINE SHADES OF BEAUTIFUL!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful as is. My Mom might suggest linseed oil or beeswax to just offer protection while letting the wood character shine through. Lovely work!
ReplyDelete