Chairs For The Table

For part of my weekend, I was able to obtain the chairs for the dining room. They're nothing fancy since I've already gone a bit over the top on the table, but I'm surprised how well I like them. I didn't want to go with a wood look since I already have the doug fir table on the doug fir floors. So, I opted for the black painted wood chairs. The table has plenty of black markings from what I believe is oxidation, and the black chairs really bring that out more in the table, as well and match up with the woodstove. All in all, it exceeds my expectiations of how well it all looks together.

The Dining Room Table - Complete

The reason why I love my house as much as I do is because of all the character it has: the many corners, the funky roof lines from with inside. When it came to obtaining a table for the newly remodeled dining room, I wanted something with equal character. Last night I picked up the table that I had Dennis at Brave New Wood build out of reclaimed timbers. I don't think this table could have any more character, and it really looks like it's 100 years old - just the way I wanted it. I also really like how the feet turned out. All that cutting and template making was worth it.


Now I just need to get a chandelier and some chairs and the dining room's a wrap.

Making Feet

From my earlier post, I mentioned that I am designing the feet for my table that I'm having made out of reclaimed timber. To make it easier on everyone involved in the table building, I thought I'd create a template of the foot.

I drew up the idea on AutoCAD of what I wanted then printed it on 1 to 1 scale. Hopefully, my fellow coworkers who may be reading this blog won't report me to the appropriate corporate authorities for using work related tools for fun house crafting projects. Anyway, I cut out the shape on paper, as shown here.I then traced the outline of the shape of the table's feet from the paper to 1/4" plywood, which came as support in the shipment of the tin ceiling panels.
Putting my $20 jigsaw to use.
And the final template....
I actually have to modify this template (or redo it) a bit to make it work with the reclaimed timber that is available, which is just decreasing the height by 1/4". Since the table top is so heavy, Dennis (the table maker) also felt making it a few inches wider would be a smart thing.

The Table Top

On Saturday I met with Dennis at Brave New Wood to discuss the 'new' dining room table design and to take a look at the top for the table which was completed recently. I am having a dining room table custom made out of reclaimed timber, which is old growth douglas fir probably from some old building in Portland. My intent is to get a thick sturdy table that has a 100 year old feel, but without having to find exactly what I'm looking for in an antique store.

I really like what I see so far. There is plenty of character with the knot holes and bolt holes, etc. It will be 'roughed' up slightly, as well as oiled so it will lose that slightly butcher block look.

The next step is to design the feet for this massive top, which is really heavy. I worked with Dennis on ideas to "engineer" a base, as it will definately need it. He's a great guy to work with and I highly recommend him.

The Dining Room Table - Embryonic Stage

I've been working on this dining room remodel for a year and a half now, though 6 months of it has been the oak tree tile mural, and today was the first day to meet the table. My intention is to obtain a table that is at least 100 years old, or at least seems like it. I hate shopping and the thought of wandering from antique store to antique store to find some thicked top rustic table seemed more of a chore that hanging drywall, or even painting. Besides, who knows how over priced that ideal table would have been.

Then I had an idea! (yeah, I get those from time to time)... a custom built table from reclaimed old growth Douglas Fir timber.

I came across Brave New Wood through the Architectural Heritage Center in Portland, came up with quick design, and finally met him today where he had sanded one of the boards that will become the tabletop.

It's going to be a trestle type table, like the table I ate dinner at as a kid. Here's a CAD sketch of it, though it's probably going to change slightly for ease of manufacturing: