My $50 dining room table makeover

Posted on Mon, 27 Apr 2020 by KiM

When we first moved in to our current house for some reason I had the bright idea that we needed a really long dining table. Possibly because our previous house had no dining room and therefore the table was in the middle of the kitchen. My husband spent many hours and much $$$ building me a 8 foot long dining table out of hemlock (with a steel base we had fabricated). As shown above. I love that dining table. But it took up the whole room. Having to walk around it to get to the bluetooth speaker/radio my husband converted, or getting to the buffet cabinet was annoying. And there’s 2 of us. And we never have anyone over for a meal. We both agreed a round or oval table would be ideal that seat 6, and I would use the 8ft table as a desk in the living room (more on that another day). I went hunting on MarketPlace and Kijiji. For months. Then the pandemic hit and I was working from home and figured this would be a great time to get this going. So I changed my strategy and stopped hunting for the perfect table and opted to just find something that was the right size. I found a round office table for $50 on Kijiji and figured what the hell, I could pimp it out and if I end up hating it, I’ll get rid of it and try again.

This was the table 5 minutes after bringing it home and disinfecting it. Stains all over the top, and boring all around. At this point all hardware stores were closed here and only offering online ordering which takes some time so I decided to try and work with what we had. I ended up spending nothing to fix up this table. First we cut strips of wood from some Ikea shelving we were no longer using and trimmed out the base with it. I then stained the slats black. I wasn’t sure what to do with the top but husband wanted to try sanding it down and seeing what the wood looked like (turned out it was solid wood). In the end the wood turned out to have such a gorgeous grain we just used some Livos on it and that was it.

As soon as we had everything in place we realized this table was in fact too small and we could have gone for something bigger (that fit 6 – this one only fits 5). But it is such an improvement for flow in the room and we absolutely love it so we’ll live with it until my dream table is found. Welcome to my $50 dining table!

Also, I think this might be the first time you’re seeing my new Lambert & Fils light fixture. I love the smaller scale of this one compared to what I had before.

I had to add in some pics of a special piece I got my hands on this past Friday. I spotted a quirky little side table for sale in the Instagram stories of Toronto-based Bettencourt ManorΒ a while ago but could not justify the 4.5 or so hour drive to go pick it up. Turns out the guys of B.M. were headed to Ottawa and they delivered it for me. I put it in the dining room for a quick IG story but it turned out to be the perfect spot so I left it there. I love the angles on it.

Sparky says:

Clever re-do, and the grain on the top IS gorgeous! I thrive on this type of problem solving; glad you are in to it, too! <3

KiM says:

Thanks! If I can find something vintage and spruce it up, it’s so much more rewarding than buying new. Though if a Knoll tulip table appeared in here, I’d be ok with that. 😍

Moyra says:

Lovely job!

KiM says:

Thank you!!! XO

axie says:

It turned out great! I think it’s not only beautiful, but seems to fit better, especially with the chairs. I think we are going to find out how handy we all are during this lockdown!
I also sent my long, rectangular table to the office upstairs. I have an iron base that was my mom’s long ago and added a round top, but have been waiting to find the right stain- I love the black you used on the base Kim, can I ask what brand you used? It looks almost like shou sugi ban, but I’m trying to avoid using a blow torch πŸ™‚

KiM says:

Thanks!!! I never expected it to turn out this good 😊 since buying any paint products is a nightmare right now I grabbed a can of stuff my husband had in his workroom. It was Rustoleum/Varathane brand stain (presumably from Home Depot) that went on a lot more solid than I hoped.

axie says:

Thanks, Kim- I have some ebony stain, Rustoleum I think. It’s so variable depending on the type of wood. But I’m feeling adventurous πŸ™‚

Jairo Geronymo says:

Hi Kim! Those DIY jobs bring so much joy and personality to a room! It looks great! Brava!

KiM says:

Thank you so much! I’m so pleased with the outcome and the room looks SOOOOOO much better.

Cathy Dyer says:

So inspiring! Always appreciate the work and investment in the repurposing of items in such creative ways! Beautiful!

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