From green to lean

I wasn't supposed to get sidetracked. But I did. Bad, I know. It started out by changing dining room tables, which was part of the plan, but once I finally got the right table (after the fifth try!), I realized that it wasn't the only thing wrong with my dining room. During a 7 a.m. consultation to my best friend and partner in crime, Candi, together we realized that the cabinet was just not right for the wall that it was on. It had been on that wall for over a decade (between my mom and then us). That didn't make it right, though. So, after talking it over for an hour, we decided that it had to be moved. And what that wall needed was a long, skinny sidebar in it's place.

So where does one find a 7 ft long, 1 foot wide side bar? You build it, of course.

Within 2 hours we were at the lumber company, picking up two 2x4s, two 2x6's, one 2x10 and one 2x12. Add in some stain (Minwax Jacobean) and some wooden dowel rods (to plug the holes) and $40 later we had the ingredients for a new piece of furniture. Lovely, eh?

Using 2x4's for the legs and 2x6's for the apron, sweet Mr. SCC lag bolted them together. He drilled out the hole with a paddle bit before drilling for the bolt itself. This gave him the room for the wooden dowel rod plugs, simply cut with a jigsaw, covered on the bottom and side with glue, then tapped into place with a hammer. The 2x12 was the perfect width for the top and the 2x10 became the bottom shelf. Each side of every board was shaved off with a table saw to make the edges crisp, rather than rounded off by the milling process.

Next came the stain. Ohhh, the stain. It took me two hours to cover it well, brushing it on then wiping it off. It took another hour to get the stain off my hand. Moral of the story? Wear gloves when staining!

A little wax and fluffing later, it fills the length, yet gives more floor space for the table. Better, no?

And, just for giggles, look what I found on Pottery Barn's website -- for a whopping $499. Yeah, this was a great investment!

Posted at DIY Day and stop back by for Transformation Thursday to see the whole dining room redo!