I Built a Dining Table!!

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The dining table we had previously was fine, Tyler liked it, but I really wanted to build one in a different style. I had seen this table and fell in love and then realized Shanty2Chic has the plans available on their website. I pulled the plans up and went and bought the lumber needed and got to work!

This table is mostly made out of framing lumber, which isn’t really the best for a table, but if you are wanting to experiment with a new build and don’t want to spend a lot of money, it works just fine! I started by cutting the lumber down to size with my miter saw. Make sure you wear eye protection! I like these goggles because wind can blow sawdust into my eyes still with the regular safety glasses.

Framing lumber is rounded on the edges and I didn’t want that so I ripped the rounded edges off with my table saw, about 1/4 of an inch on both sides. This is a VERY dusty job! I had A LOT of pieces to rip down.

Once all the pieces were nice and square I got to sanding. With wood like this I usually start with 80 grit sandpaper, then go over it again with 220 grit.

Side note: You want to make sure the pieces of wood you buy are as straight as possible. You can do this by putting one end on the ground and hold the other end towards your eye so you can look straight down the edge. You can tell if it is straight a lot easier this way. I do this at the store when picking out my lumber, some pieces look like bananas!

I set a piece of scrap plywood on my centipede stand and used that as a work bench. This small centipede is amazing and can hold up to 2500 lbs! They also make bigger ones.

I used clamps and my body weight to hold the wood together and straight as I screwed it together with pocket holes and glue. Back then I used this pocket hole Kreg jig, but now I use this Kreg Foreman and it’s a lifesaver when doing lots of pocket holes like on this table.

I left the ends a little long so that way once the middle was built I could cut it down to the exact size I needed by 1/16 of an inch. I wanted it exact!

I made the top a little different than the plans showed, I saw this post by ChrisLovesJulia and fell in love with the pattern on the top so I wanted to recreate it.

Here’s the table top put together. I was worried it was going to be too farmhouse for what I had in mind.

I used a handheld planer to get the top as flat and smooth as possible. Then went back over it with the orbital sander and 220 grit sandpaper.

The edges were also too square, I wanted something fancier. So I busted out the router and routed the edges with a bit like this.

Then it was time to get started on the legs and I pretty much went exactly by the plans for this. I first glued and screwed 3 2x6s together to begin the legs.

I was strategic about where I placed the screws. I was going to be adding decorative trim to the legs and that trim would be covering the screw holes, no need for wood filler.

I attached the trim pieces to the 2×6 legs using wood glue and brad nails.

Pro tip: If your 45 degree angles aren’t matching up as perfectly as you’d like, you can take the side of a screw driver and rub it up and down the corner to close small gaps.

I also sanded to help with the gap and help round the edges just a little and smooth everything out.

This is the difference the screwdriver trick and sanding made.

Next was the basecap moulding.

Then I added 1x2s for decorative purposes and to cover those screw holes. I used a scrap piece of wood as a spacer so everything was exactly the same distance apart without having to measure every single time on all 4 legs.

After all 4 legs were built I needed to put them together. I used wood glue and pocket holes.

What a mess woodworking is! This is why Tyler gets irritated with me, saw dust gets EVERYWHERE…including on his motorcycle….oops. I really need my own shop.

Can you tell how excited I was that I built these really cool legs!?

I used Early American by Minwax and topped that with Weathered Oak by Minwax for the color. My neighbors are always stopping by to see what I’m up to. I have this in black and white because I was hiding the color until the reveal when I was posting to Instagram Stories.

I brought everything inside separately so that way I could get it through the door and then Mia helped me put it together the rest of the way. She held one end up as I screwed the other end in, I used wood glue here too. Remember, wood glue is stronger than nails and screws and keeps things from shifting!

I put a 2×6 on the top to help support the table top and then flipped it over and attached another 2×6 to the bottom.

Mia tried to help me lift the tabletop up onto the legs but it was super heavy and she couldn’t lift it.

So that left me to try and get it on by myself because I was too impatient to wait for Tyler to get home. This table top is insanely heavy for 1 person to lift!

I got new chairs too because I sold the whole dining set we had. I really love these chairs! It’s been about 2 years now since we’ve had them and they are great! My only complaint is that you have to tighten the screws every once in a while, not sure why they come loose. But they are inexpensive, gorgeous and comfortable!

And that’s how we went from this…