We did it! We finally finished the outdoor dining table and benches. It was finished on Tuesday, but I didn’t have my good camera with me until today. Let me refresh your memory and show you how they looked built, but unfinished…
It was nice, but since the wood is pine we had to protect it from the weather with stain or paint. At first we wanted something grayish, kind of like pallet wood. But then I saw a couple of pictures at Ana White’s website of other people’s farmhouse table and I fell in love with the two-tone look… so that’s what we went for. It also didn’t hurt that we had leftover paint from painting the trim and doors white. Plus, we like that it’s very wipeable (the paint is glossy – lacquer, in fact). So after picking up our stain, we:
- Sanded everything down.
- Primed the legs and structure.
- Gave a first coat of white paint. We even painted under the table and benches… that was the worst thing ever. And no one is ever going to see it. Needless to say we didn’t give it a second coat!
- Stained the tabletop (and bench-tops? haha). We did two coats of this as well, although we had to switch stains for the second coat and the new one was way too shiny. But we haven’t been able to do anything about it, and we thought the sun will tone it down itself. I’m happy to report it is less shiny than last week, so it should keep getting better.
- Gave a second coat of white paint and… DONE!
We haven’t been able to eat out there yet, but we are really happy with how it turned out. So happy in fact that we’re planning on building another table for the terrace…no, we’re not crazy! There’s so much outdoor space and we could use another one, so we have one as a dining table and another one for our building projects. Or both of them as a dining table if we have lots of people over. But we’re not building the same one, mind you. That one weighs a ton and required lots of wood and lots of different cuts. No, we’re thinking something along the lines of this one from Stylizimo. It looks great and it’s a lot easier and faster to build. We’ll do the legs in white and use the same stain on the tabletop to tie everything together.
But before we get to that we have to finish our outside drying rack area. It’s been on the back burner for a while (since it requires a bit of a discussion with the neighbors, it’s not something we enjoy…) so hopefully now that the outdoor table and seating is done and ready for the summer we can get to that before the bad weather hits us again and we have nowhere to hang our clothes.
What do you think of the table? Does it look nice? I’ve used a couple of small planters from Ikea that I had around as a centerpiece, but I’ll probably change it every once in a while. Oh and the piece of wood under the legs is to keep the table more or less straight… since the terrace floor is slanted to help with water drainage, everything looks crooked – but I promise you, it’s not because of how we built it!
P.S.: You can check out the plans we used to build the dining table and benches at Ana White’s website; they’re the farmhouse table and rustic benches. We just adjusted the measurements to metric (that was a pain… if anyone wants this, I have them written down somewhere) and then adjusted the measurements of the benches to the length of the table.
OMG. Great job. They look awesome
This looks amazing! It definitely looks like something you could buy in a store. Great job!
Simple but beautiful.
Oh Ainhoa!! This came out AH-MAZING! I’m so in love with both the benches and the table! Like, as soon as I saw the first photo, my jaw dropped open. I would never guess (had I not known) that these were homemade. I’m guessing they are even more sturdy than something store bought too. The colors/stain are perfect as well. Gosh- I’m so, so impressed. The two of you did a fabulous job!
P.S. They sell inexpensive “feet” that you can screw into the bottom of a table/chair legs. These allow you to custom adjust the height. Might be the perfect solution for the unlevel patio floor!
Thanks! We’re really happy with it. The table is really, really heavy – so heavy that we can’t really move it between the two of us. Well we can, but it takes a lot of work haha. And the feet you mention are perfect! We were actually looking for those at the hardware store for something else we have planned for the terrace, so we could just buy several more for the table. Thanks for the idea!
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Love the two-tone look you went for!!!! So pretty =)
Thanks! We love it too. Plus the lacquer is pretty easy to wipe down and we had it already so we saved some $$…
Beautiful!!
Thanks Jana!
This came out beautiful! I’m a huge fan of the 2 tones!
Wow, they look great! I’m going to have to check out those plans. We have a custom built table that I’m having the hardest time finding sitting for. Thanks for sharing.
Great Job !! Looks fantastic, love the two-tone as well. So very glad that you have built these yourself…they should last for years.))
Looks amazing. You did a great job! I love the two tones.
Love these! They look great!
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What a great job you did on this!! Your picnic benches and table turned out fantastic- love them!! Stopping by from CG today~ I host a Friday decorating party if you would like to come join sometime- love this!
Thank you! I’ll join for sure!
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goorrrrgeous! i love it! i would be thrilled to have this in my dining room…i can’t believe you’re putting it outside!
I’d love to have it in my dining room as well, but it’s way too big – so it has to stay outside. We want to add a canopy so we can use it during spring and fall, as well.
I would love the metric conversions if you still have then!
along with the extended bench seating
I’m so sorry Luke! I had them written down in a piece of paper and finally threw it away since it seemed no one else needed it. I should have kept it!
Hello! Do you have the measurements for the benches? Did you just make them the same length as the table (96″ on ana whites site) but keep the height and everything else the same? They are absolutely gorgeous and I can’t wait to give it a try!
Hey Virginia! Unfortunately I tossed them out. I made them about the same length of the table though, yeah (maybe a bit longer). You’ll have to be careful when you cut the angled cross supports because obviously the angles change. That’s when trig comes in handy haha.
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Wow that looks so amazing. Another pin
Love it.