My Custom Table For My New Home

My custom table for my new home!!!

Remember these? I got a bunch of pallets from my work so I had to let the creative juices flow! I just bought a house and I needed a new kitchen table so I used pallet wood. I had to remove every nail and board from the pallet. Then I used a plainer and sander to clean up the wood.

 I then built the frame and base for the table. I wanted to add a little flair to the table so I decided to add some kickers for looks and support.

I think I made the right choice! I really like how the base turned out. The eat in kitchen area in my new house is relatively small so I had to decide how to sit 4 around the table. I made the table 30"x60" and it fit 4 people comfortably.

I knew I wanted to have a concrete center. I decided to do a diamond shape with the wood. I found the center point of each side and had the wood sit from center point to center point. I then glued and screwed the wood pieces to the table. 

After all the wood was screwed and glued, I took a skill saw and cut the edges so they were straight.(Sorry about the exposure of the picture)

After plaining and sanding the top of the table I put on the edge pieces and I was finally ready to stain the wood and add the concrete. 

I decided to go with a dark stain. I stained all the wood before adding the concrete.

I decided to go with black concrete. I thought if fit the dark stain better. It was very easy to color the concrete. There is a dye that gets added when mixing the concrete. I am very happy with how the table turned out and many great meals have been shared around the table!

Covered Cooler

With Christmas coming up, my little sister wanted to be creative and make a gift for my older sister.  I just brought home a bunch of pallets and she had a drink cooler that was just laying around. She decided to elevate the cooler and cover it with pallet wood. The gift was a huge hit! We are just waiting for warm weather to sit on the deck with some cool brews.

 I got a bunch of pallets from my work!!! (Stay tuned for future pallet projects.)

The boards, after we removed the nails.

We made a channel in the side boards for the pallet wood to slide into. The side boards are also from the pallets.

 We added a board down the middle to add strength, then we added the legs.

 Because this gift was from her, I made my sister make the cuts. I had to teach her how to use the saw. She said it was so easy, even a girl can do it! (Her words, not mine). She had to borrow my jacket so she didn't get hers dirty. 

 I also taught her how to use the nail gun. She got a little excited and missed the board a few times.

 We added a lid and hinges. 

 There is also a handle to lift the lid. 

 The finished product! She even stained it. 

 Lift the lid and you see the cooler. Notice the chain on the left, also the boards are set down for the lid to sit inside the top frame.

This is the inside. You can't give a cooler with out drinks!

Concrete Inlay Table

My Sister and Brother in Law just bought a new mountain home and I wanted to make a house warming gift for them. My Cousin just demoed an old barn/shed so I used that wood for the table top. 

I had to run by home Depot and pick up some 4x4's. I cut away half of the wood at each intersection point to create a plush base. 

See that wood on the right? That is the wood that I used for the table top. I had to plane, rip, and cut the boards to the appropriate size. This picture shows the frame of the table. 

I have a special design planned for the table and I had to add some plywood as a solid base for the table top. 

This is the table in place after getting stained.

The other view of the base.

This is the table after stain. I did a concrete inlay so a hot pan can be placed directly on the table top. The concrete has broken beer bottles as the aggregate. I put on a Walnut stain and the concrete has a  beeswax coating to repeal water.