Well that didn’t take long. It’s only our second move in this crazy Army life and it happened. We had a nightmarish moving experience. Among a laundry list of other things that went wrong, our movers broke our dining table. When putting it back together, they tightened one of the bolts so tight that they sent it straight through the top of the table! Is it bad that my first thought was, “meh. I could build a new one.” I mean, yeah, the easy solution would have been to just repair the damaged spot and refinish the table, but who wants easy? Pfffft. Besides, I was just waiting for the perfect excuse to start another DIY project, much to my husband’s chagrin.
Just kidding, Honey, you’re super supportive and I love you (just in case he reads this blog).
So I went window shopping for some dining table inspiration and ran across this beauty from ZGallerie:
Yep. She’s pretty hefty, right? And she costs $1299. Womp womp. If I spent a thousand bucks on a table, my husband would kill me (we ain’t fancy peoples, y’all). I mean, I totally understand spending that kind of money on furniture, but not my husband. Nope. He’s the kind of guy who wonders why we need curtains when we have blinds.
Sadly, I can’t just look at a piece of furniture and figure out how to build it. That’s where my friend, Ana White, comes in. She’s a genius at doing just that. So we put our heads together and came up with a plan to make…
This! And guess how much the lumber was. Are you ready for this? $85. Yep. That’s eighty-five bucks. What the duck?!
DOWNLOAD THE FREE BUILDING PLANS HERE.
TOOLS:
- Tape Measure
- Speed Square
- Pencil
- Pocket Hole Jig
- Drill
- Miter Saw
- Table Saw
- Brad Nailer
- Sander
- Drill Bit Set
MATERIALS:
- (9) 2 x 6 x 8 Ft. Boards
- (9) 2 x 4 x 8 Ft. Boards
- (1) 1 x 4 x 8 Ft. Boards
- 2 1/2-inch Pocket Hole Screws
- 2 1/2-inch Wood Screws
- Wood Glue
Building with 2x6s and 2x4s was definitely a workout. I needed my husband’s muscle on more than one occasion to help me manage this behemoth while building. First, Ana recommended running the boards through a table saw to square up the edges. The tabletop is planked, and while I do like ‘rustic,’ I still wanted ‘refined,’ so I shaved less than 1/4″ off each edge so that I could work with perfectly square, straight edges. Ana’s brilliant idea satisfied the perfectionist in me, being that each board sat flush to the next. I like it when wood plays nice. (Hey now! This is a family blog!)
Here’s the tabletop, all screwed and glued together. Those are 2×6 boards. Pretty stout!
Then I cut two different angles on my 2×4 supports. The first angle is at 30 degrees, and the second one is at 45 degrees off square. It made for a pretty beveled detail, much like the ZGallerie table. Ana is so detail-oriented when it comes to sketching up plans; she amazes me.
Then I built the legs out of 2x4s. You know how 2x4s are slightly rounded on the edges? Because I shaved off the edges, they’re nice and square, giving it the illusion of a solid leg. I think this also helps make framing lumber look more like finish-grade lumber. Fake it till you make it, I guess?
Then I added the stretcher bar. The base is flipped over so I could hide the pocket holes underneath when attaching the stretcher.
And here’s the tricky part: adding the X to the legs. The outside angles of the X are at 20 degrees off square and the middle of the X are 50 degrees off square (as noted in the plans). I made sure to measure and mark where the middle was so that everything looked balanced and even.
And we’re done!
I didn’t attach the tabletop to the base just yet (I just laid it on top for the photo op) because I’m going to sand and stain the two parts separately. Then I’ll bring them into the house to assemble because the table won’t fit through the door fully built. Also, since we’ll be moving again in the next couple years, I’ll attach the top to the base with bolts (instead of screws and glue) so that it can easily be disassembled when moving day rolls around. Hopefully by then, we’ll have more careful movers (yeah, right).
I’ll be back with a finishing tutorial as soon as possible! In the meantime, you can build your own ZGallerie-inspired dining table with Ana’s plans! Thank you, Ana! It turned out beautifully!
How about you guys? Care to share any moving day misadventures? Does anyone else (who is not in the military) move around as much as we do? Thanks for reading, see y’all soon!
Update: Here’s the link for the Restoration Hardware-inspired finishing tutorial.
Hi,
When you say “shave off the edges…” did you use the table saw or did you sand it?
Regards,
Amie
Hi Amie,
I ran the boards through a table saw to get rid of the bullnose edge. Hope that helps!
Were the movers able to better handle this table? We are new to Army life and about to build this table before our first move and I’m concerned about how the movers will handle the bottom half (knowing we will take your advice on bolting the top!). Any updates or suggestions would be so helpful!
Hi Megan,
Yes, having the table disassemble makes it easier for the movers to move it without issue. Good luck on your build!
Thank you Jen, i can already picture me and my friends, having a nice dinner on this table 🙂
Hey Jen
What wood would you recommend for this project?
Hi Joel,
We used doug fir for this table and it worked out great!
thank you ill send you some pictures when its done, thank you very much!!
Hi Jen! I’ve been admiring this gorgeous table of yours for years and my husband and I are going to give it a try! Question for you – I see the legs are made from two 2×4’s put together. Could we use 4×4’s for this instead or is there a reason the two 2×4’s are preferred for this project? (We’re wood newbies). Thank you, Jen!
Hi Dusty,
So good to hear from you! We used 2x4s simply because they’re easier to find than untreated 4x4s. You can certainly use 4x4s instead – it’ll look great! You may need to get the Kreg HD pocket hole jig though because I believe the standard jig only drills holes into 2 1/2 inch material at the most. The HD should be able to handle the 4×4 thickness. Good luck and let me know if you have any more questions!
xo
Jen
Hey Jen!
beautiful table, I am in the middle of building it right now. One question though, would you happen to have plans for the bench in the attached picture? Obviously my wife wants the one that matches the table. Thanks!!
Hi Cody,
Glad to hear you’re building this table! What bench are you referring to?
Hi Jen. Beautiful table. It’s been 4 years since your build. 8m curious, how has your table held up? Some people on woodworking forums say that tables made from construction type lumber will warp once theyre inside and the moisture content of the wood continues to drop. How does yours look now?
Hi Jeff,
I’ve since sold this table, but it worked beautifully for us for the two and a half years we had it. I didn’t notice any warp at all, but I’ve heard that pine and Douglas fir are both very forgiving woods.
Do you have the plans for the benches that go with the table.
Are there any plans for a bench to go with this table. I love your post and made this table using poplar and staining it espresso. It was a gift to our son and daughter in law and they loved it. Now they want a beach to match the table.
How wonderful, Lisa! So glad to hear the plans worked out well for you. No, we don’t have plans for a matching bench, but I bet Ana has a ton of dining bench plans on her site that may work for you. Hope you find what you’re looking for! Thanks so much for stopping by!
Hi Jen! I’ve started making this table and I can’t figure out what you used the brad nailer for. Please help!
Hi Sarah,
It’s been so long, I don’t remember… but looking at the plans, I don’t see where you’d use a brad nailer either! As far as I know, everything is joined with screws.
Hiya Jen,
We are going to give this table a try. Did you use any type of finish on it?
Charlie
Awesome! The finishing tutorial is here: https://jenwoodhouse.com/dining-table-finish/
Do you have the link to how you secured the tabletop? We are Navy and move a lot as well so it will be useful to be able to disassemble the table when it comes time to move. Thank you!
Ok , so I understand what parallel and non parallel cut means… but I cant figure out how to do it with the angle cut? Are there are step by step photos? This step in part 2 is confusing me. The parallel, non parallel, and inward cut. Thank you!!! <3
What are the measurements for all of the legs? We’re building this table and have no idea
Hi Brittany,
All of the measurements are in the plans, which are linked in the blog post. Hope that helps!
I love the table! How many does it seat?