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.
What did you use as chairs were they a DIY project as well? If so o you have a post about them?
Has anyone ever built this or something similar and added leaves to it? I’m thinking ones that would just slide in somehow to the ends?
Hello! We also are military and I built Ana’s farmhouse table and it’s a fight to get in and out of our homes. I see that you mentioned using bolts to attach your table top. Old I see pics or get an explanation on what worked for you? Thank you Jennifer
Hi Jennifer! Thanks for writing! Yes, for the dining table, I used the existing bolts from my old dining table (the one the movers ruined), but I go into more detail on how to use these metal threaded inserts (which are very similar to my dining table hardware) in this post: https://jenwoodhouse.com/diy-cabin-bed. Hope that helps!
Jen, Thanks for the plans. I have built three from your plans. One for my granddaughter in college, one for me and one for my boss’s son. We love them all. I was inspired to build a round table for a client. A big one 75 inches, seats 10. The base was the key structure for this table. You might want to check the tutorial on my web site for cutting curved legs. Thanks again ! I love doing tables. Grandy
Hi there! I’m an Army wife too! Can you tell me or post a picture of how you attach the table top to the legs with bolts for movability? I’ve got to know before our next PCS!! Thx!
Hi Martha, I used metal threaded inserts. Basically, you drill a pilot hole for the insert, then insert it into the pilot hole so that the bolts are going into metal, and not wood. You can see more detail in my DIY cabin bed post here: https://jenwoodhouse.com/diy-cabin-bed. Hope that helps!
Was just wondering if you took off the 1/4 inch or less off of all the 2x sides of every piece?
Hi Joe,
It’s been awhile, but I believe I ripped 1/8″ off each side of the 2x boards, to square them up.
did you use the key pocket holes like Ana White? If not, how did you bolt the pieces together. We move often, so this is a better idea
Great job. This looks so beautiful.
Wow, the table is really nice. Thanks for sharing!
Insanely gorgeous, And I have no saw or building skills. I’ll have to show this to my relatives with working garages. Someday maybe I can do something like this. My taste in furniture is so much higher than my Ikea budget.
I know this is an old post, but how many does your table seat?
Looks beautiful and I want to try and make it!
Thanks!
Hi Amy,
Our table seats 6-8 people. Good luck!
On the cross beams under the table. Can I suggest a couple ideas that will help you a lot or if you want to change on your project.
1) You make two and not cut in the middle? Place them both side by side like an X and then score where the two pieces meet in the middle and cut into those spots 1 1/2″ deep. Then slide them back together. You will create an illusion of no cuts. It will look like you had them cut by some factory.
2) As for the Bottom of the Legs where you had 3 pieces of wood. You can use 2×8 then 2×6 then 2×4 stacked with one edge straight down on the inside. The outside excess of the 2x material makes the outside seem like steps. Creating a sight appeal.
Just a couple of thought here. I always loved building and always researched how to improve on many projects. I would have to say its like an upgrade on your project to make it look like an Expensive Piece.
Always a Project Builder and Friend.
phil
$85 compared to $1299, that’s x10 times cheaper! What a brilliant mind!!!