After completing my outdoor table it was time to build an indoor dining table. For this project I needed to create a storage compartment in the table because my kitchen has very limited storage.
To start the project I went back to Free form and started drawing the idea. I needed to sketch out a rough drawing and also put all my notes together. I did not go into as much detail in this drawing as I did for the exterior table because I used some of the same information. Please review that blog for leg measurements.
Once this drawing was complete I started looking at my door options. The first thing I realized was that the door option I wanted to use was not one solid piece. It was a split door that had the rebate overlap. I also didn’t like the front of the doors. I preferred the back as it had less detail to be concerned with.
I am a visual person so I needed to see the table in my room. I built a virtual space in floorplanner.com with the proper dimensions so that I could create the table size and adjust it as needed. The room could hold a table up to 180cm in length. I measured this against the door and found that 180cm would require me to do additional construction to the door once I cut it to shape. Conveniently at 160cm I wouldn’t have to do anything but cut the door to size. Thus I chose 160cm as it still fit 6 people and had the additional benefit of extra space to walk around the table.
After I cut the doors to the correct size I started testing the stains. I prefer to use an oxidizing solution that ages the wood compared to a proper stain. First, if I am building with wood, I want to see the natural wood. That’s what I prefer. Second, I also typically like much older woods. New freshly cut wood just doesn’t have the same feel to me. Finding old wood to build furniture is almost impossible so I usually buy the new wood and then oxidize it with a combination of apple cider vinegar and steel wool. Depending on the color I am trying to achieve I can also add left over tea to give it a deeper brown color.
Yes, I specifically use ‘left over tea’ as I am not waste my tea just to achieve a color. 😂
In the photo here you can see the doors cut to size and the oxidizing solution with tea (on the left) and without tea (on the right). The solution typically greys wood. If you want it more brown, allow your solution to sit a few weeks and really rust the steel wool or add tea. For a deeper or more rich brown, do both. (Here is how you make the solution)
At first I wanted to create a dining table with a waterfall edge. The idea was to take two doors. One for the flat table top and the other I would match up to the table top design and miter them at a 45 degree angle on the corners. If you have two identical doors this could work well. With my reclaimed doors they were all different widths and without practically rebuilding the doors to create the same width, my idea wouldn’t work. Thus I settled on creating more X legs with my new miter saw.
As you can see I used a reclaimed board. For these legs I used 4 x 23cm ( 2×9”). Though I am using the direct conversion. I do not know what the board would be called in Europe as I found it in our warehouse. 🤷🏼♂️
After the legs were made I routed out a square at the legs crossing about 2cm (1inch) deep. This is for my center support beam photographed in picture 2 above.
Once my legs were cut I needed to build the storage for the table. I used 3 pieces of Fir laminated wood boards that were 40 x 200 cm Th 18 mm. I glued them together and used pipe clamps to secure them until the glue was dry. Then I built the sides with the left over wood from cutting the wood to size (10cm high). I mitered the corners of the table sides at 45 degree angles and glued them to my base. While the glue was still wet I also used my nail gun to go around the edges and nail the sides to the base before clamping everything down.
24 hours later after everything was dry, I did a trial fit from the legs to my table base before proceeding. It all fit like a glove!
I proceeded to stain the table base and legs with my oxidation solution that included tea. To get the same cohesive color.
After staining and sanding I added the doors. Now it was time to fill the door details with cement. This is to get the door flat like a table top.
If you have read my last blog on creating an outdoor table you will see I have been through many tests with different types of cement. After creating my outdoor table I came across ‘Resina-cemento’.
I decided to test this product by Kerakoll because it came in 50 different colors. I settled on color 19 for my table but I did the test with number 9. Before actually pouring the resin cement I wanted to see both colors as I was not sure if I wanted the table to match with color or create something different for my dining space. If this product did work for me I would be able to customize so many other pieces… obviously I was a bit excited.
After I poured the test though I did not like the results. Admittedly I did a poor test. I could not imagine this product working for me on a table top. As I was mixing it, the Italian translation on the instructions labeled the material as mortar. Even though the product said ‘resina-cemento’ on the front of the bag. So I was a bit confused and from my previous mortar test that did not work, I made an assumption it would not either and decided to just to get it over with quickly to see the results. Well the results came and it ended up being the only product that gave me a similar texture as Portland cement. The bag was labeled for exterior and interior use, and also the product came in a variety of colors – it could not have been more perfect but it is pricey compared to portland cement. A 25kg bag of portland cement is less than 6 euro. A 3kg bag of Kerakoll Fugabella Numero 19 is almost 19 euro.
I chose the expensive route and immediately went and purchased a few more bags from Leroy Merlin. It took me about 5 bags to finish this table. I had a little extra but this was needed for leveling.
The material was equally as heavy to Portland cement as well. I had the doors attached to the base using the original hinges that held the door in place at the ostuni townhouse. They still work great for keeping the door aligned to the table but they are not strong enough to support the weight of the door if left open..
I decided to add for gas hinges I found on amazon (link to the left). The hinges worked perfectly for my needs and help support/ stop the doors from falling back when open and, assist in closing softly to not damage the table or cement upon closing. After I added the hinges, I sanded the table down one finale time. I realized the cement had a few hairpin cracks. Honestly this wouldn’t have been a problem to seal over but I thought I would add a special touch…Kintsugi
The practice of Kintsugi has stuck out in my mind for a while. Kintsugi is essentially the idea to highlight your flaws. To expose yourself in a loving and beautiful way. Usually this is linked to pottery and done via gold leaf or gold paint. Kintsugi ‘is proof that some things are even more beautiful for having been broken’.
Kintsugi is connected to the idea, and I guess I should say ‘design aesthetic’, called wabi-sabi. Wabi-sabi is also an appreciation of both natural objects and the forces of nature that remind us that nothing stays the same forever. Wabi-sabi calls you to accept your flaws. When you accept and highlight (in my simplistic terms)… this gives you a little bit of both 😘
One quote I really enjoyed to explain the concept of Kintsugi is:
“Not only is there no attempt to hide the damage, but the repair is literally illuminated… a kind of physical expression of the spirit of mushin….Mushin is often literally translated as “no mind,” but carries connotations of fully existing within the moment, of non-attachment, of equanimity amid changing conditions. …The vicissitudes of existence over time, to which all humans are susceptible, could not be clearer than in the breaks, the knocks, and the shattering to which ceramic ware too is subject. This poignancy or aesthetic of existence has been known in Japan as mono no aware, a compassionate sensitivity, or perhaps identification with, [things] outside oneself.”
—
Christy Bartlett, Flickwerk: The Aesthetics of Mended Japanese Ceramics
The hair pin cracks where really not large enough for me to do ‘Kinsugi’ so I took a Dremel with a fine point router bit to them. I went over the hairpin cracks exacerbating them. I needed the cracks large enough to add glue and gold leaf but not deep enough that the crack actually broke or caused the table to not be level.
After forcing the cracks to be larger I went full Japanese artist and detailed the cracks with 24k gold leaf. I sealed the table with a Matt varnish from Amazon (link to the left).
I added back the vintage hardware and of course my decorative star to the legs… and voilà!
I could not be more proud of how this table turned out. I absolutely love it. If you have questions on how certain things were done or want to try this project yourself please comment below!