2 months

This is one of those projects that I thought was going to take 2 weeks. I was so wrong, it ended up taking 2 months. I've wanted a new kitchen table for years but it just wasn't in the budget.

I've thought about ways to update this table and chairs, thought it would look adorable painted cream with a brown glaze. But that wasn't the look I was going for - hopefully someone is - the table and chairs are on craigslist.

What I wanted was a round pedestal table, painted black. But the ones that I've seen were priced anywhere from $500 up to $1000. Like I said, so not in the budget.

Thankfully, my mother in law had an old oak pedestal table, it was smaller than I wanted but it came with a leaf that would give us the space we needed. Best part - it was free. We decided benches would be a much better way to go for the sides - a table can only fit so many chairs around it, but with benches - think of the number of butts you can have on those suckers!!!

The table was free, the benches I found on craigslist after searching for weeks for just what I wanted for just $75. (A bit more than I wanted to spend but they were totally worth it.)

I wanted to keep the top of the benches natural, they would have matched the cart we have in the kitchen, but after stripping the finish off, I realized it the quality of the wood wasn't that good and no matter how I sanded, they didn't look good.

But - it doesn't matter - because I'm THRILLED with how everything turned out.

Now, my quest for the perfect chairs for the heads of the table continues. I'm thinking something ladder back.