Ideas for a dining room table

[longshadowfarms]

Anyone have any ideas for a different kind of dining room table. We would like a really large table but don't want to pay the hefty price tag that goes along with them. Anyone have any interesting plans? Designs? Pics? DH just installed wood flooring and thought about possibly using that. We've also thought about using tile. Looked at the pics of Melissa's table which is slate but can't really see what is under it to hold it up. What have ya'll used and what did you like/dislike about it?

[dezeeuwgoats]

MIL and I made my dining table out of closet shelving from an old, condemned farmhouse. Plain styling - nothing fancy - everyone seems to comment on it.

Niki

[Jan Doling]

The fancy outdoor kitchens in magazines have shown a table base from fencing wire formed into a cylinder, then filled with large river rocks. A wooden table top goes over it. Got any rocks over yonder?

[sewsilly]

My kitchen table was made in 1890 from the same floorboards that was used to floor the house. It has 'stock' legs. Yes, the 'grooves' between boards do 'catch food'. I use 'banquet' sized tablecloths to 'remedy this'. At this point, it's served 5 generations of my family quite well.

[Ravenlost]

My daughter is using an antique pool table for a dining room table. She received my parents' pool table when my Daddy died. They laying padding down on the pool table and place a piece of plywood over it when they use it for a dining room table with a tablecloth over the plywood.

They don't use it for a dining room table very often as my daughter loves to play pool. Most of the time the plywood is stored in the garage.

[moopups]

There are a great many plans located in the links library, under the first woodworking sticky. 'Messman' site, click 'T'.

[uncle Will in In.]

I like your husbands idea about using hardwood flooring for the top. Use a sheet of plywood for the "subtop" and glue and clamp the flooring on top of it. If he goes for that idea, we'll work on the legs, and edging around the top. A walnut edge around a whiteoak top would get you some favorible comments.

[amwitched]

My neighbor bought thick wood planks that still had to bark on the sides, for her tabletop. She used that polyurethane (shellac) for a really shiny and durable finish.

[DaleK]

You can also use heavy plywood for the sub-top and use mismatched used ceramic tiles to make a pattern for a table, if you don't intend to move it much. 12x12 tiles are usually $1 or less at a reclaimed building materials store.

[affenpinschermom]

Uncle Will stole my idea. Actually my DH made a beautiful island top out of left over oak flooring and glued it like U.Will suggest to ply wood and edged it. It is gorgeous. Thus far it has been there for 8 years and no problems.

[donsgal]

I have seen folks use a door and put it on sawhorses! It was a temporary solution, but a good one.

donsgal

[Queen Bee]

I have an island made out of maple plywood (furniture grade). It comes it 4x8sheets and is 1" thick. He put curved molding around the edges and I love it...

Best table (for me) would be 10' long 1x6 pine boards with tapered type legs.. Paint it white and hit the edges with the sander/sand paper to reveal a dark stain underneath,,,

[Dave S.]

Eric Sloane used to make tables out of old barn doors, they were rough, but they had character. You might also consider a Harvest table and benches. They are a classic colonial table. They are usually 3'wide x however long you need to fill the space.

[Jolly]

Originally Posted by moopups

There are a great many plans located in the links library, under the first woodworking sticky. 'Messman' site, click 'T'.

I agree.

It's a nice resource, if you haven't checked it out.

[longshadowfarms]

Thanks Moopups! Found a few promising plans there. Unfortunately a lot of dead links.

Ravenlost, that's pretty funny!

I already have a functional dining room table so this isn't a case of "need something NOW." The one I have just isn't that sturdy, only seats 8 and is HUGE for the few it seats. The way the legs are situated, it is uncomfortable to seat more than that. We do it if we need to but we'd like to plan for a more comfortable table.

I like your thinking Uncle Will! We may want to wait until we decide what we will do for the kitchen floor since the dining room will end up with the same flooring we use in the kitchen. In the room we are currently finishing we have ash flooring with walnut and ash trim. I really like the ash but had planned to have cherry for the cabinets in the kitchen and not sure how that would coordinate with cherry. That ash floor is right off the kitchen so it would kind of be nice to just keep going with ash. So many decisions! Here's DD on the floor SHE laid out! Now she's laid out on it. She likes to help out with these projects.

[nodak3]

We did one using salvaged tongue and groove old hardwood flooring, with 4x4's for legs. Painted the legs, urethaned the top. Love it.

[susieM]

Originally Posted by donsgal

I have seen folks use a door and put it on sawhorses! It was a temporary solution, but a good one.

donsgal

That's what we have. A big barn door and two sawhorses.

[FolioMark]

My first job was in a planning office and they had a big conference table that was made of two terracotta drain tiles with a huge sheet of plate glass on top.
The drain tiles were about 2-3 feet in diameter with a big flange and the glass was very thick. You could use wood instead of glass which would be cheaper and safer. Sometimes you can get a real deal on a used conference table at an office supply store and i got a real deal years ago on an oak table when the local school had a surplus equipment auction. It was a huge oak library table about 5 feet wide and 10 feet long. Weighed a ton.

[MullersLaneFarm]

Paul took the feedbunk boards from the barn we tore down and made our kitchen table and bench
http://www.mullerslanefarm.com/furniture

[TNHermit]

I'm currently doing one like this




Not really that hard