Fine Dining

We went a long while without a formal dining room table. It didn't seem a huge priority since we had ample room in the kitchen (or in the living room, in front of the TV).

In our minds, an ideal table needed to start with a solid, thick piece of quality wood- new or reclaimed.  Then, to give the table a modern feel, simple, modern legs.

Crate and Barrel and West Elm each had some of what we were looking for in a table but all the tables were missing one thing, or another. Or, had too much of one thing, or another.

Another problem we continually ran into was the size of tables.
We don't have a large dining area so we didn't want to overwhelm the space with furniture, especially since we had gotten so used to that space being so empty.

So, in typical Sam fashion, Sam took this on as a woodworking project of his own.

 He purchased pine for the table top from home depot. The pine has a really clean look, but it still has a lot of character. The final table top is 2 inches thick, which gives it the rustic feel we were looking for.

The final dimensions of the table were 3' x 5', which fit the space perfectly. The legs were recycled from a table that I owned previously in my grad school apartment (an old thrift store find).

To save space and money, Sam also built a matching bench. I love how a farm bench can also give that rustic feel but be so modern in design.

For the chairs, we chose Eames Molded Plastic Chair with Dowel Leg Base, in Java. We were able to see most of the options available at Design Within Reach, in Bethesda, and chose these after a few months of deliberating.

Our dining room...