2020 and probably much of 2021 are the years of alfresco living with our outside spaces becoming as important as our inside spaces, given the restrictions on how and where we can socialise.
Having searched high and low for new garden dining furniture that I liked, didn’t cost the earth and was available within a reasonable timescale I was drawing a blank. I then recalled Alice In Scandiland making her own table and benches and thought that this was the perfect solution. We could make the table, budget friendly, and then splurge on some chairs.
Alice originally made hers with hairpin legs but last year updated it to square industrial legs, which I preferred and gives a more solid base so I went for that option.
I bought Industrial Square Table Legs in Extra Large from Hartleys Direct. This gave us the maximum width for the table and we could of course then make the table as long as we wanted.
My husband then picked up 3 planks of treated wood from the local timber yard, the plan being to cut these in half and use 5 planks to create the table.
The table length is 150cm and 102cm wide, which seats 6 comfortably. You could of course make it longer or shorter dependent upon your needs and the space you have.
The chairs I found that I loved were kind of mid century scandi inspired ones from Nordic House in a neutral rattan so I knew the black legs were not going to work and look too harsh.
I opted to paint the legs, priming them first with Zinsser BIN (probably the product I use the most DIY wise) and then painting them in Farrow & Balls Exterior Eggshell in Charleston Gray which we have on our front door. This eggshell can be used on wood and metal so is perfect for the job. I used a roller to get a nice flat finish.
We opted for treated wood planks as have used these before on our deck area and they weather well. However once the table legs were painted they were just too yellow for my liking and did not look right. The simple solution for this was to do a wash on them using the same exterior eggshell as I used on the legs. I just diluted some eggshell with a fair bit of water, tested a small patch underneath the table to ensure the right tone and I applied it with a paint brush. I love the result, it’s completely taken the yellow away and will weather and grey more in time.
I am so happy with the overall result of the table and how well it works with the chairs. Here’s to months of happy entertaining.
Susie xx