Our Dumpster Dining Table

What a difference a table makes!

A few months ago (before I moved in) I excitedly called Ian to ask him if he could drive over to the alley near my apartment to pick up a table I had just found out by the dumpster. It took a little convincing...luckily Ian trusts my instincts when it comes to furniture, or at least he fakes it and humors me well.
The next day he called me from outside of the dumpster asking if I really wanted the table...he was not nearly as excited about the find. After explaining to him that that horrible odor he was smelling was from the dumpster he was next to and NOT the table, he lifted it into his Jeep and brought it home.

He also grabbed the legs that were scattered around even though I had told him I did not intend to use them. Thankfully Ian didn't listen to me.

My original plan was to purchase new legs and stain them to match the new finish I was going to give the top. Although this would not have been an overly expensive process, the point of pulling a table from a dumpster is transforming it for as little $$ as possible. This is the challenge, the goal and part of the fun. I love visualizing what something can be... discovering a diamond in the rough when no one else could see it.

So after pricing everything, we decided to stick with the old legs and give them a fresh coat of paint. Ian built a new base to support the table while I SCRUBBED, sanded and stained the top a nice dark walnut stain.

Shortly after we began working on the table my Stepmom mentioned she had chairs in her basement that we could have. After my Grandpop past away, my parent's bought his house and did a beautiful job renovating the home. So these were my Grandfather's chairs and I am so pleased we were able to bring them out of the basement and give them a new life.

I am working on a separate post about how I painted the chairs and legs. This was my first experience finally trying out the chalk paint I keep hearing so much about. I am hooked!
For now, back to our table...

We love it! Our dining room is in the center of the house so every time I walk anywhere I was going through an empty and unused room. As soon as the table was in I felt a huge shift from a house that is under construction to finally feeling like a home. I feel like the table was the anchor the house needed. Everything is falling into place now. I could finally hang pictures and decorate! I can invite friends and family over for dinner! Just in time for Fall...
Oh what a difference our dumpster table has made! The best part, we made it together!