Our Live Edge Table Is Finished!

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So we’ve lived in our house for 10 months now, and we started working on this custom live edge table back in October. We’ve had a lot of ups and downs and frustrations but it was so worth the wait! I am absolutely smitten with how it turned out and I am so excited to finally show you guys are very unique dining room table. (and yes, that means we haven’t had a dining room table since we moved in, we’ve been eating at our kitchen island this whole time, ack!)

Isn’t it a beauty? Sigh. I’m so excited with how our live edge table turned out, not to mentioned we now actually have a table and can invite people over for dinner.

When we moved in, I got my heart set on a live edge table, I absolutely love the modern rustic look of them but they are SO expensive. Like way over budget. Umm no.

So naturally, I went on an adventure to see if I could put one together myself (when a girl knows what she wants, nothing can stop her. Right?). I found a guy on craigslist who makes live edge slabs in his barn and sold them at a pretty reasonable price (unfinished). As soon as I entered his barn I was completely sold. I could buy every piece he had.

I contemplated finishing it myself, but this is by far the most expensive piece of wood I have ever purchased and I really didn’t want to mess it up (and neither did my husband). Since this was a piece we wanted to have forever, we decided to pay the extra money and have a professional finisher do the work. (I won’t lie, this is the first time I have ever paid someone to do DIY work for me and the control freak in my was freaking out).

I had a very specific look I wanted for the table. I wanted a light color so there was a contrast with our hardwoods, but I didn’t want a true maple because it will yellow over time once you put varnish directly on it. While this can be a beautiful look in someone else’s home, it wasn’t the look I wanted. In our home I have dark wood mixed with reclaimed wood and I wanted the slab to blend in with the brown/gray rustic tones we have in our home. I found a few inspiration pieces on Pinterest (here) and I worked with our finisher to get the perfect rustic tone. It took quite a few attempts and trial and errors but it finally came out perfect!

They ended up putting a milk stain on top to give it the lighter, white washed look and then sealed it. It’s so light that you can still see all of the natural beauty of the wood. It looks amazing in our kitchen and and I’m excited with the final product.

I also saved money by buying my own table legs and putting them on myself. I originally purchased square stainless steel legs but I didn’t like how they looked on the table. so we scratched that idea and went with these Industrial Metal X Legs I found on Etsy. These are AMAZING legs and I’m so happy with them. It was the exact look I was hoping for.

I finished the look with these Industrial Chairs in Gun Metal that match the legs perfectly. I had a hard time chairs that were the right color of metal and reasonably priced. There are a lot of chairs out there that are similar style but are more nickel, and we wanted a true gun metal to match the legs and our console table in the family room. And to make things a little more challenging my husband wanted ones with arms on them. Thankfully, I finally tracked these beauties down at Wayfair  and they arrived in no time!

I could technically fit four chairs on either side of the table but for now I spread them out to make it a little more spacious for every day use. Eventually I’d love to fine some contrasting chairs to put on the ends. For now I’ve been playing around with using these faux fur throws to mix things up!

I thought I’d throw in a pic of how the table looks right against our family room. Our downstairs is one huge open space and I love it!

Quick Bits:

– Table is Maple With A Milk Stain

– Industrial Chairs in Gun Metal

– Industrial Metal X Table Legs  (mine are 28″)

About Taryn Whiteaker

Taryn Whiteaker is the voice of style behind TarynWhiteaker.com (formerly Design, Dining and Diapers) ! Taryn is a previous PR/Marketing professional who got back to her creative roots after becoming a mom and now shares her passion for home decor and design for the world to see. Taryn lives in the greater Seattle area with her husband and three kids and loves coffee, the outdoors, and exploring with her family.