A Table for All Occasions

Pictured as an entryway table

This table was inspired by a "Junk Potluck/Trash to Treasure" post that I read over at JUNKOLOGIE a couple of weeks ago. The contest rules seemed straightforward enough:
(1) Create a Junk Potluck project
(2) Post a photo of said project
(3) Link the project to their page

***UPDATE*** I've also added this post over at FUNKY JUNK INTERIOR'S "OLD" theme link-up. I love Donna's DIY style and projects. I've only been reading her blog for about a month now, but I always keep going back for the new (and catching up on older) posts as well.

FOUND SHIPPING CRATE
To give you a bit more insight, here's what I started out with. A good sized shipping crate that one of my neighbors had schlepped into his dumpster. Lucky for me that it was half full at the time and about a third of the crate was peeking out over the top at me when I drove by.


Overall, I'm a pretty big fan of most wooden objects (crates, boxes, containers), and (obviously) the older the better. So it was very serendipitous that I had just read the aforementioned post the day before. At this point, I just knew I had to have it - and it was on. I decided this would end up being a piece of furniture functional enough to fit into any room of the home.

The first step consisted of some strenuous sanding and staining applications. I didn't sand too much off of the areas where the shipping direction marker scrawlings and icons were, because that's what originally drew me to the piece and I also knew that in the end that's where a lot of the "payoff look" would focus around.

Then I decided to build the top completely from scratch in order to be able customize it a lot better, plus give it more of a high-end look that I was envisioning at that point. I created the top from poplar and I opted for the carriage bolts, old nails and iron handles to give it a rustic-industrial quality that wouldn't disjoint it from the original crate part. I also decided to go with a hint lighter shade of stain on this part, in order to not make the whole thing appear "too coherent" and a bit more "pieced together." (Note: I have never built a table top or anything similar to this in my life, but I did take a lot from my art background - which most of the time consists of 90% mental deliberating and 10% execution.)


The finishing touches, to round out that very rustic-industrial look consisted of adding the iron (towel bar) railings on each side, steel casters, and capping of the drawers at the bottom (which originally was just a small wood pallet that the crate was attached to) with .16 gauge copper plates. I only had a day to give the patina on these a headstart (vinegar and non-iodized salt), but I know that they'll only get better on their own with time. I also pounded them against some concrete to ensure some additional character.



At this point it's looking exactly like I envisioned it and I could call it a day... however, I feel like the one thing still left for me to do is add a door or two in order to be able to utilize all of the space inside for storage (damn those art school days and those Bauhaus guys with their "form ever follows function" philosophies!) - but first I'll need to go read a "how-to" or two on the subject.

For the grand finale, I decided to re-dress the table and offer it up as a rolling-cart bar (hence my apropos title, heck I can even envision this out in the garden or potting shed) to bring over to the JUNKOLOGIE Junk Potluck complete with a quick little recipe for some wine spritzers to beat off the last of those hot summer days.

Wine Spritzers
- Ice
- 1/4 to 1/2 cup of wine (my wife highly recommends Snoqualmie Organic Wines)
- 1/4 to 1/2 cup of sparkling water
- Lemon slices (or white seedless grapes), for garnish

Directions: Pour wine into ice filled glass, top off with sparkling water and garnish with lemon slice. (As an alternative, I like to squeeze 3 or 4 grapes into the glass instead of the lemon).

Enjoy.



Come back around soon, where I should be able to have it up for sale by then if you're interested.

**************AUGUST 30th UPDATE***********************