Scrappy Table for Outdoor Dining

I wanted a nice table on the deck to enjoy meals outside now that the weather is warm. I looked around and was astounded at the prices wanted for even the “cheap” plastic tables.

Then it came to me. I had a table that just needed a little TLC and it would be perfect.

The legs I found set out for trash pick up. Who ever had the legs also had a dog that chewed on them so they were rough and the wood very dry. They were made for a different type of table top so you can see a bit of a gap in places where they don’t sit perfectly, but they are secure and I really wanted a wood table so that little flaw doesn’t bother me.

I wanted them to last a few  years so decided to paint them.  My daughter-in-law picks up little jars of paint when she sees them for fifty cents. I used just over half the container to give each leg two coats.

The table top that went with the legs wasn’t worth salvaging so I left that behind. The new top is three pieces of untreated lumber that were leftover after building my raised beds in my last home. I screwed them together using flat metal brackets which cost less than five dollars and sealed the wood with polycrylic.

I had originally assembled the table when I first moved into this home to use as a desk and a place to set up the sewing machine. Now that I have a table in the living room I don’t need this table and all it needed to work outside was painting the legs.

I am enjoying quiet meals on my deck alone and with family.

Everything good, everything magical happens between the months of June and August.

~~Jenny Han, The Summer I Turned Pretty.