It is Finished

A Dining Table and Six Chairs

Three years ago this project began with a wonderful gift of a stack of rough Southern Iowa Walnut boards (thanks Craig) and an idea. This Shaker Style table emerged through trial and error with lots of brooding, pondering, and study. Many of you have followed along and have asked for the finished product. And here it is.

The finish is a polyurethane coating called Arm-R-Seal by General Finishes. It's tough, but lets the beauty of the grain shine and flow. Soap and water clean up.

The table fits the space in the Ames house and seats six people comfortably. Best of all, Cheryl likes it.

The oak chairs are a perfect match for the table. Contrasting colors with similar lines and strikingly beautiful seat covers.

We purchased the chairs for $20 off Facebook marketplace. Seller told us they came from an auction in Mingo and they were old. They looked like a mess, but had $20 worth of potential.

I disassembled each chair, 26 pieces each, to a pile, cleaned and sanded, and then reassembled and glued each one. I stained the light oak with a dark gel stain and covered that with three coats of poly. We found the new seat fabric at Hobby Lobby along with tacks and upholstery buttons. A dear friend sewed the seats into pads (thanks Beth) and I tried my hand at upholstery. It worked. It all worked.

One step at a time, one day stacked on the last, and so it goes. So now it is finished and I'm on to the next project(s).