I'm sinking more and more money into this free table.
Hi I'm Letitia, I just bought my first home and I am diying my way through my own home renovations
and home decor, so be sure to like and subscribe to this video so that you can be up to date for
any new diys that comes up. I was doing my usual prowl on facebook marketplace and bunz which
is a bartering app that I follow when someone post this huge conference table that was free.
I jumped on the opportunity so quickly because in my experience these conference
tables usually go for 150 to 300 dollars and so began my unexpectedly expensive diy
for a fluted dining table slash work table. This is a super popular trend right now. The table is
10 feet long so I had to rent a van from home depot, which after gas and tax I think it was
about 80 dollars. The plan for this is to be a work table from my studio basement downstairs.
So the table top was already painted with orange chalk paint and I believe the edges and the table
legs were painted black. I think it's either mdf or a laminate, though at this point it's so well
loved with a lot of gum stuck underneath that I'm not too sure. I would have loved to have a pine
table top to match the fluting but since it's not a solid wood table top, I just had to work with
what I had so I decided to paint it white, which is a great basic surface for me to film off of.
Anyways it'll be great to work on large projects without having to work off of the floor.
Now if this is going to be a work table it needs to be painted with really really good durability,
so I started by sanding down the existing paint. Thankfully it wasn't too thick.
I put two coats of primer on the table top using high quality rollers.
We bought these to paint the house and make sure that we wash them well after each use
and they have seriously paid their dues. We reuse them all the time.
The application is always smooth and for a table top that's super important.
You can see the difference between one versus two coats of primer. After drying overnight
outside which had some little visitors walking across it, I sanded lightly for the next step.
For a surface that will constantly be scuffed up and possibly scratched,
I'm using enamel paint. It'll create a shell-like barrier compared to latex paint.
The table was previously painted latex and as I was sanding it you can see it rolling off
like a eraser lint. I did two very thin coats and allowed it to cure for a couple of days
and then it was time to start the fluting. There is currently a big lumber shortage nationwide. I
went to the local lumber store and talked to the shop owner and she was saying that prices are
doubling and tripling and people are grabbing wood like left right and center. I was looking for one
inch half moon rounds usually used as floor finishing. The good thing is that the store hadn't
marked them up yet when I went to buy them, and I got them for the original price at 6.99 per piece.
I thought I needed 20 but they only had 15 and I cleared out their inventory and bought them all.
And if you know Letitia, if you've been here for a while, you'll know that math will always create
an obstacle in one of my diys. So knowing my math skills, I was very careful with cutting the pine.
I marked the 90 degree angle on the table leg and measured with 28 inches with a 1/16 allowance,
double checking all of my markings.
flick this backwards, okay that's the safety
it's so close to me oh you're fine
Then I cut each dowel at the first marking before measuring again and cutting again
This leaves me with a stack of 12-inch scraps that I'll keep for the future.
I lightly sanded the ends to finish and brought them in for assembly. I just taped this off just
to see and confirm my measurements. This time before I bought any of the molding
I double checked with Stefan and the math question was, if Letitia has two table legs measuring 28
inches in height and 60 inches in circumference how many eight foot one inch wide dowels will she
need? And we confirmed 20 dowels because the lumber yard only had 15, I was like okay well
we'll see what we can do maybe since I have a lot of excess short ones, I'll just um I'll make do
with what I have. I find out I needed 20 dowels for one table leg, but I'm sinking more and more
money into this free table. After all this if I were to buy another 20 dowels, 25 dowels this
table would cost me about 300 total. Either I wait a year to finish this, maybe I'll do
half of each table and then i'll finish it off next year when there is no lumber
shortage. So mathematical blunder aside, fluting is actually very easy
as long as you're regularly checking that it's 90 degrees and tying up your hair, it's easy peasy.
I got construction adhesive in my hair oh no oh no. Should I put goo gone?
I would say my hair is even healthier because I just drenched in
olive oil. Always tie your hair up. So glue blunder aside, fluting is very simple.
There will be a couple of pieces that are slightly warped, so unless your table leg is painted neon,
it won't be a problem if you have a bit of table showing through. I used a trivet
underneath to level out all the fluting underneath so that it's a crisp clean line
It looks so good until you get to the other side.
To finish off the table, I hand sanded any little bumps before applying a clear water-based finish.
I applied two coats which gave me a semi-gloss finish.
Conference tables are the perfect affordable item to upcycle right now if you're looking
for an affordable dining table. They often come oval or circle and have pillar legs which is
pretty much the same shape as dining tables that are very popular in style right now.
So far with half the legs done, this project has costed me about two hundred dollars
so I'm anticipating it to overall be just over 300 when I'm done. It is a pricey diy
but it's a very affordable dining table that is very aesthetic right now and I was thinking that
I could even switch it up and change the table top and cut a big piece of pine, either turn it
into two dining tables or turn it into a desk. I think by following all the proper steps and taking
time to actually make sure this is painted, this table top will last a very long time.
If you want to see more diy content you can find me on all social @letitiakiu including instagram
and tik tok. If you can please like the video down below and I will see you in the next diy.
bye!