DIY Dining Table – How To Build Your Own Kitchen Table From Wooden Planks

Do you want to build your own dining table from old wooden planks? Then you are here at DIY Furniture Blog absolutely right! I'm not a born craftsman and yet I've conjured up a rustic dining table with an industrial design. I could even upcycle old oak planks and give them a second life.

In this article, I'd like to show you exactly how I went about it and how you too can build your own DIY dining table. Let's go!

Here is a short overview for you in advance:

• Planning
• Building instructions
• Closing words

Planning: What do I need for a self-built dining table?

First of all, it is important to have a relatively clear picture of the future dining table in mind and to at least roughly on paper. This makes it much easier to build the dining table, as you know the exact target and don't have to make constant adjustments.

But before you make the first handshake at your tableyou should be clear about what kind of dining table you want to build yourself. By answering the following questions in advance, you will be on the safe side.

What style should the dining table have?

For example, would you like a simple, straight-lined dining table or would you prefer a table in the minimalist style with a touch Industrial charm? As you can see from the pictures, I opted for the latter.

Personally, I think the industrial design is just really cool - especially in combination with stone walls or black and white pictures the table can then develop a great effect.

Accordingly, it should be DIY dining table made from wooden planks and metal be used. Just two different materials. The old reclaimed oak planks and the solid table runners give the dining table a simple yet rustic look.

It was also important to me that the edges of the table, where you eat later, are not trimmed (straightened), so that the Preserve natural tree edge remains. This gives each table a truly unique touch.

Where should the dining table be placed later?

If you want to build a dining table yourself, you should be aware of the later Location be pretty clear. This is because old wooden planks in particular have a small blemish here and there.

For example, if you already know that a plank side with a quirk will be under the dining table or on the edge that will not be visible later of the dining table, you are more likely to be satisfied with it than if the material defects are in a visible place.

In addition, the future space of the DIY dining table may not be rectangular, but possibly an incline has. To ensure that the table is still parallel to other furnishings or walls, it can make sense to give one side of the table the corresponding angle of the slope.

How big do you want the DIY dining table to be?

You should be pretty clear in advance how you want your self-built dining table to look later. I had decided that the table about 165 cm long, 90 cm wide or deep and 75 cm high should be. So give it some thought before you start planing, sanding and painting.

Instructions: How do I build a DIY dining table?

The idea of the dining table is ready and now it's time to get down to business! We now know which Material the dining table, which Size and in which Style it is to be built.

In the following I would now like to Step by step show you how I went about building my own dining table.

1) Get wooden planks for the dining table.

Finding the right wooden planks for the homemade dining table is actually easier in the village than in the city. Because the demand for high-quality Oak planks is now significantly higher in urban areas.

In the village, on the other hand, there are many farms where old Wooden planks lying in the attic or in the barns. I don't want to say that the planks can be found there like sand by the sea, but.... say the planks can be found there like Plastic waste in the environment. 😉

It doesn't always work! Alternative you can of course also buy or order them from a DIY store. Oak planks are available here at Obi*, for example.

Tip: When selecting used planks, it is definitely important to make sure that the wood has not yet been eaten away by woodworms and is still relatively straight. You can even out a few unevennesses later by planing.

2) Clean, plane, trim and sand planks.

You have the wood for your self-built dining table, now you just need to be processed. I proceeded as follows:

First, I made the wooden planks for the DIY dining table with the High pressure cleaner cleaned. When planks have been lying on a farm for more than 30 years, a lot of dirt can accumulate on the wood.

After cleaning, I was then able to see better whether there was still Nails or screws in the wood. A few nails were actually still in the wood, which I then removed with pliers. This is very important before planing the surface.

My carpenter friend has the wooden planks for the DIY dining table then smoothly planed and finally edged - except on the two outer sides, where I wanted to retain the natural tree edge. All the timbers were also cut to the Equal length Shortened.

Afterwards, the wooden planks for the DIY dining table looked like the picture above - smooth, clean and coordinated.

I then firstly used an 80 and then finally again a fine 180 to cut the wood. Sandpaper processed. Only sand the surface and the sides at the edge. You should not sand the inside of the wood and the underside, or only sand them coarsely so that no unevenness occurs at the transitions.

Also make sure that the annual rings of the planks also all point in the same direction. Why? Then the wood does not work in different directions over time and the surface remains as even as possible.

3) Order dining table metal runners in parallel.

So the foundation stone for the surface of the DIY dining table was laid. But what about the metal legs of the table? I made them while I was working on the wooden planks, commissioned or ordered. That saves a lot of time. You are guaranteed to find what you are looking for on the Internet.

You can get comparable table legs here*as I have used them.

And here is also a ready-made table frame* as an alternative.

4) Screw together dining table wooden planks

This step is of course optional, but I really recommend it to anyone who wants to build their own dining table. As already described works wood over time. This means that it bends and shifts.

Either it has already done so or it will do so. Unevenness on the surface of your wooden plank dining table is therefore inevitable.

That's why I have three more Oak slats These were screwed crosswise under the three wooden planks to hold the surface together. At each transition to the next wooden plank, I tightened screws (as shown in the picture) so that the table would later be nice and even and hold together solidly.

The You can get screws online here at Obi* or at your local DIY store.

5) Paint the surface of the DIY dining table.

After I had sanded the surface well and finally removed the dust, it was finally ready to be painted. To preserve the natural character of the wood, I painted the wooden planks with a paint roller, a brush and a transparent hard wax oil deleted.

It protects the wood and gives the DIY dining table a slight gloss effect. After about 12 hours, the oil is dry and the surface has its final appearance.

The You can get hard wax oil here at Obi* or at any local DIY store.

6) Process metal runners and screw them with surface.

This is the final step of my DIY dining table project. In my case, I placed the metal runners on the underside of the table top as they were to be screwed on later. I then drilled holes in the metal at the appropriate points to attach the Screwing wooden planks to the metals.

Then I made the table legs short with this random orbital sander* and sanded with this transparent clear lacquer* coated.

The cool thing about joining metal and wood: When the wooden planks are pulled against the metal, the last unevenness will be evened out. If the dining table is still not completely smooth, you can loosen a few more screws and place thin boards or cardboard in between. This may involve a bit of fiddling around, but it's worth it in the end 🙂

Build your own dining table and enjoy!

Now it's done and you can sit down at your finished dining table that you built yourself according to your personal wishes. With this DIY dining table, we have - in the spirit of the Zero Waste Lifestyle reused old wooden planks and dispensed with mass-produced goods from furniture stores and lots of packaging waste 🙂

Instead, our dining room is adorned with now a real one-off with lots of industrial charm for really little money. All you need is a good plan and the desire to make things yourself.

"Not what I have, but what I do is my kingdom."

Thomas Carlyle (more at Creativity Quotes)

How do you like the self-built dining table? Do you have any questions, suggestions or further tips? Then I look forward to your comment.

Stay creative,

PS: I didn't just build the dining table myself by far and the instructions here in the Do It Yourself Blog published. From the same material I was also able to create a Coffee table and a Build desk yourself. Get some additional inspiration for your DIY furniture in the respective articles.