That time the hubs built me a table

About a month ago, my husband and I were sitting in the lobby of our church waiting for someone. It was a long wait, and we were both tired, and I guess we had run out of topics of conversation. We both started admiring the table at which we were sitting. It was an extra long table with a dark glossy finish.
“I could build a table like this,” he said.

At first, I thought he was kidding. My husband is known for his dry sense of humor, so even after 19 years of marriage, I’m still not always certain if he’s being serious. I was pretty sure that during two decades of being together, he wasn’t just NOW going to mention that he had a secret talent in furniture construction.

“What do you mean you could build a table like this?” I asked.

“This would easy,” he assured me in his very non-joking tone.

I asked him if he could change the design. I would like the table to be about the same length, but not as deep. We have a very long wall in our kitchen that has perplexed me since we moved in. I’ve looked at all sorts of tables to put along the wall, but I’ve never been able to find one long enough that would fit into my budget. At one point, I almost purchased a church pew off Craig’s List. I’ve looked at cabinets and shelves, but nothing was quite right.

As I debated with myself what to do with that space, I noticed that every time we had a large gathering in our home, I would set up a folding table along that wall. I would usually fill it with drinks or snacks to relieve the congestion that always seems to happen in the kitchen. When I moved some of the food and drink options to that wall, it would draw people out of the heart of the kitchen, and give them a reason to gather around the kitchen table.

“Did you know I’ve been shopping for TWO YEARS for a table like this?” I asked him.

The next day was Saturday, and my husband headed out bright and early to Home Depot. We already had a wood working project going on in the garage. But he would squeeze in time on the weekends to work on my table. At one point, he completely scrapped his first design, which was a simple table that was bar height. We looked at some ideas on Pinterest, and he came up with a plan to add two shelves and an X on each end.

After about a month, he was finished. I will admit that many days I was afraid to look. I know my husband is amazing in many ways, but I’ve never seen him build furniture before. You would think that it might have at least come up in conversation at some point if he had some previous experience building tables!

Now, it was my turn to figure out how to stain the table and add the polyurethane. I picked a dark walnut stain, which matched my dining room table and my end tables. I had never stained furniture before, so this was going to be a new adventure. After two coats of stain and three coats of poly, we were done.

Well, to say I love my table would be an understatement. I’ve been playing around with setting it up as a coffee bar.

And I’m trying to figure out how to maximize the amazing storage options underneath with baskets.

I’m not sure if my husband thought he was going to get away with JUST building me a table?! I’ve been ready for a new kitchen table for several years. And don’t you think it would be great if it matched?

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