Indiana Black Walnut dining room table

(Above photo shows my two original directions for the table.)

 A Black Walnut tree grew on my grandparents' farm in Mishawaka, Indiana before I was born. Eventually it needed to come down and it was sawed into planks. My parents moved from Indiana to Georgia a few years later and brought some of the Walnut with them, and soon after I was born. Twenty seven years later, I wanted a prettier, sturdier dining table and I knew exactly what wood to use for the top. I made a few iterations in Google Sketchup (my favorite CAD program for the price!) and figured out how much Walnut I needed. My dad bundled and shipped the Walnut to me. I had a local woodworker glue up, clamp, and plane the table top for me. I ordered the aprons and legs from Tablelegs.com, which will custom make any turned leg imaginable. Then I assembled the base, slapped on some yellow paint, and attached the top.

(The above image shows that my final design turned out to be very accurate compared to the finished table.)

 Some friends of mine were skeptical of the farmhouse look of the table with my (knock-off) Eames wire chairs, since the two styles are so different. But, I designed the table as a compliment for the chairs. I love the chunky, turned leg with the clean eiffel tower base. I painted the legs and aprons the yellow color because I thought it brought the table out of traditional farmhouse territory to somewhere more funky and unexpected. We've been using the table for almost two months now, and I really love it.