Here’s a project I made for my good friend and my business partners Daughter, Penelope & her new sister Violet. P has been the baby for some time now, so I wanted to do something special for her as I’m imagining this has to be quite the adjustment for her. In their basement there’s a play area for P and now for Violet as well when she get a bit older. Thought was that P could help teach and play with her sis at their own table.

Table and bases are all out of construction lumber, didn’t see the point in using too good of materials as I’m sure there will be endless abuse to this set. I don’t really ever work with pine and recalling why during this project, haha. The table top did decide to move some on me, but the table buttons have it in pretty good shape. One of the benches did the same, but since the width was so minimal, I simply pocket hole screwed the to the base and that took care of that.

After the wood sat for a week, or so, a couple cracks did appear and pretty significant ones so I decided to add some Dutchman to help. I didn’t go completely rustic with it, but I did add some “worm holes”. Put about 8-10 screws through a scrap piece and just beat on a few areas to give the appearance. I also took my chisel to the edges and tried to create a more rustic feel and then smoothed it all with 220.

Finish is Minwax dark walnut and wipe on poly, 4-5 coats. It was hand rubbed with 00 steel wool and paste wax and then final buffed with 0000. I have to say the finish really makes it feel much more luxurious considering the wood selection.

Overall I’m happy with it and think they’ll get some good use out of it over the years.