Our kitchen isn’t exactly a galley style kitchen, but there is a portion of it that is definitely more long and narrow than square in design. When we moved in, we bought an inexpensive narrow table and stools, so that we had some place to sit for breakfast and lunch. The table was okay at best. It was too small to sit all four of us comfortably and was starting to show signs of wear and tear. The stool joints were loosening and hardly safe to sit in any longer. We had been looking for something new to fit in our space, and having lived in our home for 6 1/2 years now, knew exactly what we wanted. Of course, we were unable to find anything that met our criteria. This got us thinking about something custom. For us, that generally means custom built for us, by us and such was the case with our new “industrial decor” style table. We decided to go with same look as the canister shelf Tim belt a few years ago.

Industrial Style Kitchen Table:

We measured out the space and decided that our new table would extend most of the wall and measure 78″ X 22″. This newer and bigger table would certainly meet our needs better as our previous table was quite a bit smaller at  39″ X 18 1/2″. We priced out black steel pipe and fittings from the plumbing departments at both Rona and Home Depot. The pipe isn’t cheap, but it was quite easy to work with, stable and gave us the look we were striving to achieve.  The prices were comparable at both stores and we ended up having to shop at both to find all the pieces we needed.

Steps:

1. Measure out the size of the finished table top and allow for the extra inch that the flanges extend out from the pipe.  That is, the table top will need to over lap the pipes by at least 1 inch or more to compensate for the flanges that attached the poles to the bottom of the table top. At this point, you will also need to decide on the height of the table. We wanted ours to be “bar” height, so our table legs are 38 3/4″ plus the 1 1/2″ table top. It is high, but it is what we wanted.

2. Calculate the piping and fittings you’ll need to achieve the desired height. The pipes come in various lengths, so you have to play with the numbers a bit to figure out what combinations will work for you. You also need to add in horizontal support bars to make the table stable and keep it squared.

3. Shop. You’ll need to pick-up the pipe/fittings and wood for your table top. We wanted an industrial/rustic sort of a look, so we bought plain old 2″ X 8″ planks for the top.

4.  Once you get all of the black steel pieces home, you will need to wash off the oil finish and dry them thoroughly to avoid rusting. (I think Tim actually sprayed them with WD-40 once they were assembled (and then wiped it off with a paper towel) to keep them from rusting.)

5. Assemble the legs and horizontal supports.

6. Prepare the table top. This will depend on what you are using and the look you are going for. It could be anything from an old door to painted wood or stained planks like we used. Because we used planks, Tim had to brace them together on the underside with three pieces of wood (one at each end and one in the middle). He simply attached the wood pieces across the planks to hold them securely together. He then proceeded to do a combination of sanding and beating of the wood (literally). He placed old nuts, nails and bolts in an old sock and beat the wood so that it appeared aged and worn. He also applies some random burn marks with a blow torch and left it coated in a homemade concoction of coffee grounds for several hours. Once it was cleaned up and the rough edges sanded for safety, he applied a few coats of stain. We chose to make ours quite dark to match the existing shelf and the colour of our cupboards. I think it would look awesome with a lighter stain, but it wouldn’t really be great in our space.

Here you can see the flange on the underside of the table. Allow for its width when calculating the size of the table top.

This is a shot of the underside of the table. You can see the 4 boards he used to brace the planks together.

Here is a shot of the top when it was covered in coffee grounds. You can also see the burn marks.

7. Urethane the table top with at least 3 coats for protection and durability.

8. Attach the top to legs.

Tim and I decided not to exchange gifts this year, but having this table done is better than any I might have received. This industrial decor style table looks great and after spending several hours hunting for the perfect bar stools, he is now in the midst of putting the finishing touches on bar stools. Thanks honey!