A Handmade Table For Nana's Patio (Just in Time for Mother's Day!)
THE PORCH HOUSE
Nana is always hosting in her backyard, so for Mother’s Day Garrett and I wanted to get her space bbq-ready. This is really a gift for ourselves as much as her, since Nana’s usually cooking for us ;) But Nana’s the type of grandmother that loves handmade gifts so we knew she’d appreciate a diy table in addition to twinkly lights, fresh flower pots, and a cozy vibe back here. Today we’re sharing the new handmade table and showing you a bit of her Spring backyard.
house colors: BM Hale Navy + BM Simply White
For those of you who don’t know, Nana and Papa (Garrett’s parents) live in the Porch House, the home Garrett and I renovated in front of HGTV’s cameras in 2016 (more about that whirlwind experience here and here). We renovated every square inch of the home…except the backyard. We finished the project in December and the yard was coated with a foot of snow, so there was really nothing to be done. Nana and Papa surprised us by buying the home and it’s been a joy to watch her transform the backyard into a garden and chicken haven. The patio is all that’s left to do!
This is what the patio looked like back when we bought the house…
And today…
The crabapple tree was in peak bloom when I photographed the table. Isn’t it a beaut?!
Nana’s DIY Rustic Outdoor Dining Table
To create this table for Nana, Garrett and I stopped by our favorite architectural savage shops in Seattle, looking for reclaimed, old-growth lumber for the tabletop. We love the look, durability, and patina of old wood and quickly found the perfect old growth 2x8’s. Bonus, they only cost $35!
We knew the general look we were going for, since we were trying to craft something like the outdoor table we built for the Farmhouse. Well we actually built it for our first home in Seattle 15 years ago and moved it from house to house until it ended up at the Farmhouse. The table was included as part of the home sale last Fall, so there it remains. Anywho, we wanted to build Nana something similar but a little less bulky.
This is the Farmhouse table…
After finding the 2x8’s for Nana’s table, the whole thing came together in an afternoon. Here’s the basic plan we drew up before tackling the build…
The overall table dimensions are 38” wide x 7’ long x 28” tall. We based the top dimensions on the reclaimed 2x8’s we found, adding 5 of them next to each other for a total of 38” width (we left a small gap between each board). Generally tables are between 36” and 42” wide, and we’ve found that the narrower tables create a more intimate dining setup and the wider tables allow for more room for serving dishes down the center. This table is of the intimate variety, perfect for our family’s casual dinning. The boards were 7’ long or more, so we went with the shortest board for the overall length.
We shared more details on the build over on Instagram (check out the highlight called ‘Nana’s table’), and here are the materials we used: (5) 2x8, 7’ long; about 10’ of 2x4; about 18’ of 4x4s; screws (5/16 x 8”, 5/16 x 5”, 1/4 x 4”).
The table is perfectly rustic and will work great for eating on and as a potting bench, too!
When we shared a tour of Nana’s garden from last summer, so many of you asked to see her space in more seasons, so I’m doing that today. These photos were taken over the last weekend in April. Our town in central Washington state is hardiness zone 6b with a last freeze date usually around Mother’s Day, so Spring is still just getting going around here. Nana took a gamble by planting her tomatoes already, but I think it’s going to pay off!
That’s a sandbox under the crabapple tree that Nana and Papa built for our kids. They’ve gotten hours and hours of entertainment out of it ;)
Not an hour after completing the table, we had LED solar string lights hung and Nana had a family dinner on the table. She cooks for our family a TON and is quite a cook! btw All the tabletop items and string lights are from our local Fred Meyer, but here are some similar string lights on Amazon.
We’re going to have so many family meals around this table!
xx
