31 Days of Green Little Things: Driftwood Table

Welcome back to my 31 Days of Green Little Things!  This is my place to talk about the little things that I do to help the environment.

Today’s little thing is about making something new out of something old.  It could be making a cloth bag out of a t-shirt (coming soon), using a basketball hoop for a pot rack (we just took ours down), or making a shoe rack out of milk crates (easier than it sounds) but the point is to give something a new life.  And, I’m going to tell you about my “new” table.

You see, I’ve been Mrs. Green Stuff for seven years now and for more than six of those years it seemed that our dining room tables were on a conveyor belt.  Seriously, we’ve had at least four.  They have all been beautiful, solid wood, antique, hand-me-downs.  Beautiful but wobbly.  (Read: wobbly = spills!)

I finally had enough and commissioned a reclaimed table.  I know what you’re thinking:  Commissioned?  That sounds expensive!  That’s what I thought.  Well, it turns out that we were all wrong!  Apparently, it can cost about the same as the table at your local “discount” furniture store.  All without traveling across an ocean to get to my dining room!

This is my table and I love it!

This table is eco-friendly, too.  No particle board.  No toxic glues.  No formaldehyde.  And, did you notice how I threw in that “reclaimed” adjective earlier?  Yep, it’s reclaimed!  All the wood was scavenged out of the Mississippi River.  Driftwood!  That beautiful table is made out of Mississippi River driftwood!

Maybe parts of my table used to be here?!?

Tim, the carpenter, even let us pick out the specific boards we wanted him to use.  Each board came out of the river just as they are now… only dirtier, of course. He offered to plane them to make a smooth surface but we wanted to highlight the paint remnants, natural grooves, nail holes, nicks and dings.  The table is extremely sturdy and even though it’s not wobbly, drinks still spill since we didn’t have him plane it.

Those old nail holes are big enough to hold a pen.

We’re not sure about our table’s former lives but we like to think we have parts of an old shed and pier that were washed down the river.  One board has a little bit of reddish paint remaining maybe from an old barn.  Anyone in Minnesota missing a dock?!? If so, we’ve repurposed it.  (Thanks.)

All of our chairs are super-wobbly, too.  I’m thinking about ordering a bench but I’ll still need some chairs… hmmm…  Any ideas?

What is your favorite repurposed household object?  Post a link in the comments.  I’d love to see it! 

Peace,

Stacey

To follow other "31 Days" journeys, check out The Nester.  She's hosting this party.  Thanks for the motivation to join this year.
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