Sofa Table.

A sofa table or hall table is what you call any tall narrow occasional table. The usually stand along a wall, or behind a couch to hold miscellaneous stuff, key bowls, candles, books, etc...

This one I did for the living room, and my wife is loath to part with it, though I will gladly replicate it should anybody want one.

I say replicate, because there isn't any way to make a copy. The top of this table is made up of three planks of red cedar that weathered outside for at least forty years. They were shelves in a plant stand my grandfather made for his green house. When the stand finally had enough, and fell over, I pulled it apart to see what I could do.

I took of at least an eighth of an inch of soft silver surface wood before I reached the inner heart that wasn't burned by UV. It has a deep reddish leathery color that only time brings.

I tied the planks together on the under side with wood straps instead of jointing them and gluing them up into a solid top. It looks more rustic.

The legs and apron are ripped down fir 2x4s from salvage. They are a tapering square, like a pencil post leg, but the inner sides tapper more sharply than the outside. It helps to make the table look more open.

Before I painted the legs and apron, I first ran a bit of barn red paint along the edges and corners. Then after I gave it a couple coats of black satin over that, I rubbed along the edges with steel wool to let the red just barely show. It's a bit too subtle to show in the photo, you don't even notice it unless you're looking for it.

The top got several coats of satin polyurethane, and that really brought out the deep color of the wood. I'm pretty happy with this one overall, I just have to find more old cedar now.