Ashley sent me a sweet email last week. When I checked her out my jaw hit the floor. This girl is a very gifted photographer in Oklahoma. Her talent doesn’t stop with her photographs…she is brimming with interior design creativity as well.
Here’s the scoop. Ashley photographed Tim and Kara’s ALSO very snazzy home a while back. Then Ashley had the idea to commission Tim to create a concrete table top to replace the existing wood top on their dining table. Are you following me?
This is Ashley’s kitchen table before.
The table top frame. Tim used a smooth surface, it reminded me of formica. He screwed 4 pieces of wood into the larger board. The pieces stood out from the board about an inch & a half.
Tim used a higher grade of concrete, I am not sure exactly what it was.
Pouring some of the concrete. This picture shows one mix that did not have enough water and a more correct mixture.
Tim smoothing the concrete. Once the top was smoothed it dried (I think ‘cured’ is the technical word) for several days. The top of the table had a more unique hand troughed looked. The bottom was more uniform and smooth. We used the bottom side as the top side of our table.
This table is actually 3 boards pocket screwed to a base. The base was made of 3 old stair banisters from my parents house and then one turned leg to match the other three (my grandpa turned the 4th leg for me). We used 2×4 for the rest of the base.
After taking the table top out of the mold Tim sanded down all the edges using a hand sander that looked like a big rock (how is that for technical?)
To install the top to the base, Tim just applied gobs of silicone to the table base and then the guys set the concrete on top. The table is HEAVY…it won’t be going anywhere!
After installed we did several coats of a sealer on top. I don’t know what type of sealer it was. Tim also mentioned that some people top it off with beeswax, we haven’t done that yet, but might try.
Thanks for the tutorial Ahsley! I love the sleek, modern look of the concrete paired with the white, wood turned legs. I am so going to work on convincing my husband to consider this for our dining table.
To see Tim’s instructions on making concrete countertops go here.
To see more of Ashley’s blog and home go here.
Hey there! I’m Michelle; I’m an Passionate DIY’er and in constant pursuit of how to bring beauty to my house full of men (3 boys + 1 hubby). Stick around and see what I’ve got up my hard-working sleaves!
This looks great! I love it and love your blog!
What a great idea! I have been wondering how hard it is to make concrete counters, but table tops are even better. Thanks for posting this!
I love the doily table runner on the first picture.
I tried this once. I was experimenting with one piece to determine if I could do my countertops. I decided it was too hard to get it right for something with so many pieces. I AM intrigued by the idea of a single piece table top! Looks awesome.
Great idea! I love Ashley’s blog! She’s awesome. Her ideas are so creative.
FABULOUS!! If you convince your hubby, can you come and convince mine?
xoxo Pattie
I think that concrete is going to be the new “it” material for kitchens, I’ve been seeing it everywhere, it looks so much more modern and crisp than granite!
Cool!
i would love a concrete table–very cool, and it looks relatively easy!
swoon….just gorgeous. I adore the wire light fixture too ! ! ! Thanks for sharing.
I’ve heard of concrete coutertops, but I’ve never actually seen it. It is so cool! It would look spectacular in your home. Good luck on convincing Jake! 🙂
That looks great…I would love to have that done to my counters…and someday do my floors in colored concrete.
Just saw your mention in Style at Home! Congrats 🙂
Well thanks to Ashley I made it over here 😉
I’m glad I did that because your style just ‘clicks’ with mine. I love your blog already!
This one to try for sure without a doubt!
a.ma.zing! What a creative idea and I am eying all of my tables as we speak!
Fantastic! I saw this done on the DIY Network not too long ago (I think it was House Crashers) and was totally intimidated — but y’all are making it sound so easy!
i love this table so much!
What a great idea, it looks awesome!
I want this in countertops!!!
XOXO
That is so amazing and would be so great for kids! No more nicks in the wood! I hope you do this and you do it soon so we can see it!
What a great idea! My brother pours concrete countertops and I am very fortunate to have had him come and pour ours. I LOVE them SO much. They are so durable and can handle all of my baking/cooking needs. When we eventually move to a new home I will have him come and do it again.
You can also mix a color into the cement. I chose a sand color and my walls are ocean blue – so my kitchen is light and calming to work in. My family in Southern Utah has put in outdoor kitchens with cement counter tops and they are perfect and can withstand the hot summers. I will have to pass along this idea for an outdoor table.
Do you have pictures of you worktops they sound amazing
For anyone that thinks they want to try this at home, if you google concrete canoe mix, you will come up with a bunch of info on what college students do to make concrete that floats. That means that the concrete weighs less than 62.4 pounds per cubic foot. Normal unreinforced concrete weighs 150 pounds per cubic foot. You can’t use ready-mix, but it’s just as easy to buy a bag or two of cement and add the aggregate (some kind of sand and likely vermiculite or some other thing that goes in potting soil) and mix it yourself. Just an idea for a much lighter, but just as durable, table top. Also, they usually include the compressive strength of their mix designs — normal weight concrete from a ready-mix is probably between 3000 psi and 5000 psi. Generally speaking the mixes for the concrete canoes would be in a similar range.
Incredible ! I’m planning a concrete top for our potting bench, so this is so timely ! Great post, thanks so much for sharing !
Kate
Thanks for posting on this. We want to make a concrete dining table top too! I am going to check out the instructions next.
I don’t get it. The tabletop in the first picture has a wood grain and the last picture is clearly concrete. Are they the same table?
Yes, the table is wood grain on one side and concrete on the other side, so if you ever get tired of one look you can flip it over for a whole new vibe!! So chic. Must try this.