Renee’s Reclaimed Table and Beautiful Bench

Recently, we heard from a writer for This Old House Magazine, who said:  “I am working on a story about cool things architects design for their own houses with simple, off-the-shelf materials — or surplus/salvaged materials. For example, a pot rack out of chain link or a banister out of bungee cords etc. The gist is inexpensive, mundane materials used in interesting and unexpected ways that readers could adapt to their own homes.  Can you think of any architects who have reused materials from Community Forklift in their own homes?”
In response, Forklift Fan Renee Gentry sent us some pictures, and wrote:  “I’m not an architect, but I did make a dining room table out of a hollow-core door (substructure) ($2) and reclaimed flooring done in a herringbone pattern ($30). The legs (antique sewing machine legs for $25) and 1×4 framing were the only things not from the Forklift. I also made a bench out of reclaimed paneling and stair ballustrades. All from the Forklift.”
We’ll see if these make it into the magazine, but in the meantime, we thought they were so cool that we just had to share!!!  Thanks Renee!
P.S. to all the Forklift Fans – if you have pictures of a good project, and you’re willing to be interviewed by the magazine, please contact Ruthie(at)CommunityForklift.com right away!

Bench in progress.  Stair spindles make great legs!

Look at that beautiful grain!

Here’s the finished bench!

Here’s a plain old door being used as the structure for the dining table.

The reclaimed flooring is laid out on top of the door in a herringbone pattern.

Sanded smooth…

After sanding, the wood had to be finished

Here’s how it came out – aren’t the sewing machine legs so pretty?