A Modern Dining Table

A dining room needs a table, and in my sister's dining room, we chose a modern design.

If you're new here to this post, you can catch up on the previous posts about this dining room makeover right HERE.

We were bringing change to my sister's dining room, and the last thing she wanted was a glass dining table. She had already had one for more than twenty years, and that was more than enough.

My plan was to give her a modern wooden table - a table with a wooden top and metal legs like my inspiration in the picture below.

*This post contains affiliate links for your convenience. Click here to read my full disclosure policy.

| Table |

I've never welded before, and given that I was simply visiting, I went the easy route on this one, even for the tabletop. Given that I didn't have the proper tools or space for that type of job there in Colombia, it was better to leave those jobs to the pros.

We contacted a local craftsman to build the table legs. We also bought the tabletop from a very nice shop that carried tons of wood.

Here in the US, you can buy this type of table leg online, HERE's an Etsy shop where you can get these types of metal legs. If you have the tools, you can assemble the top out of 2 x 8 or 2 x 10 material, maybe using a Kreg Jig.

Let's continue with the details on how to put the legs and the tabletop together because we had a bit of trouble doing that.

When we ordered the legs, the guy asked if we wanted a set of long supports to give the entire structure more stability. Our answer: Yes, Please!

As soon as the legs and tabletop arrived, we set to put the table together.

We first attached the long supports to the legs and then proceeded to use a good bunch of black screws we had at hand. The screws were driven there, where the arrows are pointing; let's call them "short leg supports," and we also drove many screws on the long supports. We then flipped the table to admire its beauty... But, uh-oh!

The table was swaying badly! 😭😭

We brought the legs back to the smith so he could help us solve the wobbling problem.

He welded another short support on the other side of each leg (red lines above picture) and gave us another support, one center bar, to install from leg to leg.

Here's a close-up of the leg with a set of supports, one on each side of the top part of the leg.

Well, here we were, once again, ready to put together that table!

We first put together the legs with the three long supports, making sure each screw was tightened hard and that the whole structure was square.

If you can weld this entire frame (legs + long supports) that table is going to be way more stable. We couldn't go that way, if it was welded together it was not going to fit through the door, and we didn't have the tools to do that job there in the room. :/

Now, the MOST IMPORTANT part when assembling the table is this: The type of screws you use!

In our first attempt to install the table, we used something that resembled drywall screws. Ha, that could possibly be the main reason why the table was wobbling badly.

For this, our second attempt to put the legs + the tabletop together, we used LAG SCREWS!

Lag screws or lag bolts are extremely sturdy fasteners used to connect heavy lumber that carries an intense load.