For those of you who know, I have been on a dining room search for quite some time . I sold our counter height dining table on craigslist (see below) and decided that I wanted a long rectangular table that would seat at least 8 and would be, of course, stylish. 
I searched and searched....and searched.....and couldn't find what I wanted. I ended up buying an antique dining set (see below) that I spruced up, but after a month with that, decided that I STILL wasn't happy with it. As you can see, I also decided to paint the walls a more neutral color instead of the orange (which was a HUGE project....and now I miss the orange....see, I'm just never happy!)
Sooo, a friend told me about http://www.knock-offwood.com/ and, I was hooked!!! I made a list of projects that I would tackle, starting with the "rustic table".
The plans were REALLY easy to follow and the supplies for the table were around $150 (and that's only because I went wood shopping with my husband and he had to get the "best" wood....so, we did).
Assembly went quickly, but it was the staining that stretched out the project. True, it only takes a couple of minutes to stain, but then to wait 6-8 hours inbetween stains, when you put about 8 coats on....and then a couple coats of varnish....well, you get the point.
And the results:
Here are the details:
Wood- Pine
Stain- Dark Walnut
Varnish: Clear Satin
Chairs: purchased on craigslist (all 8 for $50!!) and stripped them down, painted, then reupholstered.
Paint- off white.
Fabric: Purchased at Joann Fabrics with my 50% off coupon (paid about $20 total, and then purchased some scotch guard for it with y 40% off coupon)
TOTAL COST (for the entire dining set).....drum roll please..........
$250!!!!
Now.....go out and start your knock-off wood project. If we can do it, YOU CAN TOO!!!
