From Bark to Beautiful: Cherry Wood Occasional Tables

Carl has always been handy. He grew up working in a hardware store, and I'm pretty sure if we opened him up we wouldn't find bones and blood, it'd be nails and paint. I found this to be a great characteristic when we first started dating, and it only got better when he told me he could do woodwork. What? Huh? Like you can make something out of a tree? Wowsa. Score. My brother-in-law also can make fancy things out of trees, and he is lucky enough to have a fancy workshop...that he lets Carl use!

So let's get to what this post is all about. A Hope Chest. Yup. That was what I requested. So Carl, my boyfriend at the time, and my brother-in-law drove a couple hours north to a farm and bought some raw wood. It needed to be planed and dried out. I'm impatient. I think I asked him 37 times how much longer it would be until I could have my Hope Chest. Well. About three years later he finally started working on our family room tables. Confused? Yeah, well when he was finally able to work on them, I didn't need a Hope Chest anymore. My hoping was over. I had the rock on my finger, and we needed a coffee table and end tables much more than a chest.

I should admit, I was pretty nervous. I mean, what if I hated these things? What if I thought they were super ugly, and I was going to have to keep them in my house?? I should have known better. That boy knows me. He knows me well. And he did a fabulous job! Alright, enough dialogue. I'll get to the good stuff. Pictures.

First, the before:
Ok, so it wasn't exactly THIS, but very close. There was still chunks of bark left on the wood. Then he planed it, sanded it, sanded some more and sanded one more time, or three more times. I lost count. Add a little planning, a lot of glue, and a whole chunk of time, and we had this:

And now FINALLY, they are really done. A handful of layers of polyurethane later. It has been amazing to watch their natural transformation. They started out a very light, tannish yellow sort of color, but the red has really come through. The wood grain is just beautiful, and I can't wait to see how they keep changing!





I already have plans of what else I want him to make me. Now if only we can get a few more hours in a day for him.