When you can't find it, build it yourself!

We are tying up a few decorative loose ends at the Ales house, which is crazy because I don't really have any critical pieces left to shop for when I go out! My husband and I have this blank wall in our Living Room that at the very least needs art. This room also lacks lighting and the primary overhead fixture in this room is a fan with a small light that doesn't really do the job. This is ok because I don't like overhead lights anyways- I'm more about the "mood" lighting, which is provided by lamps. I thought it could be a good idea to do something a little more with the blank wall that just stick a picture on it, although we are doing that in addition to some other things. What we'll have is a console table that is open underneath with 2, x-base benches (that can be pulled out for extra seating), a pair of vintage lamps for extra lighting, and a large picture of my husband's photography. I felt like our Living Room already had enough wood and dark wood going on, so I wanted the console table to be a different material, lighter in color, as to not add too much weight to that side of the room. I also wanted the benches and lamps (which are darker in color) to stand out against the console table. I was inspired by some of Jan Shower's end tables that are wrapped in grasscloth paper and trimmed out on the edges with nail heads. I decided to go in this direction for the design of the console. Thankfully, my husband is pretty talented when it comes to carpentry, so he was able to make the table with the help of our builder friend Greg Brooks who has all the tools and the know how! Here are some pictures in progress...

What we did:
-Bought one large sheet of 3/4" MDF- I think it was 4' x 8'.
-Cut sheet down to pieces to construct the 60"w x 18"d x 31"h table. We glued/screwed 3 pieces of the 3/4" MDF together to create the 2 1/4" thickness.
-Next up: wrapping with the grasscloth wallpaper and adding the nail head trim...

STAY TUNED! I also will have a before and after on the benches which are still in progress.