Our buffet

While walking on the beach back this summer I found this board that had washed up. It looks like it may have come from a boat or something, it still had a metal strap and big rusted chain attached to it. As soon as I saw it I knew what I wanted to do with it, so I sat down and drew out my design. Chad cut off the chain and metal, then cut the board in half.

That was 6 months ago.

Yep, it has taken that long to get this started, but he took leave for Thanksgiving and this is what we have spent that time doing.

We made about 6 trips to home depot in 4 days just to get the right supplies.
Probably could'a saved alot on gas if we'd just built it there,
don't think they'll let you do that tho.
These are pics of the whole thing coming together, Chad wanted some at every stage to show the process.

I originally picked out stain to match my dining room table which is red mahogany, but when I put poly on the boards it turned the grain into this fabulous black, so back to Home Depot we went.

The box, doors and drawer.

Went with the ebony stain to match the top.

Ah, finally getting somewhere with this thing, it felt like it was taking forever to get it built. I wanted to get it done so I could get my Christmas decor done.

We are no where near being professional builders and our tool chest is below redneck standards. It consists of a skil saw that we've had for about 12 yrs, 2 very cheap drills (one that only holds a charge for about 20 min., a router we bought to build our nightstands, and a $25 Wal-mart sander.

The entire time we worked on this Chad kept trying to convince that "my old ugly board was gonna make this beautiful piece of art look like crap"
I never gave in tho, that was my inspiration and it was going on.

Then we laid on the top
and
"Honey you were right, it looks great."

I tried to tell him.

We finally got it in the house last night and I am still amazed.
It looks so much better than it did in my head, I knew it was gonna be beautiful, but this is above my expectations.
These pics do not even show how fabulous this thing turned out.
And to think it all started with a piece of crap that washed up on a beach.

As soon as I get my decorations done I will post more pics. Maybe I can get some better shots.
I have decided our next project is gonna have to be a dining room table, because the one I have just looks horrible with this in the same room.
Maybe I'll find some more crappy wood on the beach:)