DIY White Farmhouse Planked Wooden Table Riser Centrepiece

August 04, 2021

DIY White Farmhouse Planked Wooden Table Riser Centrepiece

Happy Wednesday everyone!

How is your week going?

I had my first vaccine on Monday! I was excited and nervous, all at the same time. Most people become tired after it, but I have been full of energy for the last few days!

Which means I've been DIYing non-stop.

And today I have a fun project to share with you all!

I love having a centre piece on the dining table, don't you?

Even just a vase of flowers brings me so much joy. 😊

Our last table was very narrow so the centrepiece was always being moved at meal times, and rarely put back. 😞

Our new table is a lot wider so I wanted to focus on making a new centrepiece rather than our usual wooden box.

The result was a white wooden table riser made from recycled materials!

And I love it!

For the body, I found some wood in the shed that had been used for another project.

I just needed to trim it down and remove the centre piece of wood.

Next I found a thinner plank of wood to screw to the bottom to keep the two top planks in place.

For the legs, I had some left over furniture legs that had been sawn down for another project (then not used). So I marked out the centre of each leg, and then marked out where I wanted them placed on the bottom of my top planks.

I used a drill to pre-drill shallow holes in the legs. And fully drilled out the holes on the top. Then I part screwed in a screw on top, lined up my leg and screwed it the rest of the way on.

While I was still outside, I used my favouriste Dewalt Orbital Sander to sand down the top and edges of the planks.

And filled a few old screw holes with wood filler.

When the filler was dry, I used my British Paints H2O Enamel white paint to paint my new riser. I did more of a dry brush, leaving some of the details of the wood to show through and create an aged effect.

When it was dry, I tried it out on the table, and the legs seemed really uneven. I attempted to cut the legs down, but in the end I think I made it worse. I needed new legs.

So, I decided to take the legs off one of our old side tables, as seen above.

The legs were attached with screws and liquid nails! So, out came the multi-tool. I haven't really used this before. But it made quick work of cutting off the legs.

To smooth down the where the legs were removed, I used a sharp chisel. This too make quick work of the job.

Next I marked out the centres of the legs again.

Then predrilled a shallow hole where I wanted my screws to go.

After rescrewing the new legs on, I used some small nails to secure the legs and prevent them from turning or coming loose. I could have used liquid nails but I'm really not a fan of that stuff anymore. Not when I change my mind so often any way! 😜

The new legs still didn't sit 100% evenly. I think the top wood may have been a bit warped. So, to stop "the wobble", I added a felt furniture stopper under one of the legs. You can barely notice it.

In deciding the size of my riser I looked at the size of the table first and then where my place settings would be. Our table is 180cms long. So I made the riser 100cms long, to allow space for a place setting at either end of the table. The width of the riser turned out to be 20cms. The width of our table is 107cms, so again, plenty of room for place settings on either side.

I gave the new legs a coat of paint too, to match in with the top. They are a bit banged up which I love as it adds to the old age charm of the piece.

The total height of my riser is 11.5cms. So you could easily fit a few dessert plates underneath.

This project took me about a day to plan and execute. And cost me absolutely nothing!

And styling it was so much fun!

I just used some faux stems and potted plants I already had.

The Ikea lantern got a coat of Rub n Buff in Antique Gold. I also removed the glass panels to create an open effect. I'm not sure if I'll put them back on or not. What do you think?