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Outdoor Dining For Under $100

Hi! Emily here again from The Wicker House!

Today I wanted to stop in and share this picnic table I recently made over.

The Wicker House- Lowe's Outdoor Table

I have always dreamed of having a picnic table in my backyard. 

A place where my family can gather around and enjoy meals together in the summer time.

Well for my birthday last month, my sweet mother-in-law gave me one.

She bought this one at Lowes and had them put it together.

It’s perfect, now I have outdoor dining & it was under $100.

The Wicker House- Lowe's Outdoor Table

The Wicker House- Lowe's Outdoor TableThe Wicker House- Lowe's Outdoor Table

Because the table is a raw wood, it is meant to be painted or stained.

I thought it over and then decided to stain mine.  

I figured I could always paint it later if I choose to.

The first thing I did to the table was give it a good sanding with my hand sander.

Then after trying out a few different samples of stain on a piece of scrap wood,

 I came up with the perfect layer of stain.

(I used the same stain on my picture ledges here)

The Wicker House- Lowe's Outdoor Table

 I first applied the Rust-Oleum Driftwood stain to the table. 

 I gave it two coats, letting it dry between coats.

The Wicker House- Lowe's Outdoor Table

 As you can see, the driftwood stain gives the wood a nice light gray base color. 

I then applied the Minwax special walnut stain on top of the gray, allowing the gray to show through.

The Wicker House- Lowe's Outdoor Table

It looked beautiful!

However, the night after I applied the stain………it rained!!!

And I did not have my table covered.

The next morning I started wiping off the water, but I guess I wiped too hard 

because it took off some of the stain.

To fix it, I had to do a little extra sanding here and there and then apply a few extra coats of stain, leaving my table a bit darker than I had originally planned. 

The Wicker House- Lowe's Outdoor Table

 In the end, I was still happy with my table’s makeover.

The last thing I did was apply two coats of  Minwax clear sealer to the table….

keeping it safe from the rain.

 The Wicker House- Lowe's Outdoor Table

I think the picnic table looks so much more refined. 

 It’s hard to believe that it cost under a hundred dollars.

The Wicker House-Outdoor Table

 The Wicker House-Outdoor Table

 We have really been enjoying the new outdoor dining, especially now that it is spring.  

The weather has been so nice and the trees are all in bloom.

The Wicker House-Outdoor Table

The Wicker House-Outdoor Table

 The lanterns hanging from the trees are a favorite of mine.  They are solar powered and light up at night.  These were a gift from an uncle who sells them in his store; 

Backyard Birds, located in Salt Lake City, Utah.

The Wicker House-Outdoor Table

The table is pretty, the lanterns are fun, but I think the biggest  highlight in the backyard are the white blooms on this tree.  I look forward to them every spring. 

They are breathtaking!

The Wicker House-Outdoor TableThe Wicker House-Outdoor Table

The Wicker House-Outdoor Table

 I’m looking forward to more time spent outdoors with my new picnic table.

Thanks for reading.

Emily

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Thank you Emily! I love that picnic bench from Lowe’s, I have been eyeing one myself, it’s perfect for outdoor dining and all of the activities that come with having little ones! And you can’t beat that price!!!

Have a beautiful day friends!

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12 Comments

  1. That is the prettiest setting for a picnic table and the lanterns make it magical. One thing though,
    Emily, anytime you are painting or staining wood outside…wait three days after a rain to insure that the wood is dry. That is really the key to having a finish endure. Your setting is so lovely that no matter what happens to the finish, you’ll always have a place to make family memories of good times.

  2. What a perfect place to enjoy summer meals, even play some games out on it. Those lanterns are great, not having to plug them in or use candles. I’d love to have some of those. How pretty that must be at night with lanterns glowing. love it so much. Are those dogwood blooms? I love them as they’re so pretty but am terribly allergic to them. Glad your table turned out so well, love driftwood stain best but the walnut gives table a warm glow. You did great job.
    When we moved to Bowling Green, KY area we lived for few months at KOA, they had lots of dog wood trees blooming since it was April and May, found out hard way was allergic to them. We had moved from MT where it’s very dry to KY where it’s very moist. Not good thing for me. I was terribly allergic to honeysuckle also that bloomed on edge of our yards in house we bought. I lasted 5 yrs. there and we had to move back to west (western CO/Grand Junction) where allergies not nearly as bad. Still miss our house and land (1 1/2 acres) with mature trees and nice grass yards. Prices out here are outrageous for what we got compared to place in KY. Tradeoffs don’t always give satisfaction. Life, lol Happy week

  3. You did a wonderful job on the picnic table! I love how you chose to decorate your outdoor space. Thanks for sharing.

  4. wow..this is stunning.. I love it! Great job. where did your MIL find it at lowes? Was it on sale to be put together? or did she buy separate pieces of wood and have them put it together? I would love to do this but don’t know where to start

  5. Just Beautiful! Can I ask what method you use for applying the stains? Do you paint it on or use a cloth? Thanks!

  6. Emily your table turned out so gorgeous! I love it! I have been thinking about trading out our table for one this style and now I’m even more tempted!

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