DIY an industrial table

i have moved to my own house last year. since then i stop subscribe fashion magazine and only buy house decoration magazines hahaha. i am so inspired with industrial concept house. so my husband and i agree to use this concept to our 2nd bedroom converted to work room.

i have an ikea dining table fit for four people that we bought for our rented place. we bought it 3 years ago at price RM199 if i am not mistaken. it was a solid pine table, we painted it in black color before decided to paint in white color and used it until recently we bought a bigger and nicer dining table.

we decided to upcycle it to a working table instead of trash it. recycle and upcycle is not popular in Malaysia, but i hope my writing will inspire Malaysian to start upcycle and recycle. you are not only giving a new life to an old piece but you are also creating something unique that are not sold on the shelves.

i forgot to take photos before we upcycle it, so this is how it looks like in ikea website.

 

Ikea dining table

we removed the original leg and only used the piece of timber top. my husband cut it to get our desire table width and we maintained the length. because white is not representing industrial concept so my husband planed the surface.

Timber surface in preparation

the wood surface was then sanded properly and a layer of primer coating is applied. i stained the wood surface with teak color. this is not typical gloss varnish, it is a matte stain and you can select different type of wood color. i stained in in 2-3 layers and each layer was sanded to get a smooth effect. the number of layers is subject to the color preference, the more layers you apply the darker surface will be.

 Staining the surface

i calculated how many pieces of GI pipes required to use as the table leg. i used 1/2 inch diameter pipe, mix of length with connector and T- pipe. i was then prime the pipe before sprayed in matte black. this is how it looks like after painted.

GI pipes after painted in matte black

the last process is installing the timber plank to the leg. i used pipe clipper (not sure the exact name) and screwed to the table. before screwed it, i checked the level to ensure it is ok. now i pair it with a vintage armchair, but i suppose i need to find a chair that suit with industrial mood :)

Europe Trip 2013

it's been quite sometime after this trip now only i have time to write on the itinerary & budget. my intention is not to proud/show off, just wanted to share experience on how to book and all.

in overall RM spent was RM16k+ for 2 persons all-in except for food. food cost varies, if you are a big eater or only consume at restaurant, a lot of money need to be prepared. like myself, we only ate pastries, cooked for dinner and few times having at fancy restaurant but still we shared the food because we both small eater :)

i went there early march for 2 weeks. each place we spent only 2 nights. it is obviously not enough time to visit all places, but we have limited annual leave haha

breakdown of the budget for 2 persons:

flight RM6.4k
bought at matta fair. seems expensive but we landed in milan and return from london. usually the cheap ticket was land and return from same place (about 2.8k) but you must consider the cost to get back the arrival place right? and time required to travel back? it is pretty cheap to buy at matta fair but we bought through agent, we checked at the airlines booths and the cheapest they quoted was 4k+ per person. we traveled by etihad airways.

train ticket RM2471
we prefer to commute by train because you dont have to spend on transportation from/to airport (usually away from cities). the main train station is usually at the city center, it was very convenience and you dont have to wait (tercongok-congok) 2 hours earlier for check-in etc. train was quite punctual so be early at least 10 mins before. oh ye, you could save another 10-20% of the ticket fare if buy in 3-4 months advance. we bought 2 bulan earlier so the price had hiked up, padan muka.

  this is the view of the train terminal

hotel RM5639
we were not too particular on the accommodation. we booked all budget hotel but very clean. be sure to read the hotel review at tripadvisor. we choose  the hotel with maximum rate of €70 per night. mind you the 3*hotel would cost €100 per night. the most expensive hotel we stayed was at swiss, at the mountainous area. luckily it was for only a night and it was cost RM700 ok.redha jelah sebab nak jugak dok atas gunung. you could also save some money if book the hotel in advance.

 photos of some of the hotels

others RM2088
this is the expenses for entrance fee, car rental/fuel/toll, hop on hop off, MRT fare.

mainly the price is pretty fix, you cant save much except to book in advance. so my advice is to try save on food cost. if you eat at pakistan cafe/kiosk you could get a quarter chic @ vege pasta for €5 per plate. if you eat at proper restaurant be prepared €25 per person. kami masukkan jugak dalam budget asal on food. tapi bila kat sana (esp. kat italy), lunch beli pastries €1 each. malam masak. sangat jimat, tapi cash habis jugak in the end, confirm spent kat shopping hahahah. kami bawak luggage half penuh dengan sardin, beras (pack kecik2), cooker kecik, sambal bilis, curry chic in can & packet, megi tidak dilupakan, flask, milo & nescafe 3-in-1. tapi kena tabah lah nak usung beg yang berat tu.

ni la menu lunch setiap hari di italy

basic our itinerary was:
milan-florence-rome-jungfrau (swiss)-paris-london.

 nearby the duomo in milan

the view of florence city from hill

 on the way to san gimignano (outskirt from florence city)

 the famous Colosseum

a large lake at interlaken, Switzerland

the view of jungfraujoch from the expensive hotel haha

in paris

  london bridge is falling down and the name is tower bridge

in the next post i will describe in details. the most tricky part was how to buy train ticket from/to swiss hahah