Category: Uncategorized

Posted on by

Jane and Sonja’s Console Table with Hairpin Table Legs

Reclaiming old materials and turning them into unique hairpin leg furniture is a rewarding experience, but sometimes those amazing reclaimed wood pieces we see on Pinterest can seem a little out of reach. If you’ve never used reclaimed wood, you may have some questions like, How much should it be refinished? Should the wood be left in its current state or altered? Should it be completely refurbished? Should it be somewhere in between? The answers ultimately may be different for each of us.

Sometimes the process others take can help you figure out the answers that will work for you. Looking at the path the wood takes from raw material to finished product gives a great visual for how far you want to rework your reclaimed wood; and it can show you exactly what a tired barn board can turn into with a little bit of elbow grease!

reclaimed wood table with hairpin table legsJane and Sonja are sisters and the minds behind Sustain My Craft Habit. They certainly know what they’re doing when it comes to reclaimed wood furniture, and here is an example; a beautiful console table made with hairpin table legs. They walk you through the steps they took and give a great visual journey of what they did to turn tired lumber into a beautiful piece of DIY furniture. Their finished table maintains the aged look of the original material while giving it a new finished look at the same time. Hairpin table legs perfectly compliment the wood. The dark steel of the hairpin legs perfectly plays off the darker wood coloring. A big ‘thank you’ to Jane and Sonja for sharing the process that created this beautiful and functional hairpin leg table!

Posted on by

Rachel’s Live Edge Furniture with Hairpin Bench Legs

Sometimes it can be easy to dream up a design, but hard to get started. If you’re thinking of a new piece of furniture in your home but you’re not yet sure how to make it, keep an eye out for authors and DIY’ers like Rachel. She very clearly documents furniture building and crafting–as well as how she built this table–on her blog, DIY in PDX.

Rachel starts off by showing us the wood she selected and the bench legs she’s going to use; in this case hairpin legs. Once the piece is completed, she shows us some great ideas of how to use the piece now that its completed. In another example of how the process is different for all of us, Rachel keeps her options open for exactly what type of hairpin leg furniture this really is. After making what she intended to be a bench, she realizes the versatility of the completed furniture – it would also work perfectly as a coffee or side table.

Sometimes the adventure of making your own piece of furniture is just the beginning of the adventure. Deciding how and where to use it can be just as fun. And it doesn’t have to maintain the same use forever. Making such versatile furniture means it will conform to your needs and uses as they change over time.

That’s part of the magic of hairpin bench legs. They are great for all kinds of furniture. Our hairpin legs are available in heights ranging from 4 inches all the way up to 30 inches. The shorter legs are great for foot stools and ottomans as well as pre-made furniture like a bureau that needs shorter legs. The mid-sized legs are ideal for coffee tables, end tables, and benches like Rachel’s. Taller hairpin legs make perfect dining room tables, desks, and entryway or console-style tables. Of course the list is virtually endless. We’ve seen amazing furniture our customers have put together and look forward to what you have in mind!

Posted on by

Reclaimed Wood & Inlay Table with Hairpin Furniture Legs

Metal and wood are the perfect companions. They are both a rugged raw material used all around us. There’s something about these age-old materials that bring us back to our roots by providing a simple sturdy structure in our lives. Wood is easy to work with and also pairs perfectly with our metal hairpin legs.

metal inlay hairpin leg table metal inlay table with hairpin furniture legs

Here’s a great idea to connect your reclaimed (or not) boards together – metal inlay. Metal inlay is an extremely functional design concept, which sturdily ties all of the wood together with banding. It is also very attractive. The metal on the top of the table nicely matches the metal of the hairpin legs tying the entire piece together. This table here is made with a black-finished metal that perfectly matches the hairpin legs. This could also be done with painted metal; both the metal of the inlay and the hairpin legs could be painted to match adding any color to the project.

This reclaimed wood table was made by the folks at Reclaimed Wood USA from reclaimed walnut. They certainly know how to make a beautiful hairpin leg table! They source their reclaimed wood from old barns resulting in a variety of wood types. What a stylish and responsible use of what would otherwise be waste material. The height of this table easily accommodates use as a sofa table, end table or entryway table. Our wide range of hairpin leg heights ensures you’ll be able to create any style of table that will fit perfectly for your home and your needs.

Posted on by

Jenni’s Mesquite Hairpin Leg Nesting Tables

One of the best attributes of hairpin legs is the little space they take up. Having a steel rod holding up your table means it does a solid sturdy job with a minimum of space. Jenni has gone a step further in space minimization: nesting hairpin leg tables! The ability to order hairpin legs in a variety of sizes means you can make tables of different heights. And that can mean tables that actually nest, further minimizing space while maximizing usable furniture in your home.

Shorter tables can be used for coffee tables and end tables to shorter furniture. Taller tables can be used next to higher furniture or as standalone tables for many uses. Jenni made these nesting tables from mesquite slabs. She left the live edge in tact keeping the natural shape of the wood. The dark color of the hairpin legs nicely brings out the dark aspects of the wood. At the same time the straight sleekness of the metal legs nicely compliments the wilder irregularities of the wood. Nice choice Jenni!

If you don’t happen to live near Jenni’s modern home accent store Riveted Studio you can certainly make your own set of nesting tables. We offer hairpin legs from 4”-30” tall. Making two or three nesting tables is only as difficult as finding the right wood for the table tops. Having nesting tables is a nice way to expand horizontal surfaces in living spaces when company comes or you just need a little extra space when working on a home project.

Posted on by

Chloe’s Salvaged Wood Bench with Hairpin Legs

Benches have many uses, and they are used to hold up more than just people. Adding a bench to your home can add fashion as well as function. You might use the bench to give your plants some sunlight like Chloe did; and when you have company over, the bench can be pulled out.

Chloe knows just as well as we do that hairpin legs are great for benches. She chose to use salvaged wood, which gave the bench a timeless feel, as if the piece has been around for years. Using hairpin legs meant she just had to screw them on firmly and she was done in no time at all. Read Chloe’s article on how the reclaimed wood bench came together.

hairpin leg bench by chloe

Chloe is lucky to have a salvaged wood resource in her area. Check around as you may have a place near you. Sometimes recycling centers also reclaim building material. If not, keep an eye out for deconstruction or renovations in your area. Often enough folks are happy to give out materials reducing what ends up in the landfill.

As always, let us know what you’re building and how you decided what to build with…we’re always excited to see what DIY furniture builders come up with.

Posted on by

Summertime is DIY Hairpin Leg Furniture Time

Summer is a great time for making that piece of DIY furniture you’ve been thinking about. The days are longer and the weather is warmer – great times to work in the garage with the door open or to be out in the yard; and nothing makes better custom furniture than metal hairpin legs.

Our customers have built hairpin leg furniture using hundred-year- old barn boards and fallen tree trunks from their own front yard – anything goes. DIY furniture resources abound, and there have never been more DIY’ers talking about turning pallets into beautiful creations, reclaiming wood, and upcycling various building materials than there are today. Hairpin legs are the perfect way to turn your earth-friendly creations into durable stylish furniture.

The hairpin leg style originated at the turn of the century and the clean, modern look is still relevant to this day. If you’re looking for a more angular feel, our square bar hairpin legs and our bench legs might be the right choice. These solid or tube steel (your choice) legs are designed to hold the weight demands of a bench, but don’t let the name hold you back – bench legs make great tables and desks as well.

Making a piece of furniture yourself gives you the ability to tailor the piece to your exact needs. Plus, it will make a great conversation piece. Perhaps you know exactly what your space needs or maybe you’re still planning out the details. But no matter what you decide, your custom hairpin leg furniture will offer you much utility and pleasure for years to come!

Posted on by

Bob’s Burl Wood Hairpin Leg Table

burl side table with twisted hairpin legs closeup

Live edge wood is something we’ve discussed before, but it’s hard to describe just how unique these pieces can be. We’ve seen a fair amount of live edge wood turned into hairpin leg furniture, but Bob in Cleveland has taken the live edge look one step further with this hairpin leg table; it is an entire outer section of the tree.

The top surface retains the live edge curves of the tree while the underside has an entirely different dimension. Bob kept the rounded part of the tree intact. As if that weren’t interesting enough, this tree has a burl in it!

burl side table with twisted hairpin legs

On a living tree, a burl often looks like an odd rounded growth off the side of the trunk. When you take a look at Bob’s table, you can see the shape the burl makes as it projects out from the center of the main tree trunk. The inside of these growth patterns is amazing, and you can see why the unique wood patterns are highly prized.

Burl wood is made into many beautiful products. It is often turned into veneer so its beauty will go farther. Bob is lucky to have this unique piece of wood. Turning it into a hairpin leg table is a great idea. Keeping the burl attached to the original tree really highlights the difference between the normal growth wood and the burl. The twist hairpin legs are a great touch to this twisted gnarled burl wood! Excellent choice, Bob!

Here is what Bob had to say in his own words:

It’s a piece for our home: an elm end table. I love the twisted hairpins. You’ll be getting another order from me in the future!

Thanks Bob!