Up on a Pedestal

We had the best time tearing this dining table apart today.

Remember, we are in The Netherlands at the Beltway apartment. Since the plumber/ contractor doesn't really seem to want to install a new heater for us, we have been busy doing lots of other little jobs. 

Today it was demantling/ heightening the dining room table we "inherited" from my SIL when she realized she couldn't fit it into her new apartment. We accepted it willingly, since our furnishings here are quite meager at the moment. 

The only problem is that the round table was cut down to a tall coffee table height, and we need a dining table. At the moment we are dining on two bare wood Ikea tables shoved together and covered with a plastic tablecloth. I hope to pick up some Annie Sloan chalk paint next week and "spruce" them up for use elsewhere in the apartment. 

But back to the round table. We had one surprise after another as we dismantled the old table. Besides it having been shortened, we discovered that the entire table was a "mongrel." A piece of table here connected to a piece of table there and so on. Someone in some workshop had had a great time making this table from bits and bobs and odd and ends of furniture. 

In order to add the extra piece of table pillar/ pedestal that we found in a cabinet drawer, we needed to remove the center steel rod. None of my hub's wrenches or such would budge the nut, but the table foot could be easily screwed off by hand. Then the rest of the table just came apart. 

We finally found a metal smith not far from the apartment who agreed to weld the found piece of rod to the main rod for 15 Euros. That should be ready on Friday afternoon. Then we can see if the tinkertoys--oops tabletop--fits back on the pedestal. 

It really sounds confusing, but it was a piece of cake compared to putting together the cabinets for the new closets. Yes, my hub put together three of those monsters this week. And with no instructions! That is the way they come when you buy them on Marktplaats (aka Craigslist)!