It's interesting how everything comes around full circle- fashion, food, lifestyle concepts or house layouts. The simplest early homes consisted of one room where everyone congregated for everything. Over time, homes have become compartmentalised, with dedicated rooms. Tea rooms, libraries, studies, bedrooms.  But now we seem to be returning to the open concept.  For and airier look yes, but also to bring what family time we have together...together.

The kitchen and its table are the beacon for this gathering idea...where life decisions, homework, colouring, writing, dreaming all collect.

We did the demolition phase several years ago, removing dividing walls in our home.  More recently, we built a custom table to seat our growing family.  But the bigger the table the more the collaboration seems to spread.  I'm all for multiple projects on the go all at once, but it can be a bit inconvenient when it's time to eat.

So we have added the creative collaborating table for our makers, so they can create without a time line and still be located in the hub of the home and just 2 steps away from the kitchen table, just around the corner.

The new table is crafted from a solid wood table that I discovered at our local thrift store.  We replaced the original top with one made from a piece of plywood, added scrap pieces of pine wood to create a thicker edge, and snugly wrapped the new top with galvanized steel, the type used for duct work on.  The metal was hammered into shape and tacked down around the edges, securing it to the plywood.  It turns out to be  just what the end of the kitchen island needed.  The old milk door and the concrete counter tops all seem to agree.