Store furniture is built for an imaginary average house, and your house is not average. Maybe the dining room is long and narrow, maybe the breakfast nook wraps around a radiator, maybe you seat nine on Sundays and four the rest of the week. When the showrooms keep disappointing you, having a table built is not a luxury move. It is often just the practical one.
Why people ask us to build instead of buy
The requests that come through our Myerstown shop door usually fall into a few buckets. Someone has an odd space and needs a top sized to the inch when stores only sell three standard lengths. Someone inherited chairs they love and cannot find a table that suits their height and style. Someone is tired of replacing wobbly flat-pack tables every five years and wants the last table they will ever buy.
A built-to-order table solves the exact problem you have, not the average of everyone else’s problems. You choose the length, the height that fits your chairs and your knees, the wood, the finish, and the edge profile your kids will be leaning on for the next thirty years.
How our process works, sketch to delivery
- The conversation and the tape measure. You tell us what the table needs to do. How many people on a normal Tuesday, how many at Thanksgiving, what the room measures, what chairs it has to live with. Photos of the space and the doorway help more than most people expect, and a tape measure and a phone camera get us most of the way there.
- The sketch and the materials. We draw it up with real dimensions, including leg placement and overhang, and walk through wood and finish samples in the showroom, where you can touch them instead of squinting at a screen and take a stain sample home to see it in your own light.
- The quote. Once the drawing is settled you get a firm price in writing before anything gets cut. Every piece is different, so we quote only after the design is agreed.
- The build. The table takes shape in the same shop where we do our upholstery work. Proper joinery, no cam locks or allen bolts, and construction that lets the wood move with the seasons.
- The finish. Stain and topcoat chosen for how you actually live, more on that below. Finishes need cure time, so we refuse to rush this stage.
- Delivery. Delivery around Lebanon and Lancaster counties can be arranged, and a table should be leveled on your actual floor, which in an older Pennsylvania farmhouse is rarely level itself.
On timing, plan in weeks, not days. We would rather promise you an honest few weeks than a fantasy few days.
Woods and finishes that suit Pennsylvania homes
We work mostly in domestic hardwoods, because they suit the houses around here and behave predictably under stain. A few notes from the bench:
- Red oak. The old standby in Central PA kitchens. Open grain, very strong, takes stain evenly, and hides the small dings of family life better than smoother woods.
- White oak. Tighter grain and more moisture resistant than red oak. Quartersawn, it shows the ray fleck of Arts and Crafts furniture and looks right in older Lancaster County houses.
- Hard maple. Dense, pale and very hard to dent. It can blotch under dark stain, so we usually keep it light or pair a maple top with a painted base.
- Cherry. The Pennsylvania classic. It starts out pinkish and deepens to a warm reddish brown in its first year of daylight, so do not panic if the sample looks lighter than the antique you are trying to match.
- Walnut. Rich and dark with no stain at all, and the most expensive of the group. It is a bit softer than maple, so expect it to pick up more character over the years.
Ash used to be on this list, but it has become harder to source since the emerald ash borer went through our woods. If you have a stack of reclaimed barn board in the garage, bring a piece and we will tell you honestly whether it is usable.
Choosing a finish
Finishes split into two families. A penetrating oil or hardwax oil soaks into the wood, feels like wood under your hand, and can be spot repaired, but it needs a fresh coat every year or two and does not love standing water. A film finish, like a quality polyurethane or a sprayed catalyzed finish, sits on top of the wood and shrugs off juice cups and homework. It is tougher day to day, but a deep scratch means refinishing the whole top. For a kitchen table with children, we steer you to the film finish.
Solid wood or veneer? An honest answer
Solid wood is what most people picture, and for good reason. It can be sanded and refinished decades from now, dents can be steamed out, and it ages into character instead of shabbiness. The catch is that solid wood moves. Central Pennsylvania swings from soupy July humidity to bone-dry furnace heat in January, and a wide solid top expands and shrinks through all of it. A properly built table allows for that movement with slotted fasteners and breadboard ends that are meant to shift a little. A poorly built one cracks.
Veneer is not a dirty word, no matter what your uncle the antique hunter says. A thick real-wood veneer over a stable core stays dead flat, which makes it a smart choice for very wide tops and for dramatic grain matching. What gave veneer its bad name is cheap furniture with paper-thin veneer over particleboard, and that is simply not the same product. We will always tell you exactly what is under your finish, and if any maker gets cagey about what is inside a tabletop, walk away.
Sizing rules we use on every table
Most tables that disappoint people are the wrong size, not the wrong style. These are the numbers we start from before adjusting for your room.
- Seats per foot. Allow about 24 inches of table edge per person for a comfortable meal. You can squeeze to 21 or 22 inches for kids or a holiday crowd, but not every night.
- Width. A rectangular top needs at least 36 inches so serving dishes fit between the plates. Somewhere around 40 to 42 inches is the sweet spot. Past 48 inches, nobody can reach the potatoes.
- Length by headcount. A 72 inch top seats six, a 96 inch top seats eight. A 48 inch round seats four comfortably, a 60 inch round seats six.
- Height and knee room. Standard dining height is 29 to 30 inches. With an 18 inch chair seat, leave at least 7 inches between the seat and the underside of the apron or your tallest guest will be wedged in.
- Clearance to walls. Leave 36 inches from the table edge to the wall so a chair can slide back, and 42 to 48 inches where people walk behind the chairs. A wall-side bench can go much tighter, which is exactly why benches work in small rooms.
- Leg placement. Legs at the extreme corners steal the end seats. A trestle or pedestal base, or legs set in from the ends, lets you seat the full count the length promises.
A table is only half the picture
Most furniture makers build the table and wish you luck on the seating. We build custom furniture and cover it under the same roof, so benches, banquettes and chair seats get planned together with the table instead of hunted down afterward.
When we pair a table with an upholstered bench, a few things get decided on purpose. The bench seat lands around 18 inches high with the foam compressed to match the chairs across from it. It runs a few inches shorter than the top so it tucks under cleanly, or the full length when it lives against a wall. Firm high-density foam keeps diners upright, and the fabric or vinyl is chosen against the actual finish sample. The bench side is covered in our guide to custom dining benches and banquettes, and if your existing chairs have tired seats, our walkthrough on recovering a dining chair shows how we tie the set together. Past builds are in our portfolio.
Caring for a finished top
A good table needs very little, but the little matters. Wipe spills when they happen, especially on an oiled top, with a damp cloth followed by a dry one. Skip ammonia cleaners and silicone polishes, since silicone soaks into the finish and makes any future refinishing a headache. Coasters and trivets are cheap insurance against white rings and heat marks.
The bigger enemy is dry winter air. When the furnace runs from November to March, humidity in a Pennsylvania house drops enough to open small seasonal gaps at breadboard ends. That is normal, they close again in summer, and a humidifier keeps the swing gentle. Keep the table away from heat vents, and if a cherry top sits in direct sun, move the centerpiece now and then so it darkens evenly. Oiled tops want a fresh coat every year or two. Film finishes want nothing until, decades on, you call us about refinishing.
Thinking about commissioning a piece?
Call 717-383-6917 and describe the space. On price, we will be straight with you. A commissioned hardwood table costs more than flat-pack and usually lands in the neighborhood of good showroom furniture, while fitting your room exactly. Every piece is different, so we quote after we see the space and settle the design.
FAQ
Can you build a table to match chairs I already own?
Yes, and it is one of our most common requests. Bring a chair to the shop or send photos with measurements. We match the height for comfortable legroom and pick a wood and finish that works with what you have.
How long does a custom table take?
Plan on several weeks from approved drawing to delivery, longer before the holidays. Lumber has to acclimate, glue and finish need cure time, and rushing either shows up later as a crack or a soft finish. We give you a realistic date with your quote.
Do you deliver, and how far?
Delivery around the Lebanon Valley and Lancaster County, including Lebanon, Lititz, Ephrata, Palmyra and Hershey, can usually be arranged. For longer trips, call and we will figure out what makes sense. A table should not survive the build and then get wrecked in transit.
Can you fix or refinish the table I already have instead?
Often, yes. A loose base, a water-ringed top or a finish that has gone cloudy can usually be repaired for far less than a new table. Send photos and we will tell you honestly if the piece is worth the work or if building new makes more sense.
If a real table has been sitting on your someday list, send your room measurements and a photo through our quote page. The estimate is free, and the conversation usually takes less time than one more lap around the furniture stores.
