Red White and You

I love picnic tables. I'm not sure why, exactly, but there's something about their simple, utilitarian design that peeks my interest. I've been fortunate enough to travel to places like Sydney, London, Rome, Amsterdam and Copenhagen. I've had a picnic sitting next to the Seine River in Paris, enjoyed a bowl of Gelato on the steps of the Duomo in Florence and I've observed red-painted faces march by the St. Louis arch for a sporting event. While the designer in me loved studying the intricate details of each cities unique architecture, I kept coming back to one common variable; everywhere I went I headed to a park or other public gathering spot and perched myself on a picnic table. Whether sitting in front of the Chartres Cathedral or on the beach in Honolulu, picnic tables are always the same. One might expect (or at least I did) to see a wildly colorful, larger than life design in Sweden of the picnic table. Nope. I assumed a clog-theme in the Netherlands. Wrong again. The world is an overwhelmingly enormous place yet one tiny, seemingly insignificant thing is present around the world. A picnic table. Who'd a thought? And this, my friends, are some of the thoughts that keep my busy mind up at night. So, in designing an outdoor space for an art collector in Manhattan I thought of the most simple dining room table; a picnic table. While I could have gone to a fancy design store and spent $10,000 on a table that would leave the guests saying, "faaabulous dahling" I chose to go with a completely universal look. I went to the Home Depot, purchased a picnic table for $99.00 and created an original piece by adding my own splash and sparkle.
HERE'S WHAT I DID: As the summer winds down stores begin to prepare for fall by getting rid of everything summer. Lowes and Home Depot now have picnic tables (normally $99) marked down to $75. I grabbed a gallon of semi-gloss outdoor house paint and painted stripes on the table top. If you want to be really funky and cool, use four different colors and paint every other piece of wood. Next time you want an escape, take this piece known around the world and add your own twist to make it perfect for your little world!
TIME TO COMPLETE TASK: Under an hour
COST: $75 for wooden picnic table (assembled) at the Home Depot
STRESS LEVEL: Creating a unique piece without taking a chunk out of the budget: LOW