Outdoor Seats for Eats

In my quest to create an outdoor space within the confines of the city, I've been on the lookout for a table for outdoor dining. My first idea was to make a picnic table from scratch. Seems simple enough right? Well, finding out how much wood costs (who knew trees were so dang expensive?!) and how much time would have to go into this "easy" project, I decided I would rather spend a little more moola and actually be enjoying the table before August. Enter Target. Not only do I love Target, but Target must love me because I found the perfect table and not only does it look nice and fit our patio but it folds into a bench! To make a good find even better, the table was 35% off when I found it so I ordered it online (find it here) and it was at my door 10 days later.

Upon arrival of the box (and the start of my excessive excitement) I again had the idea to be handy and decided to put together the table myself. Hubs raised an eyebrow with this revelation but I was confident in my carpentry skills after putting together our IKEA dresser with its 8,000 parts.

Sadly, it was not to be. I came upon a problem in step 1 as I did not have a clue how to tighten a nut/bolt/washer combination. Dear hubs stepped in to help and kindly put together the table, saving our future guests the trouble of falling through the table I would have constructed.

And it switches easily from table...

...to garden bench!

With the Chicago summer stretching before us, many delicious grilled meals and outdoor game nights with friends are sure to lay ahead. Care to join?