high+low=perfection.

So we all know that I'm having a bit of a campaign crush that I'm trying desperately to contain. The stuff is so fabulous, I'm tempted to transform every piece of furniture into a campaign hack, but I fear I might end up with this:

In an effort to leave the seventies in the history books, I began brainstorming ways to mix the highly polished, lacquered look of campaign with more rustic, comfortable pieces. That's when my pal Amy over at The Blissful Bee introduced me to the Restoration Hardware industrial cart coffee table:

I'm so sorry, what?! How did I not know about this table before now? I feel like this table paired with this credenza...

...that I'm planning to create and place under our television will just be delicious. I love the contrast between the smoky blue lacquer and the rustic, industrial feel of the coffee table.

But, if you do any research about Restoration Hardware's version of the coffee table, you will soon discover that it comes with a rather hefty price tag (1,045 George Washingtons to be exact). Further, I would like to have a taller coffee table in our den that is more proportional with our couch height. Almost as soon as I found out about the table, it was blatantly obvious that I was going to have to make it to get exactly what I wanted without taking out a loan.

Luckily, several other diy-ers have also taken the plunge to create their own industrial table. I found that Ana White has one of the most nitty gritty, detailed construction plans for her industrial table that has really informed my understanding of how to construct the table portion of the cart:

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Three Moms on a Mission also shared a fabulously detailed breakdown of how to make an industrial cart:

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I'm also loving the results that Amy at The Blissful Bee got from her diy experiment:

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While I'm definitely not ready to begin constructing my table, I have started to collect the pieces. I am in a ferocious bidding war on eBay over these babies:

I'm hoping to scoop those up when the bidding closes tonight. I also went to a local wrecker service and found two of these fantastically rusted casters that I plan to use for the short ends of the table.

P.T.L., I have a super handy brother-in-law who is going to weld posts to the casters so that they will have some height and be easier to affix to the table.

I've also made some preliminary sketches of the top and "undercarriage" of the table so that I can know what kind of lumber I will need to purchase.

I am thinking that this will be one of my first projects after the move. I might be a loony bird to try it, but I think it will be a fun experiment!

How do y'all feel about the mix between high and low? I feel like the Barefoot Contessa would be so proud, but that's just me...