I built a farm table!!


I guess I should say, My hubby AND I built a farm table. 

How is everyone? Me? I am GREAT! I have been a busy lady lately....as you could all probably assume since I have been MIA for a while. My son started pre-school...sniff sniff...he's SO big and LOVES it! He's truly blossoming and I couldn't be more proud! I also got my booty back in the gym and am feeling really great being more active. I also have been dreaming up a new project. I wanted to build a rustic, chunky farmhouse table. I wanted it to look like this....
Gotta love Restoration Hardware!
So I turned to these plans on Ana White's website to give me a rough guide for how to build it myself. I did a lot of tweaking to the plans to accommodate for some materials that I already owned (several old reclaimed 4X4 posts that i wanted to use for legs) and we also opted to copy RH's table totally and notch out the outside boards on the top to show the legs.

So since I was using reclaimed lumber for my legs I really REALLY wanted to use reclaimed lumber for the top and aprons too. But for whatever reason NO ONE wants to GIVE AWAY 100 year old barn wood. What's wrong with people nowdays? I couldn't afford the barn wood I saw on Craigslist and I REALLY REALLY couldn't afford to do amazing old growth large planks from a cool lumber store near my house. So instead of breaking the bank MAJORLY I opted to head to Lowes and buy new lumber to make up the rest of the wood for the table. Douglas Fir to be exact. It came in to around 70 bucks for the wood. I bought (4) 2x10's for the top that I had the guy cut to 6ft long, (2) 2x2's that we cut at home to use as cross bracers, and (3) 2x4's to use for the aprons. MAJOR TIP: When you are in the lumber store buying your wood. Don't just grab boards off the rack and buy them. Lay them down on the ground...lay them next to each other...Do they match up? Do they have any bends or twists? Are they warped at all? Do they lay perfectly straight? You do NOT NOT NOT want crooked boards and its a HUGE pain in the booty to have to go back to the store when you are in building mode to buy new boards! I speak from personal experience....
Ok so after buying all the wood...cutting all the wood to the proper specs...laying it all out and making sure it matched up...I decided to assemble it in whatever way seemed like the best way. Nevermind the way Ana White...who does this ALL THE TIME...says to do it. I know better right? WRONG! My hubby and I basically assembled this table about 3 times. We did it once...realized that we put the legs on too soon and the aprons wouldn't fit properly...did it again with the aprons on too soon and then realized the cross bracers wouldn't fit properly. There was A LOT of that going on in my garage on building day! It was not fun and we each had about 40 splinters when it was all said and done! Here are a few pics of the table during the process...
 This was us laying out the boards to make sure they matched up...see...NOT perfect...we ended up needing to recut a few.
Here's where we lay out our apron pieces to see if they match up with our notched out side boards. They did! Woot!
Here's the whole table put together...minus screws...with my fabulous salvage legs!

I could show you a TON of other pics....but I'm impatient and want to get to the BIG REVEAL already!! If you want detailed pics of the process then go to Ana's site. She rocks!

Here we go....deep breath....

TAH DAH!!!!!! I am beyond obsessed with this table. Like....I want to marry it and have its babies!!!! It turned out exactly the way I was wanting. Here's a close up of all the distressed goodness on the top....
See those dents...err....gouges on the edges? That was accomplished with a chisel...a LOT of sweat in the 95 degree weather...and determination to make this new wood look fabulously old.

Here's another shot...
Yup. Pretty much obsessed. If you guys are curious what I used to "age" the new wood....here's a secret. RUST! I soaked a couple of chopped up steel wool pads in a jar of white vinegar for a few days. It dissolved...and then I mixed a splash of that mixture with enough water to get the right color and painted it on. let it dry. and poly coated the top. Seriously a genius method and I LOVE that you don't need to wipe it off or let it "cure" before you can finish the rest. Its my new go-to stain!!

I seriously apologize that I've been neglecting you all lately. Pinkie promise that I'll do better!!! Hope you all have a fab weekend!!

Sharing this project at the following fab parties:

Coastal Charm


Furniture Feature Fridays The Shabby Nest
Chic on a Shoestring Decorating

26 comments:

  1. I LOVE your table! I have been wanting to make a kitchen table for a while...I don't have the knowledge & my dad thinks I'm crazy :-). So getting him to help me when he didn't get my vision has proved fruitless. Now I have a visual I can show him -- we have lots of wood that is already weathered/beat up. (even the top of legs showing through top of table is what I envisioned!) Thank you for sharing this - it is beautiful!

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  2. P.S. May I pin this to pinterest?

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    1. Hey April!! Thanks for your sweet comment! Honestly I would tackle the project yourself if you can't find help. Its seriously not that hard. Borrow a circular saw, and a few other tools and have a vision in mind and you're good to go! I just tackled a super awesome bookshelf too that I'll be posting about soon. And OF COURSE you can pin to pinterest! :)

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  3. You are my decorating/creating hero I love your table!

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    1. Corrina thanks so much girl! I am officially obsessed with rust! I have several pieces that I'm praying my kids scratch and mess up so I can refinish them in rust! lol

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  4. And I to am a huge fan of the rust - who woulda thought it would do such wonderful stuff to wood!

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  5. Love, Love, Love the table you built and distressed. Farm tables are a favorite of mine and you sure did good. I'm happy to be a new follower and hope you'll stop by.
    Mary Alice

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  6. GREAT job! Love it!!! :)

    xoxo laurie

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  7. great job on making this table! thanks for the rust tip!!!

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  8. Absolutely awesome!

    (I'm pinning too.)

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  9. I love it! Just beautiful:)

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  10. Beautiful! I'm going to pin this as well! :)

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  11. Lovely - I like yours better than the table you modelled the design on. Great job! Jackie

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  12. oh my goodness. I can not tell you how much I love this table! I am showing this to my husband pronto. we recently did an old barn wood potting table for our patio ... but I would LOVE to have something like this indoors.

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  13. What a beautiful table! I can totally see why you want to marry it and have it's children!! Fantastic job! I have one of Ana White's farm tables on my summer project list and this has definitely renewed my spark for completing it! Thanks for the tip on the stain - I am going to use it to finish my pallet patio table!

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  14. Oh! I'm IN LOVE with this table!!! You and your hubby did an amaing job! In what part of the process did you use the chisel to disstress the wood? Was is after the table was put together or before. Thank you! I'm so happy I found your blog!
    ~Lucy

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    1. Hey Lucy!! Thanks so much for your sweet comment! All the distressing to the table happened after it was put together. I used a hammer...both claw and ball part to beat up the wood. After that I sanded it thoroughly and then beat it up again so there were some fresh dings and some more subtle ones. The fresh dings soak up more again too so it looks more like barn wood! After it was beat up I used the chisel to carve out low points in the wood. I also chiseled off the fresh "new wood" corners. I also created worm holes with a nail punch. This table got out A LOT of my aggression with the distressing part! Lol. Hope that helps! :)

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  15. Nice post..
    I just love the link that you have provided Hope you will provide more about Farm tables

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  16. What color/brand of stain did you use on the table? I like the color.

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  17. Hi,
    Great explanation about making of a Farmhouse table.I Hope u enjoy a lot while making it. These table will be solid as rock.
    Farmhouse Tables

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  18. How many times did you paint your wood with your rust stain? I have some reclaimed douglas fir that I have sanded down and brushed on the steel wool stain - it turns more black than it does brown

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  19. Also, what did you upt on top of the stain? a wax or a poly or? thx

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