— For the Home —

Farmhouse Dining Room Update-Part 2 Simple Farmhouse Table

August 11, 2017

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If you were to look at my home from the outside, you would think 1960s suburban house-NOT 1900s farmhouse because, well, that’s what it is.  I have seen some GORGEOUS farmhouses.  And while I’ve never dreamed myself of LIVING in a farmhouse, there are certain traits of a farmhouse that I absolutely LOVE.  I think it’s pretty safe to say I am not alone.  In fact, I would go so far as to say that Farmhouse is a style in itself.  I’ve never been able to pinpoint my “style” per se, but I keep coming back to the same elements: chippy/painted or raw wood, galvanized metal, fresh flowers, worn in (not worn out) comfort, white, white, a little bit of blue and grey, and more white.  I have spent the last 4 years of living in our home trying to bring those elements in.  Some times it has been easy, other times more of a feat.  In my first post here, I talked about waiting to redo the dining room until very last.  Until this past summer, I hadn’t touched it other than putting those “leftover” pieces in that space.  I sold my dining table in a yard sale about a month ago and was able to clear the space to envision my dream–a farmhouse table.  Now I got really lucky, y’all!  My in-laws brought home some wood from their farm and offered it to me (I don’t know what I did to deserve them), and I jumped at the chance to use it for a table top.  It was beautiful wood.  They took it in to get glued and planed for me, so I didn’t have to do that part.  This saved me a lot of time and money.  I did, however, have to build the base, and that was a whole other ordeal in itself!  There are so. many. choices.  I usually default to Shanty2Chic or Ana White, but that didn’t help narrow my options because they have some incredible farmhouse table plans.  So I finally chose one that didn’t look too difficult, wasn’t too chunky, and complimented my somewhat-farmhouse “styled” home.  Here are the plans I followed for the base.  I made sure to read over the plans from Ana White AND the process from Shanty2Chic.  This is very important as it gave me a few tips to ensure success!  To modify it, I only built two legs, and I had to adjust the width for my table top, which measured 78″ x 33″.  Here are some pictures of my progress!

 

DIY Farmhouse Table

 

 

Here is the table top after I stained it with the same stain as my floating shelf-Rustoleum Dark Walnut. This is with the first coat of polyurethane, which is why it has a blue tint.  Don’t worry, that tint went away as it dried.

 

Here is the stain I used on the table top, and poly I used on the entire piece. You can get both of these on Amazon! You can purchase the stain here.  This poly is AMAZING! It is triple thick, so the two coats that are on top are actually 6 coats of poly! It doesn’t have an odor and it dries quickly. I will only use this stuff from now on!  You can purchase the poly here.

 

Here are the base pieces pre cut. This is such a time saver! See all that wood on the wall just BEGGING to be used…

 

 

These are the base pieces before and after I painted them. I used Valspar’s Cream in my Coffee. This was leftover from my walls. It is used in my entryway, main hall upstairs, and the living room. What can I say? When I love something, I go all out!

 

 

I assembled this to get inspiration for the finish. I honestly didn’t know if I wanted it stained, painted, or both. I went with both to tie in the look of the dining room, and I am SO glad I did!

 

 

Then I disassembled it to stain the stretcher the same as the table top.

 

 

Here WAS the finished piece. I loved it, but something didn’t seem right. The original plan called for trim to be put on the table top, but since I didn’t put the table top together myself, I skipped this step. I decided to add some pine trim to “beef up” the look.

 

 

Here is the trim before I stained it. It automatically changed the look. I don’t have a planer, so I bought select pine trim which is SO expensive! But in this case, it was well worth it. I taped it off before I stained/poly-ed it.

 

Here is the final product with some finishing touches.  I found the rug, lighting, and curtains at Amazon (at great prices, I might add!  You can find the same rug here, the lighting here, and the curtains here. This is on major sale right now!
I know this isn’t the greatest angle, but I wanted to show you the curtains and that fun frame I built using old decking that I found in our shed for FREE! Score!

Here’s a before and after.  (Yikes! Sorry about the lighting in the before pic!). But what a difference!!

My mom said I could host Thanksgiving this year if I finish the dining room (that was my plan all along. Muah-ah-ah.) So I plan on building a bench with the same look as the table for one side.  For the other, I will be searching for three chairs, preferably matching, that I can paint to match the base.  For now, I am enjoying the ability to use the space, and the desire to actually WANT to use this space!  For years, I would avoid even walking in here.  But now, I find myself torn between walking this way to the stairs or the other way for a peek at my gorgeous farmhouse door (for another post!).  Other times, I just walk in and sit down in the simple silence as long as I can get it.

Stay tuned for Dining Room Redo Part 3 (and hopefully the last!)…

 

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