Farmhouse Table Tutorial

 

Did you ever wonder why we are attracted to things of the past? I once took a test to see what era I should have lived and I got the 70s. I did live in the 70s a few years but I don’t remember them of course. But to me it’s almost weird how I often find myself drawn to 70s stuff, whether it be music, tv shows, muscle cars, events that took place, clothing, or even furniture styles.

So if you spot me wearing bell bottoms and huge, round glasses, I’m just letting my inner self out. I’m kidding, though. Definitely not everything is appealing to me about the 70s. I could never get used to blue toilets, dark paneling walls, or the huge, round glasses people would wear.

I often spot pieces of furniture that take me back in time to grandma’s house, especially little jelly cupboards or drop leaf tables.

One of my favorite furniture pieces to make are little cupboards or tables. The last while I have been working on a farmhouse table that I want to share with you.

I had just enough wood from an old barn left over to make a beautiful top with. That certain wood is kind of hard to come by. It needs to be the right thickness and the boards need to be fairly straight. These boards had awesome character, probably created by animals mostly. It’s funny how I wouldn’t mind eating off a table that was chewed by a horse but I complain when the boys miss a few crumbs when wiping the table. :\ 

 

 

I needed chunky pieces for the legs and thought these square fence posts would work out great.

 

 

The first step was cutting the legs, which were cut to 30”. The next step was the skirting. I wanted the table top to be 80” long so I needed to cut the skirting the right size for that. I wanted a two and a half inch overhang on the top and the posts were 4” thick, so I cut the skirting around 67”. That allowed for the two 4” legs and 5” of overhang to fit underneath the top.

 

 

 

The skirting for the short size turned out to be around 21” since the top is 35” wide.

 

I glue everything and use screws to fasten.

 

After the legs and skirting were put together, I painted that part before putting the top on. I don’t always do that but for this table I did.

 

 

I didn’t get a good picture of this, but 2x6s were added in between the skirting to fasten the top. I didn’t want any screws showing on the top so everything is fastened from the bottom, which is at times a little challenging for me. At one time I was lying on the floor, in sawdust, getting the screws set just right. If I drove them in too deep, they would appear on the top and not deep enough, would only push the boards up.

Oh, and before I fastened the boards, I sanded and sanded them. As I type, I still feel sanding dust in my head. :\

 

I distressed the legs and skirting using my sander.

Before fastening the boards, I laid them on the frame to make sure they fit nicely. Oh, and did I mention I sanded them for a long time?

 

Here is a bottom view..

 

I tried something different for the finish on the top. I got an oil based polyurtherane at a local hardware and applied that to the top. I used a foam brush to apply. I will probably give it another coat tomorrow. It wasn’t quite dry the last time I checked and I think since a table top gets a lot of wear, a few coats would be good. I usually shy away from oil based products, but thought I’d give it a shot with this table. I was impressed how it darkened the the wood and gave a nice, smooth finish. I ended up applying a coat to the white part of the table and that gave it a nice, off white look. Before, it looked too stark white.

The finished piece…

 

 

 

 

There’s something about a red checkered tablecloth that will never go out of style for me. (I bet it’s a 70s creation)

 

This table is for sale, so if you are interested in a nice, sturdy table, it’s yours! You can message me through my facebook page if you have any questions. (porchswings n honeysuckle)

Thanks for visiting!

-Mary