DIY Farmhouse Table

My husband and I recently bought a new house and have had a blast trying to decorate it. Seriously, we have heard from many couples that this kind of thing drove them to lots of arguments, but not us. If there was anything we didn't agree upon we would test it out for a week and see which we liked better and would decide from there.

We have never had a formal dining room before and we both come from a big family and needed something that would hold up to that. We looked everywhere and coudln't find anything we liked for less than $2,000! I don't know about you, but we don't have that kind of money for just the table (that price didn't even include the chairs). So, I did what any 21st century woman would do--I checked Pinterest. Got my inspiration plan from Ana White.

With our game plan in order, we were off to our local builder supply store in our tiny car. I had just seperated my shoulder so we pulled up to the wood shop in our 4 door sedan, one arm in a sling, and the other with my notebook full of doodles that somewhat resembled a dining room table. The super friendly gentleman that helped us out didn't show it, but I could just hear the jokes after we left.

Here is what we did: First you need to figure out the dimensions of the table (length, width, and height). We have a fairly large dining room and decided to make our table 4.5'x8'x34" to fit 8 people around it comfortably. Keep in mind when you're deciding on the height of your table. If you are not building the table where the table is going to stay, then measure the width of your door frames to make sure you can get your table inside when you're done. Then you have to decide how much of a lip you want for each side--we wanted a 3" lip on the long sides enough to hide the frame and an 8" lip on the ends of the table to allow the person to sit more comfortably. With all of our measurements ready to go we were ready to start cutting.

We used 1x2s and 2x4s for the frame, 4x4s for the legs, and 2x6s for the top. We used 2" wood screws, Minwax Antique Walnut stain, and Minwax Satin Polyurethane. For tools, we used a 12" Miter Saw, Drill, sand paper, measuring tape, and sponge brushes. In order to help age the wood for the tabletop we had a heavy gauge chain and a steel brush.

Cut the 1x2s at a 45 degree angle to hide any edges and cut the 4x4s to the height you want. We layed out the 1x2s to form our rectangle and placed the 4x4s at the corners. Used wood screws to attach the frame to the legs. We found this easiest to be done upside down. (Please don't judge me by my garage--we just moved in).

Next part was also easier upside down. Measure the distance short ways for the top frame. Cut 5 2x4s to this length. These don't need to be the prettiest wood since all you need it for is to screw the tabletop to and won't actually be seen. We stood ours up after we were finished to make sure it was coming together the way we wanted.

Still upside down, measure the short distance between two of the 4x4s. This will be the start of the "I"-frame at the bottom. Use a spare piece of 2x4 to support the beam while you screw the beam into the both 4x4s. Repeat on the other side making sure to keep them at the same distance from the bottom of the 4x4. Using another 2x4, measure the distance from one side of the "I"-frame to the other. Cut and screw to the bottom to finish the bottom of the frame.

We found that just the 4 legs for support wasn't quite what we wanted, so we added a 5th leg into the middle. You could use another 4x4, but we already ran out. So, we just screwed 2 2x4s together and voila--a 4x4! Measure the distance from the center 2x4 of the top frame to the center of the "I"-frame and cut your 2 2x4s (or 4x4) to this length and screw it into place. Measure the distance between the bottom of the "I"-frame to the floor (you'll want your table upright for this), cut and screw into place.

Take your 2x6s and cut off just the tips of each side to make sure each board is the same length. We did this to make sure that the ends were smooth since someone would be sitting there to eat and we didn't want anything getting splinters. With your 2x6s cut to equal size, lay them out side by side and make sure they're lined up the way you want. Pick which side of the board you want facing up. Again, this is much easier with it upside down since you will be screwing through the 2x4s into the 2x6s. You will need to make sure your screws are long enough to counter sink into the frame, but not so long as to stick out the other end of the tabletop. Once everything is lined up just the way you want it, screw everything into place.

Once you have everything screwed in, flip 'er over. Now that's not an easy task on a normal day, but remember--I'm still in a sling. So, my poor husband had to do all of the work. We/he flipped the table over to inspect our work. Test your boards to make sure they don't need any tighening. From here we sanded everything smooth. You could use an electric sander which would make things go much faster, but when I called my mother to tell her how excited I was about making our table and it being ready for Christmas dinner she spilled the beans that she already bought Brad an electric sander for Christmas. Now I had to come up with some lie as to why we didn't need one during this project. Trust me when I say this--go for the electric sander. By the way, this is not his angry face. He was deep in thought when I snapped the picture.

While I continued sanding, Brad decided to start adding some aging spots to the table top. We didn't just want to use a hammer since it would have just looked like you hit it with a hammer. Instead I got a heavy gauge chain and a steel brush to help age it. The chain worked great. Although, I would recommend opening the garage door when you do this because it echoed very badly in our garage. The steel brush didn't do much other than help gouge out a few more holes that were already present. So, we used a philips head screw driver and dug it into several places. That's it, the hard part is over!

We have GORGEOUS unstained red oak floors throughout the main level of the house. Since we were going for a farmhouse table look, I decided I wanted to use an "Antique Walnut" colored stain to help give it that old look. I didn't want it very dark, though, so I put a coat on a small section of the table at a time with my sponge brush. I only let it sit for about 1 minute before wiping it off with a soft, clean rag and I thought the color came out perfectly and continued this for the entire table. The stain soak in darker into the scratches, dents, and knots of the wood which gave it such a beautiful, antique look.

Once you have the stain completed, I highly recommend putting a coat of polyurethane on it. Especially since it will be used regularly with kids of all ages and hopefully last a long time, it was a must. We chose a satin polyurethane because we didn't want it to be shiny. I put two thick coats of the poly along the top, sides, and around the lip of the table top. Each leg and the "I"-frame received only one coat of poly. The tabletop would receive most of the mess, but I wanted the legs and "I"-frame protected from spills and shoes too. I found out through this process that I am messy with stain and poly and that you must work in a well ventilated area. I had to crack the garage door.

Now that everything is completely done, comes the interesting part. I'm still in a sling and we have to get this table into our dining room. Thankfully the dining room was just inside the door. We already measured our doorways and had plenty of clearance to get this behemoth through any door we wanted to without removing the door. I can't even explain to you how we got it into the house, it was all just a blur of blankets and sheer will. Quite impressive actually. I think it looks amazing in the dining room, it's the perfect size for 8 comfortably and room to get around the table in the space. The center piece is made up of random goodies I found around our house. The blue Parson Chairs are from Overstock.com. The Rhea Area Rug and 6 tan Parson Chairs with nailhead trim are from Wayfair.com.

With everything complete I was so excited to put out my favorite Red Crystal Plates to decorate in time for Christmas Dinner. It felt so good eating around the table we made with our family. Here is our estimated financial break down from this project:

12" Dewalt Miter Saw = $200

2 HomePop Blue Shades Parson Chairs = $195

6 HomePop Winthrop Parson Chairs = $474

8'x10' Mercury Row Rhea Area Rug = $209

Wood, Stain, Screws, Polyurethane, Sponge Brushes, Plastic Tarp, and Sandpaper = $215

Grand Total = $1,293

The closest table we could find in similarity to ours was $2,000 for just the table, but we were able to build our own custom talbe with 8 chairs and area rug for even less. Since we have never had space for big tools we did have to purchase the Miter Saw which bumped the price up a little. For our next projects we will not have to purchase this piece again even though I think it has already paid for itself.

I am a teacher and my husband is an accountant with no woodworking experience. If we can do this, so can you. Never be afraid to try something new. I would love to hear any of your tips/ideas for our next project. What worked for you? What didn't?