As I prepared to, and while I was making this table, I prayed over it. I prayed not only for it to be sturdy and look nice, but that it would host many, many hours of my family sitting at it. That it would be a gathering place and the heart of my home. That the relationships that are forged there would be blessed, and a blessing to others.
Farmhouse DIY tables are all over pinterest and I’ve been looking forward to finding the time to get my turn to take a stab at one. I picked a date, got the supplies, and worked on my sketches and plan.
If you haven’t noticed, I have a slight obsession with nail head details on furniture. I just love that smidge of an industrial vibe that it brings to whatever you decide to adorn it with.
My dining area is open to my kitchen, hall, and living room. I needed my table to not be too large, however, I took into consideration the size and footprint of my chairs. I ended up making my table 73″ long by about 37″ wide. This is the beauty of a DIY project like this. I decided how big would work in my space.
1. Unfinished base of the table without the small trim piece for the nail heads. (Notice the little photo bomber in the background–the kids played in and around the garage all day while I was working!)
2. Drybrush paint finish on the base in a pale gray.
3. Walnut by Minwax stain rubbed over the painted finish.
4. Underside of table top before I stained it. I used 2x4s to join the planks and this allows the table and base to be moved in two parts.
As I said when I shared my girls’ study area , I’m not all about perfection before I consider a space or piece beautiful. Nail head trim is such a great example of that-do you know how long it would take to make tick marks for the placement of each one if I actually measured it?!? There were 175 of these little buggers. I just spaced these a little more than a finger’s width apart and tap, tap, tapped away.
The tool that helped in making this table successful was the Kreg Jig Mini. I was able to face mount the pieces using it, without having unsightly screw heads. A video tutorial can be found here, so you can see exactly how it works. I only wanted to make a small investment, which is why I bought the mini. I think a larger version is going on my Christmas wish list!
I stained the table top Kona by Minwax. I then applied three coats of water based polyurethane.
I spent just under $150 for this project, including the lumber, screws, nail heads, kreg jig mini, sandpaper and stain.
My table plans were tailored to fit the time, tools, and energy that I have available with inspiration coming from several blogs. You can also have this advantage if you decide to take the plunge and make your own farmhouse table. It will take some planning, but mostly for you to be brave. You can do this. Take a chance!
In my prayers for this table, I thanked God that I could make it. I am thankful for His gift to me of being creative and giving me the bravery to use it.
© 2014 – 2019, Kristie Ritter. All rights reserved. Love it? Please share, pin, tweet or email but do not use my work without permission.