White Farmhouse table

Can you believe Brian made this table from raw lumber?   Impressive, right?

There’s something about a man, MY MAN, making something useful and functional that is downright attractive.  The hat?  Not really sexy, but building me a freakin kitchen table?   I love it.  Of course he builds computers all the time, but building a table?   I had no idea he could do that.  He still finds ways to impress me, after all these years!

Look at that grin on his face!   I think he enjoyed the process this time ….it was way easier than the playhouse (I twisted his arm) built last year.  This table though, was built during the month of December when the weather was decent enough to work in the garage.

He followed Ana White’s free plans for the Farmhouse Table, adjusting the length and width to fit perfectly with our built in window seats.  There are 18 steps, but Ana explains it so well it makes anyone feel like they could tackle it too!   Our previous table was a $40 find on Craig's List  that I spend a lot of time painting and distressing.   I loved it, but it had a crack in the pedestal base, so no matter what I did, it was wobbly.  So annoying. 

This baby weighs a TON and is the sturdiest table I’ve ever seen in my life.  After he completed the build, we moved the table into the living room for the month of January so I could work on the finish.    I wanted to take my time doing a nice job, just as he did in building it.    He gave me full permission to do anything I wanted to it, so I considered a blue stain, green stain, light walnut stain or white paint.

First I tried a light wood stain, but it didn’t take to the wood filler well. 

Then I painted it all white.   I hated it and sanded most of it off.

Then I put a dark stain over the paint and it looked good, but too dark for what I wanted in the kitchen.

So, I sanded that mostly off too then painted it a solid white.

It was too white…I knew that I couldn’t keep up a perfect white finish.

At this point I wanted to give up and just live with a wobbly table.   Brian sweetly offered to take it to the road for garbage pick up if I really hated it that much.  And he would never build me anything ever again.

My mom came to visit and helped me distress parts of the table, like the edges and grooves.  We looked on line for examples of distressed farm tables and saw some that looked great and were insanely priced.  ($1,300-1,800)   That made me feel better about my technique, especially since he bought all the lumber and screws for $105.  What a deal.

After a month of layering, sanding, staining and painting, I had a “new” table that looks “old”.   I sealed it with 8 coats of Polyurethane, sanding in between coats so it is super smooth.   There is so much texture and variation.  Anything the kids do to this table will only give it more character- genuine character!  LOL.

And the best part, for me anyway, is that it hides crumbs really well.  I clean it thoroughly once or twice a day, and that’s it.  If I can’t see it, it doesn’t bother me!  Now all I need is a new kitchen floor that disguises dirt and I’ll never have to clean again….