Rustic Farmhouse Table

Hi all! I know it's been quite a long time since I have posted, but teaching has been taking up much of my time and mental capacity lately. I look forward to more posts in the next couple months (summer vaca)!!

This is our newest build. A rustic farmhouse style dining room table. A little back story first: when we first moved into our house we had a el-cheap-o IKEA 4 person table (with chairs pictured). Don't get me wrong, I love me some IKEA, but this table was dinky. After about a year, we received a hand-me-down table, which was the exact opposite: huge, real wood, ginourmous. This was great, except it was super wide, which made trying to walk around it while others were dining almost impossible. 

What I really wanted was a farmhouse table. The cost? $800.00+. My budget? $200.00.
Solution? MAKE ONE!

After searching the Internets, I came across this plan from Ana White. 
We decided to alter the length, and leg type, choosing 4x4's instead for a more sturdy look.

We have never built anything from scratch before, so it was intrimdating at first. But, after using my handy graph paper for my visual brain, the shopping and cutting were a breeze.

 

We choose Pine Select Boards from Home Depot. This was the most expensive wood available, however it provided the least warping for us beginners. Using less expensive wood would have added more of a rustic feel though. The legs we had to purchase from Lowe's, as non-pressure treated 4x4's are hard to come by. They are Fir, but were similiar in tone.


Here is just a breif play-by-play of our experience. For specifics, please visit the link above.


Framing Up Apron & Screwing Boards
*tip: lay out your planks for the top before hand. Number and flip correctly to achieve your desired effect. 

 

Flip & Screw in Apron:

 

I sanded the top and legs separately for the sake of ease. Then screwed in the legs.

The longest part of this project was the staining. One coat of Charcoal Grey from Minwax, and two coast of Satin Polyurethane. The Grey turned out pretty blue, but we still loved the color!

 A close up of the stain:

And Ta-Da! A brand new table!

This cost me just around $200 bucks, a good part of my weekend, but valuable learning and creating time. 
We really like the pop of color. We were on a wood tone overload with wood-on-wood-on-wood, floor, paneled wall, and brown table. Now some blue to add! We can also fit 8 comfortably with room to walk around!

Please feel free to ask any questions about certain steps. And, don't be afraid to build! 

Till next time, friends.