Reclaimed Wood Farmhouse Table

Over the past couple months, David and I have been working on redoing our kitchen and living room area to make the space feel more like us and reflect our style. Previously, there was an island in the kitchen which I really liked for the storage and counter space, but over time I realized it wasn't functioning well for us. We don't have a dining room, so when we had friends and family over for dinner we all were forced to cram around the island. When time came to rework the kitchen, I knew I wanted to replace the island with a table.

I've always loved the look of a dining table in the kitchen because I think it gives the room such a cozy, inviting, casual feel. I had in mind exactly the kind of table I wanted - a distressed farmhouse table. I shared my idea with David, and thankfully he liked it and agreed to build one for me.

The coolest thing about this table is the wood that we used for the top - it was salvaged from David's old band room! A couple years ago they were remodeling the floor and decided to remove the risers. The risers were framed with this beautiful cedar and David was able to bring the wood home in exchange for his labor in helping to tear apart the old floor.

The wood is full of character, but we decided to distress it just a little bit further and hit it randomly with a hammer and some chains (which turned out to be a lot of fun!). When we put the polyurethane on top to seal the wood, it brought out the imperfections that much more and really enhanced the character of the wood.

For the legs and support beams, we painted them white then distressed them a bit using sandpaper along the edges and other places that would normally show wear over time. I'm really thrilled with how it turned out and now I love my kitchen so much more. We are big fans of old farmhouses, but our house is new construction so we are working on adding in elements of the farmhouse style. This table totally fits the bill!

Since we already had the wood for the table top and supports, we only had to buy four legs which cost us $60. We had the polyurethane and paint on hand as well, so the legs were the only thing we had to shell out some money for. I've seen tables like this sell for well over $300, so I was more than happy it only set us back $60. Especially when the table means more since we worked on it together and it has a personal history. We plan to make a bench with the same wood used on the table top for extra seating as well.

We had some family over last weekend for a birthday party, and the new table worked out really well. We just need to get going on that bench so we have some more seating!

~Tammy

This week in the Homemade Living series, I am joined by Daisy and Mary in posting about how we incorporate homemade items into our lives. Next week Meg, Staci, and Amber will be up. If you have some free time, please check out the other posts in this weekly series!

Shared with Rurality Blog Hop, Home Sweet Home, Down Home Blog Hop, From the Farm Blog Hop, Tweak It Tuesday