Traffic on the blog really fluctuates based on the topic – maybe it’s the day of the week or time that things are posted (you may have noticed, if you subscribe, that your e-mails have been arriving at different times of late), and I’m trying to figure out what it is you really want to see.
I’m going to go by Pinterest numbers and say that you guys seem to LOVE DIY projects and furniture makeovers.
Which is fantastic, because I love doing them!
I have more than a few pieces waiting for some love and attention in my garage right now, so you’ll be seeing more makeovers coming soon. Rockwell Tools has decided to continue to sponsor the blog and I have some new and AWESOME tools to show you – so I’ll need to get building as well.
A win-win all around!
Today is an antique farmhouse table – I’m going to guess an old desk because of the centre drawer, but it could be a small kitchen table too.
As you probably know, I love the rustic look of farmhouse style interiors. I’ve even been looking at farmhouse lighting and I have to admit that there’s a fantastic selection available online. Who knows, I might have to treat myself…
It was really quite nice as it was, but – and what you can’t really tell from the above photo – is that the top was terribly warped. It had a large crack through the middle and the centre section had sunk down so that if you were to put a marble on the table it would have pooled in the middle. Not something you could actually write on.
I attempted to build my first table-top using wood that was the same depth as the previous top.
I bought some 1×6 pine boards at Home Depot and cut them down to be close to the size of the previous table-top – 27.5″ by 42″.
I wish I wasn’t so nervous around a table saw or I would have shaved down the edges of each board to give me perfectly flat edges to glue together. As it was, I left the boards as you would buy them from the lumber store and then used my Kreg-Jig and Gorilla wood glue to attach them together. I clamped it tightly and let it dry over night
While the glue set, I removed the old farmhouse table top from the legs. This is really easy, so don’t feel intimidated if you try a project like this at home. You can see screw holes in the end board of the table; just unscrew and use a mallet to loosen any glue and the table top pops right off! Use the same screw holes and wood glue to attach the new top.
I sanded the new top, and the remainder of the table, down to bare wood – all except the base of the legs (I wanted them darker) so they just got a surface sand – enough to remove old varnish, but not enough to remove old stain.
I opted against using any wood filler between the boards because, even though wood fillers claim to be “stainable”, they never stain the same colour as the wood and tend to stand out.
One coat of Minwax Dark Walnut and you can see the gorgeous grain of the top, and the aged patina of the antique bottom. This is where you can see (and save) the antique character.
I coated the top with two layers of my favourite triple-thick varnish and a single coat on the legs and body.
The drawer needed a bit of repair, so that I fixed up by sanding clean, re-gluing the drawer boards together and clamping until set. The inside and outside received a coat of stain and varnish as well.
The castors on this farmhouse table are original, as is the drawer knob.
You can see how the stain came up darker in the areas that I lightly sanded – giving the piece an antique ombre effect. GORGEOUS!
The top is now a usable surface, but the overall piece has maintained the antique/farmhouse feel.
I can see this farmhouse table being used as a portable kitchen island, or as a writing desk with rustic accents like water-pitcher flowers and old leather-covered books.
As much as I’d love to keep this, I really have no room. If you are interested, let me know and we can arrange shipping.
Have a great one!
Linked to:
- Between Naps on the Porch
- Skip to my Lou