Our most popular blog post has been the Farmhouse Table Remix. If you haven’t read the post, check it out
for all the nitty gritty details and the steps to make your own.
Since our table made its debut for the taping of The Nate Show, we thought we’d give you an add-on post that might answer some of the popular questions we get about it.
Farmhouse Table Q & A
Q. How long is your table and how many people can it seat?
A. The table is just under 11ft long and can comfortably seat 16 people.
Q. How long did it take to make the table?
A. Building it took about 4 hours, but the sanding took double that. However, if we had the proper tools it would have been a breeze. Eric just used an orbital sander on all the edges to round them. A router would have made this step a breeze. Total time was about 20 hours.
Q. How did you hide the original tables so well?
A. Creating the edge casing was essential to hiding the old school tables underneath. If we hadn’t added that detailing, you would have seen the old tables and the extender planks we added.
It would have looked something like this…
Q. Is it weird to have an 8-legged table? What does it look like underneath?
A. Nah… we think it’s kind of cool! Plus, if we have someone over for dinner and have any awkward silence, we can just be like, “Hey, did you know this table has eight legs?” I wouldn’t recommend it as a pick-up-line, but for a conversation saver it works like a charm.
Q. What color stain did you use? (this is the most popular question we get)
A. I can’t answer this one. SORRY! Here’s the deal… I tried a million stains and methods and finally had to go to Sherwin Williams. They were able to create a custom stain for me. They matched the stain to a paint swatch from the chair paint. I literally jumped for joy (can you picture that?) when we did a sample board. It was exactly what I was looking for. So, head over to the fellas at Sherwin, they make a mean color match! The reason I can’t give you the formula is that we were messy with the stain and it got all over the label. We can’t read it no matter how hard we try. Blogger foul. Sorry!
I hope that helps and we love getting emails and comments from our readers, so feel free to contact us if you have any other questions! The biggest thing I want to encourage you with is that YOU CAN DO THIS! We’re not woodworkers, we’re not all that savvy with tools, but we’re pretty determined. If your you (or your husband) are doubtful, just shoot us and email and I’ll have Eric convinceyou it’s totally doable!
Got Chairs?
A 16-seater table means 16 chairs! Yikes… with most chairs costing well over $100 each, that would be a whopping $1600! Thankfully, my mom found us FREE chairs that a restaurant were getting rid of. Remember this post? Well, here’s how I took these chairs from weak-sauce, to super-cool! (and yes, occasionally I talk like I’m 16 years old… I’m a high school teacher, it’s not my fault!)
The first step was to sand every single chair. QUIZ: Do you think I actually did that? ANSWER: Not a chance! I’m far too impulsive and after sanding one chair I decided that sanding was for the birds!
I like quick and efficient. I made a little chair assembly line in the basement.
To remove a chair cushion, just flip it over and unscrew all four corners. It might take a little kick to get it to pop out, but it’ll budge eventually. Ugh, look at that hideous material.
The chairs needed two coats of grey paint and Eric and I just lined up the chairs in the kitchen and watched a movie while we painted. I must give the hubs HUGE props because I took the kids on a planned trip to Boston, and he finished painting all the chairs so that they’d be ready for the Nate Show taping. <3
This next step is really crucial… find some gal pals that are willing to come help you reupholster 16 seat cushions. If you could read the clock on the DVR, it says 10:15pm and we were just getting started. Have I mentioned I love my girls?
We just pulled off the old material and wrapped and staple-gunned the new fabric. It’s just like wrapping a present, but using staples instead of tape!
I had picked out some fabric at Calico Corners, but it wasn’t going to arrive in time, so I went to JoAnn’s and found these two fabrics that I was pretty happy with. I wanted something with grey, yellow, and some kind of aqua or blue. These fit the bill nicely.
The Finished Freebie Chairs
I can’t wait for everyone to see how great the table and chairs look in my dining room since Jess designed it on The Nate Show. Really, we’re both like little kids waiting for Christmas! It can’t get here soon enough. Countdown is T minus 3 days! (I really don’t know what that means, but it sounds cool when they say it in movies right?)
Oh yes, we almost forgot! The winner of the Starbucks giftcard is….
Liz
Just shoot us an email with your address, and start checking your mailbox! Happy Starbucks-drinking!
Can’t wait to try this, my kitchen chairs are beyond ugly….thanks for the tips.
I need help with some questions regarding the table. Email me at Kari.jo@mac.com
THANK YOU FOR DOING THIS WITH JUST A FEW TOOLS!!!
I am still kind of handy, but really don’t have many electric tools – I love them but they are costly. My friend still has a few leftover from when she had a huge workshop in her old house – but downsized. So we get together for projects and she has wanted a new (OLD) farmhouse table – and here is just the answer!! I’m sure we can do this!! I don’t need one anymore, but I still love the idea. Your site is great – wish I had seen you on Nate. Thanks for sharing,,,
I love your table! How nice that you can work so well together and make you ide/project come to life. I admire that so much. Peace and love,
Cynthia
Hey great job! Even though I am reading this a year later. Was thinking of doing the same thing. But….. I was wondering if you just stained the top of your table with a general stain and thats it or did you put some sort of varnish or shelac over top so it had a wipeable finish?
Your color of stain looks exactly like “Classic Gray” from min-wax that I’ve used on a headboard before. Love how your table turned out!!
Just found your farm table post! The results are very impressive. I love the table and the chairs look so nice with it. Amazing, really!
Linda
mysewwhatblog.blogspot.com
How did you attach the ‘edge casing’ exactly?
what grit sandpaper did you use? Did you use a belt sander?
Hi there!
Thank you so much for posting this! This is the easiest DIY farmhouse table project that I have seen thus far! Just a few questions:
* Can you explain in better detail how you went about screwing in the table top boards? I am a little confused when you spoke about screwing from underneath. I guess I am just worried the screws will come through on the top.
* Next question is regarding the side boardsd – the boards used to cover the existing table frames. Can you explain in step-by-step detail how you accomplished this and at what point during the assembly process this was done?
Thanks so much!!!
Bridget