Dining Room & Farmhouse Table

Holy Moly. Mark this day on the calendar, I’m actually sharing our dining room table and final pics! Well, final is never a correct word, since I have changed the little details around about 400 times so far, and will probably continue to do so, but final for the next 5 minutes at least : )

This is one of those rooms that I have decorating OCD with, and that has majorly prevented me from sharing everything on the blog. The staging was never quite perfect, or the pictures never came out quite like I was hoping (navy walls are a love/hate, and that dang sun hasn’t come out yet this summer), so there are multiple versions shown below. I am not even sure I love where it’s at right now, but considering it was completed last November/December, and it’s oh, June 22nd, I decided to just get over it and share it! So, without further ado, meet our dining room!

It’s made a few cameo’s on the blog, but today we’re talking details! Let’s start first with the table. We built it using plans from Shanty-2-Chic, with a few modifications. We made the table wider and longer than the plans shown, and played with our planer. Also, instead of using pocket holes to put the whole thing together, we used lag bolts and washers in a few places to add to the rustic look. If you’d like the original plans for the table, be sure to check out the post on Ana White!

Surprisingly, this project only took about a weeks worth of nights to put it all together including waiting for the stain and poly to dry. M and I both work during the day and the sun is non-existent after 5pm during the winter, so excuse all of the late night garage pictures that are about to fill the screen : )

We planed the sides of the boards that made up the top of the table and put them together with pocket holes so that they sit flush and create one smooth surface- less room for crumbs to gather and drive me crazy!

Any and all imperfections were sanded right down! Lots of work, but it’s 100% worth it to have a gorgeous smooth finish. I already forgot how terrible it was, so it couldn’t have actually been that bad : )

The base was much easier to assemble than I thought it would be! The key was lots and lots of clamps to hold everything together, or, someone who weighs more/has better balance/falls more gracefully than me to stand on them for the next few steps. I’d just go with the clamps! ; )

Since we decided to use lag bolts instead of pocket holes to put the base together, we used a large drill bit, around the same size as our bolts and predrilled all of our holes.

For the top of the base, we had to sink the heads of the bolts into the wood so the table top would sit on straight. A little fun with a 1 1/2″ paddle bit, and the bolts cranked in nice and flush!

I wasn’t kidding when I said that clamps were our best friends : )

The angled braces were a two man job, but a few long screws on the top and bottom and the table was instantly that much sturdier!

Basically to sum up the pictures & modifications:

• We planed the edges of the tabletop similar to our kitchen table so there was minimal crack-age. Insert any joke (preferably of the plumber type) and my creepy giggling here.
• The easiest way to add the lag bolts was to pre-drill the holes using a bit that was only slightly smaller than the width of the bolt itself. In order to prevent drilling too deep, we used a piece of painters tape around the bit. Once that got to the wood, we knew we were done.
• In order to bolt the top of the frame to the legs, we had to countersink the bolt by first drilling the pilot hole for the lag bolt, then using a 1 1/2″ paddle bit to drill a hole about 1/2″ deep into the wood. Making the hole larger than the head of the bolt allowed us to easily crank it in.
• We added one extra 2×12 to the top to make the table wider and about 12″ to the length, and then adjusted the base accordingly.
• This baby is heavy- make sure you have someone to help/lift it for you while you crack them a beer, lemonade, or insert refreshment of choice.
• Any other questions- please ask below or check out the amazing plans on Ana White or Shanty-2-Chics blog!

We decided on Minwax’s Special Walnut for our stain color, and used multiple coats of polyurethane in semi-gloss to protect the wood from any spills or stains. I’m happy to report it works too! A glass of red wine may or may not have been spilled all over the top of it, and we had 0 problems : )

Now for the rest of the room, we decided to add a rug under the new table, and picked out this jute rug from Pier 1. After a few coupons and gift cards we paid around $10 for it, and love it! I was slightly concerned with picking such a light color where food can easily be dropped, but it has been easy to spot clean and we don’t use it on a daily basis. So far, so good!

The light also got switched out with this $80 version from Lowes, and with that we’re down to one last brass fixture in this house! Sorry 1979, but I’m so glad you’re almost gone! It’s simple, gives off tons of light and fit the bill. The lighting trifecta we were going for : ) The chairs are simple as well- the white are from IKEA, and the wicker end chairs were a major clearance steal from Crate & Barrel!

Like I mentioned before, I’ve accessorized the room 400 times, so there’s a few different versions below. The blue runner is the current winner for summer and I’m loving the paper flower art we just hung from Target against the dark Hale Navy walls! Ps. I know the differences are subtle- hence the OCD note from earlier : P

This room has definitely come a long way from when we moved in… new floors, shiplap walls, this table and all of the little updates have brought it from this…

To this : )

What do you think? Any decor suggestions? I have to say that although a lot of homes have dropped the formal dining room all together, I’m really loving that we have a place to get together when we have family over and at Christmas. It was actually one of M’s requirements when we were looking at houses, so it was fun to finish this project up before the holidays last year so we could break it in with family and a big ol (fully cooked- thank goodness) turkey!

Ps. If you missed the shiplap wall treatment, or DIY floating shelf (one of the easiest projects to take up a whole wall, ever.) posts and are interested, be sure to hop on over and check them out : )

Pss. You may have noticed I took a bit of a break after the final ORC post to focus on a few personal things! I’m happy to be back sharing now and am going to try to power through to get the blog up to speed with our house! Our kitchen, half bath, family room and front curb appeal have all gotten some love in real life, so now it’s time for the blog. I’m hoping to post once or twice a week on whatever we’re working on after that, so I hope you’ll join along for all of the updates coming soon : ) Ready, set, go!

 

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