If you’ve ever wanted a large, style, family farm table but haven’t been able to afford one, the wait is OVER!
This post, on how to DIY a large family farm table, was written by Monica and we’re so glad she shared her expertise with us!
It all begins with a very inexpensive IKEA purchase and from there your table begins to take shape.
She even walks you through how to make your new wood look old! And it looks amazing! Don’t you think?
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She has painstakingly taken the time to spell out for you each step. So, let’s get started!
Here are their DIY farmhouse table instructions, step-by-step:
Step 1: Acquire 1 or 2 rectangular tables. One table if you want a little farmhouse table and two if you want a big mama that can seat a lot of people. Rather than trying to thrift two identical tables (which can be really challenging), we went with two wooden IKEA tables (the cheapest ones they sell!) but you can totally thrift two as well- that’s what I did for my personal table.
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Assemble your tables and put them on a level surface.
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Step 2: Attach the tables together using a 1×3 pine plank and screws. It doesn’t matter what the wood looks like, it’s going to get covered up by fancy pine boards a little later. Just make sure the plank is screwed into both tables to connect them.
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Step 3: Build a subframe using 1×2 inexpensive pine planks. So… cheap tables are cheap for a reason, they’re not made super well and they’re tiny. When I think of a farmhouse table, I don’t think dainty and small, I think big and strong. So, this subframe is going to be your support so that you can make your table wider. The width is up to you, you will attach the 1x2s directly onto the table and they’ll hang over the sides. You’ll want them equal on both sides, but really the width is up to you. The table at my house is crazy wide, but the one we made for this farmhouse dining room was about 48″ when it was finished. Attach each 1×2 with screws directly into the table. We used about 3 screws per board.
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Step 4: Cut your “new” tabletop planks. Once the subframe is prepped, cut your 2×8 boards to length. When planning the length of your vertical boards, take into account that each end will have a horizontal end piece, so subtract about 8″ off of each side.
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See how the vertical boards are “capped” with a horizontal?
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Step 5: Sand down your boards, rounding the edges a bit to give it a finished look.
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Step 6: Place your boards, and get your layout set. Once you’re happy with your spacing, attach each board from the underside of the table using screws. Make sure your screws are long enough to go through the table, subframe, and top planks, but not so long that they pierce through.
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Step 7: This is an important step- you need to create an apron to hide the subframe and give the table a finished look. Measure and cut four 1×3 pieces of pine down to the size of each of the table’s sides. Attach the apron onto each side, under the wide top planks, hiding the frame. This step might sound confusing, but if you think of it as hiding the evidence of your IKEA hack, then you’ll be golden!
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See how it makes the table look like it’s always been a farmhouse table? That apron works wonders!
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Now, let’s talk about those skinny legs for a second shall we? While I’d kill for legs that thin, it’s not the most attractive on a farmhouse table. For this episode of “Knock It Off” we were on a tight budget, so we let the skinny legs remain (knowing our benches would cover them up), but it would be really simple to chunk out the legs by boxing them out with 1×3 pine. It’s totally up to you.
Step 8: This step is optional, but if you’re using inexpensive pine like we did, I’d suggest distressing your wood. It’s going to get dinged up eventually, so this way it looks intentional and like it has loads of character! Plus, it’s kinda fun!
We usually distress with some household items…
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The little screw marks are my favorite! I love seeing the thread lines- we pressed the screws into the wood to achieve that look. After the wood is stained the distressing really pops!
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Step 9: Stain your table and then apply 2-3 coats of polyurethane to seal it.
Seriously, can you believe this is an IKEA table? (well, two actually!)
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We used 2x4s and built simple benches rather than dish out a ton of money for chairs. I also like that they hide the skinny legs! Win-Win!
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