We've been looking for a new table. We looked at new tables and decided that was a little out of our price range right now. We also looked into buying an old table and refinishing it. Buuuttt...again, we didn't find anything we liked. We were just going to wait, because we only have two people who actually sit at the table. Then Jake found a pattern online for a beautiful farmhouse table. It looked simple enough and it was going to be less expensive than buying a new one. So hey, we went for it.
We packed up the crew and headed to a lumber yard in Rogers, AR. We picked out beautiful red oak pieces for the top of the table and the top of the bench. We picked out pine for the bottom.
Before I put up pictures, I want it to be known that Jake put a LOT of effort into this table. He probably read the pattern 50 times. He did research about different types of wood. He read about how to treat it, how to best handle it, how to pick out good pieces of wood, etc. He really put a lot of effort into this. I'm so proud.
Anyway, we bought the wood and we thought, "here goes nothing!"
Jake was so excited to buy this tool. It's a pocket hole jig. I think. During this project, we had to have a few discussions about tools. Which of these would he actually use again, and which could he borrow? He decided this was one he really wanted. I'd never even heard of a pocket-jig before. I do now!
For some reason, I was put in charge of antiquing the table (and the bench).
We finished the table top with polyurethane. We weren't going to finish the base with anything, but after talking to some good friends (Thanks Annemarie and Kelsey!) we put a few coats of polyacrylic on.