Industrial Farmhouse Table

Friday, January 10, 2014 -

Hi everyone! I'm still waiting for our laptop to be repaired, so in the meantime I've been taking trips to my in-laws to use their desktop. Remember last April when refinished a craiglist dining table? You can read about it here.



As soon as I finished that table, I was happy with it, but I knew it wasn't what I wanted. It was too pretty. And being a professional cosmetologist I knew, pretty means maintenance.

 After living with it for 8 months, I was right. The smooth, dark finish was just begging to be scratched and burned. With 2, destructive 4 year-olds I knew I needed something a little more rough around the edges. 

I have quite a collection of table legs and parts that I've been hoarding storing in my garage for years now. I happened to have this great set of chunky, rustic pine legs that I pulled off a $10 yard-sale table. After the holiday and boutique season started to wind down, I finally found some time to work on a project for myself. 

*I will warn you now, I took these photos late in the afternoon with crappy lighting. They looked great on my camera's little screen, but once I got them up here I saw how terribly blurry they are. Sorry! Don't you hate when that happens?

I thought about taking step-by-step photos, but I decided that there are enough farmhouse table tutorials out there, we don't need another one. I basically came up with a hybrid of the Turned Leg Farmhouse Table and the classic Farmhouse Table from Ana White's website.


I did come up with a couple new ways to age the wood. For example, using a hand saw to dig scratches in the edges, making them look cracked and split.

My favorite part of the table was the little industrial touch I gave it with some 2" lag bolts, washers, and a drill bit. They are only decorative, but I placed them in spots to make it look like they are holding the table together.


For the finish on the top, I played a little around with the stain untill I got exactly what I wanted. I first applied a coat of 50% Rustoleum's Ultimate stain in Sunbleached and 50% Rustoleum's Ultimate stain in Dark Walnut. It was a nice, medium grey color, but it was a little too uniform in color and almost had a slight purple hue to it.

After the first coat was completely dry, I brushd on single coat of Dark Walnut by Minwax. Much better. More of a natural, old wood color. I then sealed the top with one coat of wipe on polyurethane. Then, to bring out more of the character of the wood, I applied a soft black glaze that I mixed up. 

That's exactly what I was looking for. Old wood. Not exactly weathered wood, just old stained wood. Slightly grey, medium-dark brown. This photo is the best representation of the color on my monitor. It reminds me of Mushroom wood, which often is what reclaimed Barnwood is.


Pardon the blurry photo. The base received one coat of Dark Walnut stain, followed by 2 coats of antique white milk paint. To get the chippyness, I simply let the milk paint do it's thing. Once it was dry, I scraped off the flaking paint with a scraper.



Both the top and the base got about 5 coats of matte Polyurethane to seal everything. Yes, I put polyurethane over white paint. I realize it can yellow. This is a kitchen table people. In my opinon, wax and oils just don't cut it when it comes to the constant wear and tear a family's kitchen table gets.

 I could have gone with polyacrylic and not stressed about the yellowing, but I really wanted a matte finish, and the lowest sheen I've been able to find in polyacrylic is satin. If you have found a flat polyacrylic, PLEASE let me know! You'll be my new best friend.

 Also, every notice that matte polyurethane isn't really matte? There is still a very suble sheen. I was hoping for total mattes-ville. If you have found a good dead flat top coat, share the love.

Suble sheen or not, I'm really happy with how my Industrial Farmhouse table turned out. This table is very "me". The one downside is now I'm itching to "industrialize" everything in my house.




Do you dig the industrial look too? Or is it just me?


Linking at:



Dwellings-The Heart of Your Home Crafty Allie GREEN wILLOW POND Upcycled Treasures The Shabby Nest ThePinJunkie The Patriotic Pam Liz Marie BlogbirdsonawirebuttonTIGfinal Furniture Feature Fridays Three Mango Seeds TWCS The DIY'ers />

19 comments

  1. After applying your poly coat finish and letting it dry, take a paper bag and use it as you would sandpaper. It will take the sheen off, but not the finish. Very nice job, Elisha!

    La Verne@hopeandsalvage.com

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    1. Great tip about the paper bag! I'll have to give it a try. Thanks!

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  2. Elisha, I love this look so much better than the formal look it had. It turned out great!

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  3. I love the industrial look! I can never pass up anything industrial. Love the table! I have actually been thinking of making one myself using home made stain and a white wash. I want mine a tad lighter then yours....I got tons of dark cabinetry going on :-)

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  4. I LOVE your table ~ especially those bolts! Brilliant idea, I might have to steal that .... :) And, I'm with you on the "matte" polycrylic. I'll be watching to see if you get any hints at where to find total flat poly that's water-based. The only thing I've been able to do to offset the shine is to spray with a matte finish from a can, but it's not really easy to do that on a big piece.

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  5. I love your beautiful table!! It is perfect, and I love industrial things too, the bolts look awesome! Great Job!

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  6. Love it! Great job, Elisha. Great choice of chairs, too.

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  7. The table is industrial awesomeness! I love that look. It is fantastic with your chairs too. I don't mind the little bit of sheen. I just looks like it is slightly polished from years of use, like an old hand rail that is polished from hundreds of hands sliding down it over many years.

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  8. LOVE this table! You did an awesome job... I'm featuring it in this week's PoPP Spotlight.

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  9. Love it! You had a great vision that you pulled off perfectly,

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  10. What a fantastic table! I love love love it! The colors are great and I love the accents you added to it. There are many memories to be had around this table!

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  11. Oh Elisha, you always have a perfect vision! I have always loved your furniture redo's! Thanks so much for sharing at Worthwhile Wednesday http://thecraftiestallie.blogspot.com/2014/01/1-worthwhile-wednesdays-link-party.htm. I am so happy you came to party!

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  12. Our kitchen table is in serious need of an update, but refinishing a table that gets used so much makes me nervous. I love what you did with yours! It looks perfect. Thanks so much for linking up at The Makers!

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  13. I actually love how the pictures look. It's like you purposely distressed and industrialized the pictures to match the table! I love the new table, it's absolutely fantastic.

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  14. Very cool! And no less pretty than before, though in a different way : D

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  15. This is beautiful. And the chairs are the perfect compliment to the table. Love it.

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  16. We built a farm table a few years back, the base is white but I finished it with Exeterior Varathane waterbased Spar Urethane (made my Rustoleum). I am a decorative painter and have used it for years for exterior signs I custom make for people. It does NOT yellow over white paint even when exposed to the elements. My table base is a pure white as the day I sealed it with the varathane. Just so you have that info for future reference. Love your table, it turned out gorgeous!

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  17. Your table turned out wonderful. I love how you added the lag bolt for a bit more of the industrial look. The chairs compliment the table beautifully. The first table was pretty, but I am with you and try to avoid the high maintenance furniture.
    Thanks for the inspiration,
    Suzanne
    Pieced Pastimes

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