My oops goes Farmhouse

My husband and I had always planned building our own dining table. It was always going to be one of those things that we would enjoy wonderful Italian dinners on, and our kiddos would bang it up, all in the name of making memories. It's important that a family had a dining focal point, so building a table seemed like the perfect idea.

So there I was, endlessly searching Pinterest for the perfect table and finally I found it. We decided we wanted this exact table from Ana White's DIY plans. It had it all! The plank top, the chunky legs, the distressed finish...this was our perfect table. Until we saw the price tag of the legs. Running at nearly $100 bucks each, we decided that it unless we wanted to eat Ramen and Mac n Cheese off this gorgeous table, it was completely out of our budget. So off we went to Lowe's to see what we could find.

We picked the biggest legs we could find. The 35 inch solid pine legs looked gorgeous and we knew that they would work beautifully. So day after day for the next week we hustled in getting the thing built. We followed the plans to a "T," measurements and all.

Sawing, sanding. Trimming, gluing. Nailing, drilling. Spraying, sanding, spraying, sanding. That was our battle rhythm. Then the moment of truth...we placed the top over the base and what do ya know?! The damn thing was too tall! The legs were too big and unless we wanted to return the $400 chairs we bought from Overstock...we knew it was those darn legs. So back to Lowe's it was to get the 29" legs.

So whats the point of this story you ask? Well, we couldn't let those $20 fancy legs go to waste! So we just made a new top and base, and out came this gorgeous console/entry table!

This is just a skinnier version of what our table looks like! 

Don't mind the horrible lighting! I staged this on a rainy day and my office just doesn't get any good natural light.

My favorite part about this table is definitely the top. I love the look of a planked top, but the trim around the edges, just gives it a "completed" look. We filled the plank gaps with wood filler and sanded flat. To the feel of the hand, it feels like one solid, complete piece of wood.

I used a base coat of General Finishes "Dark Chocolate," and sprayed two coats of "Antique White," then distressed to let the brown show through. The top was stained with a custom mix of "Kona" and "Dark Walnut." Everything was sealed with two coats of HPTC in semi-gloss.

Well, hopefully anyone looking to build their own table takes a lesson from our mistake. If you're going to improvise, make sure you measure, and don't use the "air-squat-to-pretend-you're-sitting-in-a-chair" measurement, as I have found that to be extremely inaccurate. You could also bring a real chair with you, but I'm sure the fellas at your home improvement stores would think you are bat poop crazy. 

Enjoy your weekend everyone!