DIY farmhouse table - part one

i can't belive i am actually blogging this... a DIY FARMHOUSE TABLE!!!!

for mannnnny months i have been dying to get started on a farm table. we have bookmarked a billion blog postings showing the different steps of how people made their own, and finally it was time to make our own.

we went off these two plans to create our own version. all measurements had to be adjusted to create a six foot table.

tommy and ellie's farmhouse table
ana white farmhouse table

we did not want to use two 2x4's put together for the table legs so we chose to go with 4x4's like tommy and ellie. plus we wanted to make our table as close as possible to the original restoration hardware farmhouse table.
finding untreated 4x4's was quite the nightmare. we finally ended up choosing cedar which was muuuuuch more expensive than the regular untreated lumber, but this was going to be a long lasting piece of quality furniture, so well worth the extra money. after borrowing a friends truck and hauling all the lumber home, we started the building process!

first step - the notches.
this. took. FOREVER.
david cut the four legs and the side stretcher that connected them. there would be a total of ten notches. it was the most time consuming part but had to be done. with a circular saw he made about 20 small cuts where the notch would be. we used a chisel to remove the wood that had been cut then sanded the bottom of the notch smooth using a sanding bit on our dremel.

when the notches on the legs were finished we pieced them together to make sure everything was level.

so the legs and bottom of the frame were nearly finished - we just had to make one more notch on each center stretcher -

finally all the notches were finished. next we cut the 2x4's to frame the top of the table base. when everything was cut it was time to make the pocket holes. the point of pocket holes is so all the screws would be hidden. we purchased a kreg jig mini kit and it was by far the best investment we used for this project. again, making all the holes was a long task, but well worth the time.

once all the holes were drilled we had to sand everything. thankfully we own a belt sander and a palm sander so we each got to work on the boards and cut the sanding time in half.

doesn't he just look adorable in his mask :-)
once all the boards were nice and smooth we screwed everything in place. we built the entire table base in one day and it fit perfectly together!!!!

and the finished table base - all put together and sturdy as can be! we are so proud!!!!

stay tuned for part two! we still have a TON of work to do - like putting together the table top, more sanding then staining and finishing the table. and also we are building the farmhouse bench to match.

until next time...