I bought a table and chairs set off of craigslist with the intention of refinishing the top and selling the chairs. The top wasn’t what I thought it was, but it was too late and I did really love the legs.
So I ripped off the top and made it my new garage work table. I think it will do just fine set on top of two sawhorses and slopped with paint. And here is how you can turn your current table or a craigslist find into something you’ll love for years:
1. Rip off the top down to the legs and aprons
2. Install cross braces
3. Determine how long and wide you’d like your tabletop and purchase your planks. I used 4 2X10s. There were $7.72 a piece and Jason helped me cut them down to 79″.
4. Pickle
5. Yep, pickle. I wanted the planks to have an aged look to them so I googled and found an old time method of pickling wood with steel wool and vinegar. You put a piece of steel wool in a jar and cover it with vinegar and let it sit for a few days. Then you just brush it on. So that’s what I did. And the results are AMAZING! Try it. You’ll be hooked.
6. Poly with water-based acrylic. 4 coats.
7. Attach planks to the cross braces from underneath
8. ENJOY!!
There isn’t a drop of wood stain on the wood. It’s just the vinegar and steel wool recipe applied with a brush. At first when you brush it on it’s as if you’re painting on water. Within an hour, there’s a chemical reaction that causes the wood to look beautifully aged. I’d like to pickle the entire house.
{ 29 comments… read them below or add one }
OOH looks great! Now, I think you should mix and match your chairs (and paint them). Maybe take a couple from the Craigslist pile, a couple of yours, and find a couple more on CL. Or just mix between your chairs and the CL chairs you have in your garage. And then paint them and distress them all up. :)
Oh boy, though… my husband is going to killll me with all these projects I’m accumulating!
Yet another AWESOME job Tiff! I LOVE it! I have never heard of the pickling, but LOVE the results! I will just have to try that! My husband and I are going to be making some bunk beds here shortly! I may just have to do that!
Thanks again for sharing!
Girl! You always amaze me. You have such a gift. I would have never been able to picture the “old” table looking like that. I think it looks great!!!
Sharon has a great idea using the pickling technique on bunk beds. Maybe that is what we will do for Ian’s fort bed. Would you still use the 4 coats of acrylic or was that just because you did it on a table?
I don’t know how I stumbled on your blog, probably searching for a farmhouse table online! I have wanted to build one for YEARS…you have just made my dream table! I have been searching craigs list, thrift shops, etc. and can’t find a table with cool legs…but, when I do find one, how do you attach the planks to the cross braces? I’m new at this. I have 6 awesome kids, all close together except our suprise baby who is 6 1/2 yrs younger than the next youngest (who is 17). I’ve read thru many of your posts now, and you remind me of me when the kids were younger! I am not blessed with a huge brand new house to stash them in, but we live in a sort of big (NO storage closet space) old victorian. If you ever need any kid advice, I’ve probably experiences it! Blessings to you and your gang! :)
You are amazing. For real.
I LOVE your blog and I especially love this post. I was wondering if you would be willing to email me and share how you did the table legs? You seem to use this technique frequently and I love the way it looks.
thanks!
I really enjoy your blog. I’m about to build a farm table and need to make a decision on the stain color. But now that I came across your blog regarding the pickle stain, I’m in love with the idea! Could you tell me if you used pine for your table top planks? How many coats of the vinegar solution?
Thanks in advance!
Kelli
Wow!!! This is beautiful!! I am starting on a farmhouse table this week and was looking for last minute ideas. You did beautiful job! congrats!!
Thanks so much Rachel!! Send me photos of your farmhouse please! I’d love to see the beauty that you build!!!
What are the dimensions of the base of this table? I found a table that I want to do this too, but I’m wondering how much longer are the boards than the table. Thanks!
Mercedes
Hi Mercedes! I don’t remember the exact demensions of the base, because I have since given the table away. :) But I DO know, that I wanted the table to be much longer than the base I had, so I made the overhang on each end, almost 10″ – 12″ longer on each side. The long sides I couldn’t do as much of an overhang, so I just kept calculating how many boards I’d be able to use on the base to give a nice overhang there. I hope that made sense and it helped!
sad to hear you gave the table away! it was so beautiful!! mine is built and i am considering using the same coloring technique you used. does it matter if the vinegar is distilled or not? Thanks!
Hi, This is really a work of art! What type of wood did you use for the table top? Most regular H/W stores only have Pine in that size, but Pine seems too soft. I guess I need to go to a specialty store.
Thanks!
Thank you! I used pine, straight from Lowes, and it did get knicked up. Complete with the markings of the kiddo’s names when they’d press too hard with their pencils while drawing. :) I personally love that kind of stuff though!
That’s gorgeous!
This table looks great! Can’t wait to show the wife :)
Can you tell me how you do the distressed white legs on the table? I love that look and NEED more of it around my home! Thanks!
Your blog posting has inspired me to build a table like yours–
Just a quick question…How did you attach the planks to the cross braces on the base??
The table you came out with is MUCH MORE beautiful that the one you started with. I absolutely LOVE the plank top. My husband is going to build our table to seat 12 and I want it to look just like this…..only the legs are going to be made from old porch posts from a house I grew up in….Im soooo excited to see your pictures! Thanks for posting them!
I love this table! My husband and I have been looking for inspiration to do this ourselves and certainly found it. Do you happen to have answers to many of the questions above? How to put the planks on, what kind of paint you used for distressing, how many coats of vinegar did you use etc…. I would appreciate any instructions or suggestions you might have:-)
Thank you!
Hi Jennifer and thank you!!!!!
I’ve realized that I should probably answer the questions as comment rathers then personal emails…so that everyone else can see the response!
So….here goes:
How did we attach the planks? – We layed the table top planks right side down on our garage floor. Then set the table upside down on top. We then screwed through the cross braces and into the top planks with (I believe) 2″ screws. Just long enough to go through the cross braces, and about half way through the planks.
For the distressing – I used a glass mason jar and poured white vinegar on top of a piece of steel wool. I let that little mixture sit in the garage, uncovered, for 2 – 3 days, and then just painted it on the planks with a paint brush. At first, it just seemed like I was painting on water (well, smelly water), but within an hour, the most gorgeous gray brown color forms on the wood. The longer is sits, the darker it gets. I put about 2 coats on this table. After about half a day, I put 3 coats of Minwax Polycrylic in satin sheen on it and called it done!!
What type of wood did we use? – Good ole’ soft pine right off the shelves of Lowes.
How did you dstress the legs? – I sanded down the legs a little and painted two coats of Valspar Signature in Mineral Ash. After it was dry, I took a medium grit sanding block and sanded the edges…pretty much anywhere you think it might get knicked and roughed up over time. Sometimes I poly afterwards, sometimes I don’t. I think on this table, I put on a quick single coat of poly.
Hopefully that answer some questions!!! PLEASE don’t hesitate to ask anymore!!!!!!
I just finished my version of this. The table is GORGEOUS! The only thing I did differently was painted the base black instead of white, and for some reason the pickling wasn’t working for me. No biggie, I just picked up some stain. Thank you for the idea! I am so in love with this table, and made it for a fraction of what it would go for in the store!!! AND, I did this entirely on my own! Its so easy! I don’t know how to post pics otherwise I would. But thanks again!!!
What did you use to stop the vinegar browning the wood more. Did you just wipe it up? Also what kind of wood did you use and is it holding up to the kids.
Looks great! Just the winter project Ive been looking for. I have an antique table with a top that has seen better days and I plan to repurpose the beautiful legs.
This is awesome!!! Where did you get those chairs? I just did this to my table and it looks amazing! The problem is, I dont like the chairs I have, they are the same as the ones you picked up off of craigs list. The other problem is, chairs are so expensive! I’m looking for a cheap solution. Help?!
Erin, not sure if u found chairs yet but the chairs in the pic look just like my chairs. I ordered them from Walmart.com and they were only about $120 for four! They have to be assembled but at that price no problem. Good luck!
I love what you did with your table.Please call me and tell me how you did your top aand legs.I’m in the process of making a farm table and I want it to be ready for Thanksgiving.Got to work fast,pleaase call me. 704-813-4284
Tiffany, I just want to say that you are an inspiration!!!! You inspire me to do more!!
What are the dimensions of the table?
Picking up a table this weekend and am basically doing the same thing you did. A few questions: Do you leave the pickle in the mixture? Was the top easy to remove? And did you screw in the cross braces and just use a wood filler to cover the tops of the screws on the apron? Your table looks awesome, by the way. Someone must have received a pretty sweet gift if you gave it away.