There are some pieces that will just never get old. Well, at least in our opinion. The farm table is one of them. We have a lot of reasons why we think the farm table will stand the test of time. We like to think that when our ancestors came up with ideas or designs of yesterday, there had to be a strong use for the piece/s they were creating. Things were simpler then. You had to be able to fit things, use things, move things without extra help. Luckily for us some of these inventions continue to work, but not just in a practical way. Some really work in a decorative way as well!
When we moved into our first (tiny) home, we had no furniture. We moved from a (less than) 300 sq. ft. apartment in the City so you can only imagine how much we didn’t have! One thing we were sure of…we wanted a big table for people to congregate and hang. So, that’s what we focused on. This started our journey of sourcing the right barn wood, coming up with our table’s design and deciding the overall look of the piece. My husband is quite handy, but back then he didn’t really have a ton of woodworking experience so we dove into the process together. (P.S. At that point in our lives we didn’t have many other strong responsibilities except paying our mortgage and going to work!)
Once we started sourcing barn wood we got a feel for how to look for the things that mattered most (age of wood, how the wood had been taken care of – to understand its longevity – and pricing, etc). We sized out our table according to our space and future plans for the piece and then knew how much wood we’d need to purchase. Back then Craig’s List was our most helpful and safest source. Today, there are so many other ways to source barn wood (Google, Facebook market place, “Nextdoor”/neighborhood type websites, many vendors reclaim barn material nowadays). We set up an appointment with the wood seller and made our pilgrimage to his workshop. It was then we were able to pick out our wood pieces for our table. It is important to remember that once you reach this part of the process it is not about the wood looking perfect, rather, the wood has to be in good condition. It is good to be sure that the wood has been milled properly, stored properly and doesn’t show any long-term issues like cracking or mold. However, what makes a farm table a farm table is the look of imperfection, lifespan and love. It is a bonus if the wood is showing some imperfections – lending its personality and life story. This is what makes it special, unique.
We went to work designing, measuring and constructing. I spent time thoughtfully thinking through a stain color. Part of me wanted to keep the wood its original color, but the other part of me wanted something dark so that imperfections and love dings would show over time as we grew our family with our table. We landed on the Jacobean stain finish and couldn’t be happier with its completed look. Our table fit its original space comfortably and served its purpose ten-fold. It is now 14 years old and tells quite the story. Our story.
(Prepping for Valentine’s Day crafts, our farm table sees a lot of action. Crafting, eating, staging…you name it, our table has assisted with it!)
When we moved into our current (farm) house, we didn’t have room in the new kitchen for our farm table. After I got through the grieving process of this realization, I played around with different location and usage ideas for our table. Our dining room is a central room in our home (we have to walk through it to get to other rooms), so we knew a fancier “dining” table just wouldn’t cut it in this space. Fancy really isn’t our thing anyway. As I’ve mentioned, we like to merge many different design aesthetics that keep us inspired and formulate our own home flow. We settled upon placing our original farm table in our new (old, hah!) dining room and have not looked back. We paired it with a more modern, polished chair so the contrast really helps balance both pieces in the room. They each stand out together (if that makes sense?). It just works! We also cleaned up the walls in this room and incorporated a shiplap border along the bottom half of the walls thus adding another contrast to the traditionalism of our table. What we love most about the set-up is that it is comfortable and a place people want to sit and hang and chat and eat and enjoy. Yet, it is polished and modern with a subtle sleekness. There are not many pieces of furniture we would stick to for life, but our farm table will never lose its luster. We have yet to get bored with, sick of, or bitter toward our farm table. We look at it and it makes us happy. Floods of memories, hard work, love and home come to mind. Our next phase with this table is to add a few removable extension pieces (for all of those holidays and family/friend gatherings). Stay tuned…this is a project we will definitely want to share once it is completed!
