I have been looking for my dream Coffee Table for years now. I have unfortunately never found it. Anything that was even close, has been too expensive to even consider. I ended up getting a cute little coffee table years ago. It wasn’t my dream table, but it did the job. I just ended up keeping it for years. Finally I decided my living room needed a little love this year. It’s where we spend a lot of our time, so I wanted to freshen it up a bit. The two big items on my list for the living room were a fresh coat of paint, and a new coffee table!
I wanted a very large Coffee Table, that was solid and real wood. I was really hoping to find a vintage piece. The reason I wanted an old piece, is because I love the look of aged rustic wood! I’ve gotten comfortable with DIY projects over the years, so I started researching how I could make my own table. I came across a couple Pinterest Post by Mandy Paulino and another by Grace Oaks Design for a DIY Coffee table, and they immediately became my inspiration! I like to give credit where credit is due, both of these ladies are inspirational! So, I decided I would just make my own table!
Right after I set my heart on making my own, I went to a family gathering. I got to talking to a gentleman there. He told me he owned a Wood Mill. He said he was possibly going to start trying out making some furniture, like coffee tables and such. I told him I was also going to try my hand at it. I shared the how to video from Mandy Paulino’s post with him. He ended up offering to make it for me! He had wanted to try out making a table, so it was the perfect opportunity for both of us I guess. He cut and assembled all the raw wood. The measurement’s are 32×60! This table is huge! The pictures just don’t capture the size and beauty! He did a phenomenal job! I can’t believe this was his first attempt! Here is a photo of the table all built.
I know there is a lot of raw wood going on in this picture. We have since painted that back wall a creamy warm white! The table really pops against the white now! He did a great job on this table. I have seen some of his new projects he is currently working on. They are super cool live edge end tables! His name is Will and his Website is wlcustommilling.com. Check it out, as I am sure he will continue to make cool furniture!
After building the table, it was my turn to try and add the rustic touch to the table and age it. I had saved an article by Jenna Sue Design a long time ago, and reverted back to that article for some tips. She gave a great step by step on techniques to age wood and we definitely used that info! We found that aging wood really just entails beating the wood up as much as possible! Kind of invigorating! My husband and I tackled this together, one afternoon while the kids were at school. I started off by using a screwdriver and hammer. I took the hammer and kind of hammered the screwdriver into the table at an angle to take off little chunks of wood and to make little dings in the table. My Husband used a drill and wire brush attachment to rough the wood up.
The wood was raw and the corners and cuts for the table were clean and super SHARP cuts. So we ROUNDED out the edges and clean cuts on the table using a palm orbital sander. THIS MADE THE WORLD OF DIFFERENCE! We did this on all the sides, corners and legs of the table. The more we rounded it, and even made it a little wavy, the older it was looking. We wanted even more dings and blemishes so at one point we even grabbed a 2 x 4 of wood that had nails in it, and hit the table with it. It gave it these little worm hole imperfections.
All of the dings, little holes, and imperfections, all start to add so much character once you start staining the wood!!! That’s when you can really see all your hard work come to life. After adding all the imperfections, we sanded the table down lightly. We were careful not to sand out our imperfections. We just did a light sand to smooth it out for staining. Here is our first coat of stain.
The color ended up having too much of an orangish, yellow to it when it was completely dry. I had a few different stains in the garage, so I tried a couple different shades before I settled for a color we liked. The stain color is a lighter color than my inspiration tables I have saved. I left it lighter because I have a dark brown couch and dark brown cabinets. I am scared of everything being too dark. I needed to see if I loved it before sealing it. I’ve let the table sit since the beginning of January. I am deciding between adding some additional aging marks and a warmer stain to it before sealing! As I said before we recently painted the walls in that room including the wood accent wall a creamy white, so I am not as scared to go with a darker or warmer stain anymore. Please give me some feedback!!!! I would greatly appreciate it! Leave it??? Or age it more and add a walnut stain? Here is another picture and video of it currently.
This table really fits the space now! It’s big enough for all of us to eat breakfast there, or play games on, and do homework in the evenings. It really changed our whole space drastically, and gives the vibe I was going for!!! I My tip for aging wood would be the more imperfections the better! I just got a little scared I would ruin it. If aged is the look you are going for, then the more imperfections, the more aged it looks! I will use that tip in some upcoming project ideas I have for the future. Over all, I am loving this little project!!!!!!! I am currently deciding between adding a little bench at the table for the boys or adding 2 small ottoman stools. Help me decide! Please let me know what you think, and as always reach out to me for tips, or tag me if you do something similar! I would love to see it!
Thanks for stopping by the blog today!!!! Have a blessed week!
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