Designing a Farmhouse Table

Some good friends of mine recently commissioned a dining room table.  They wanted a rustic farmhouse table: the kind of table that dominates Pinterest and built from construction lumber.  I wanted to build them something better.  So, Here is what I came up with.

Farmhouse Table

I will make the table and bench top from black walnut.  Furthermore, both will have draw-bored bread-board ends.  The customer wants to paint the base.  So, I will build it from less expensive lumber: likely poplar or maple.  I will assemble the entire table using loose tenon joinery.

While drawing plans for the customer, I also provided them with several options for details such as the legs.  In the end the customer went with the third option.

In the end, I believe the design of the farmhouse table was a success.  I hit a compromise that both I and the customer are happy with.

Consequently, I went ahead and purchased the walnut.  In fact, I finished gluing up the main panel for the farmhouse table top last night.

Stay tuned.

Part 2 – Making the Top with Breadboard Ends

Part 3 – Building the Farmhouse Table Base