Hi friends! Today on the blog, I will be sharing how we made our country, cottage style table and chairs.
This post contains affiliate links. For my full disclosure, click here.
Growing up, my mom cooked dinner every night, and we would end our day sitting around our kitchen table as a family to eat. As I grew older, it became a comfort to sit and eat with my family and friends. So many memories have been shared at my parents’ dinner table, and I knew when my husband and I had a home, we would want a table to be able to do the same.
diy country, cottage style dining table and chairs
As you may know by now, I like to be thrifty and save money when possible. A nice wooden table with 6 chairs can run anywhere from $1500 to $3000+ new, so I hopped on Pinterest to draw some inspiration to go the DIY route.
The style I was going for was a Country, Farmhouse/Cottage feel, and I came across these two pictures that I fell in love with:
I loved the rustic yet feminine feel of each of these- specifically the chairs in the first picture and the table in the second.
I stumbled across the pictures below on Facebook marketplace, and I ended up purchasing the table for $50 and the chairs for $75.
They were both in rough condition, but I knew it wouldn’t take much work to get them to look like the vision I had for them.
diy country, cottage chairs
We started by simply removing the cushioned seats that were screwed in. Then, I bleached and bisselled the fabric hoping to get out the stains. When stains didn’t come out, I knew we were going to have to reupholster them.
I chose this drop cloth (it only took one sheet out of the 4 pack) to use. Drop cloth is pretty inexpensive, and it is very durable and thick. With this specific one, it was a light linen color right out of the pack, which saved me from having to bleach it to get the color I wanted.
My mom helped me cut a pattern out for the cushions. We simply cut a large enough sqaure to fit all the way around the cushion, and then we stapled the fabric to the back. We did a simple folded pleat on each corner.
My dad and husband helped paint the chairs with our painnt sprayer, and I chose Chantilly Lace by Benjamin Moore. Then, we reattached the cushions.
This was the outcome of the chairs. So simple and clean. I love them!
diy country, cottage table top
For our table top, we started by deconstructing the original table I bought off of Facebook marketplace. We took off the legs and the ring around the base of the table top by unscrewing it all.
From there, we began constructing a rough wood table top. My dad had some rough cut hardwood laying around their farm that came from an old sawmill. My dad and husband cut them down to the size of the original tabletop. I placed them in the order I wanted them, and then they screwed them down to a few 2x4s.
We flipped it over and gave it a good sanding with some 60 grit sandpaper. We worked our way up in grit and got in all of the grooves. Then, we finished it off with a fine (120) grit sandpaper. By the time we were finished, I was able run my hand over it without worrying about getting a splinter.
I stained it using Special Walnut from Minwax. It goes on very dark but actually dries much lighter- so I gave it 2 coats of stain.
In the picture below, it looks very red BUT this was from just the outside lighting. Special Walnut is a nice, neutral brown color. *the true color can be seen in the picture with the legs attached*
After staining, we reattached the ring to the base and then attached it to the legs with some screws.
Then, we painted the legs of the table the same white as the chairs.
After attaching everything together, I decided to paint the ring around the base white.
This was the final outcome. I am thrilled to start serving friends and family at this table. I know it will hold so many memories!
Leave a comment down below about what you think of the table and chairs!
If you want to read more about DIY’s I have done in the past, check out the most recent one here!