Stained top white bottom Farmhouse Table

 So remember how I JUST barely finished re-doing my OTHER breakfast nook table?? Well, I kept trying to make it work and I just wasn't loving it in my house. I loved it before we moved in, but it wasn't fitting the style here. So of course, the day AFTER I redid it AGAIN, I found the perfect Farmhouse Table. Grrr. That's okay though, I've been eyeing Farmhouse Tables for months and I knew that if I found one with chunky enough legs (the only time I actually WANT chunky legs;) that I would buy it. Well this one caught my eye and I had to have it!

 I mostly fell in love with the legs. The color, not so much. I really wanted an all stained table, so I set out on sanding and sanding and sanding. You know the primary song pioneer children sang as they walked and walked and walked and walked and walked? Well, that's about how much sanding I did.

 I was so proud of myself for being patient and sanding the whole thing. Patience is definitely NOT my virtue and I was definitely patient when it came to sanding this.

 Awe, beautiful bare wood. Then I spent 2 nights and about 4 hours total at Home Depot trying to find the perfect stain color. I tried 4, hated all of them. I knew I didn't want walnut. I wanted a cherry color, but not cherry. Yeah, that color doesn't exist. So after much debating and contemplating and e-mailing with an amazing furniture refinisher in Arizona, I decided to mix up my own stain. A walnut, cherry mix. 1/4 walnut, 3/4 cherry. I finally found the right color.

 So I started staining and yikes, it looked like crap. It went on super splotchy on the legs. Even though I really had sanded all the legs, (minus a couple spots in the cracks, whoops) it looked like crap. Seriously. I cried. Ok, I didn't cry. But I was really bummed. So I had to change my vision for my table and decided to go with a white painted bottom. Don't get me wrong I LOVE white bottoms (no pun intended), but 1/2 of my house is white bottom, stained top. I talked myself into it though because the color of the stain I was using was totally different than any of the other furniture in my house. It works, right?? Sometimes you have to change your dreams.

 When I FINALLY finished it and moved it into the house, my green chairs looked AWFUL with it. I was wanting to paint them white anyway, so I dragged them outside and painted them AGAIN. Ok, trust me, I am not painting ONE more thing for this breakfast nook. I do love it now though.

 I put on FOUR coats of poly on the top. It has these little cracks that I LOVE the look of, but trust me, I do NOT wanting to be scraping crumbs out of them 6 times a day. And believe me, with my 2 year old, it would be that often. So I filled the cracks in REALLY well.

 I had a really good time distressing this table with my Ryobi. I went at it! Sometimes the venting is really necessary. Especially when your husband is NEVER home and you have two young kids. ;)

 I love the white chairs with the white table. I should have distressed a little more on the chairs, but by the time I was almost done I was EXHAUSTED. Another day..

 I LOVE how the color of the stain turned out. My truly custom table. Sorry for the blurry picture.

 I love the look of the wood with the grains showing through. It makes my heart go pitter pat.

 I actually really like the print of fabric on the chairs with the contrast of the white, versus the green.

 Nothing like a chunky Farmhouse leg.

And then, just because I could, I hurried and sewed a valance for the window. I just found some fabric I had in storage and sewed a 20 minute curtain. Not the prettiest, but it will do. YAY for breakfast nook COMPLETION! Someday I will get rid of that shag rug, but for now I'd rather vacuum everyday than mop. More projects to come as I find time to post them!