PROJECT: Farmhouse Cart Coffee Table

Well it is official I am now a resident of Birmingham, AL! We moved this weekend and are in the process of getting settled in (internet was hooked up today). I have plenty of time until classes start in August to get moved in and decorate our new place! Because of the move I have some blog entries I need to catch up on and some projects to share but for today I have the first of many projects from my new home to share.

I saw a photo of this table and knew it had to be mine! It took a lot of work but I think the finished product is worth it. Read on and tell me what you think.

Here is the original photo I found (It links to the website with building instructions)


Gathering the materials for this project turned out to be a challenge. All the wood was easy to buy and cost around $60 but the antique metal casters were so hard to find! I didn't want to settle for new or rubber casters, I wanted the full on antique rustic farmhouse look so I went on a hunt. I looked at antique stores, salvage stores and websites to try and find antique metal casters but I could not find the size or quantity I wanted. I was able to find some from a seller who buys the wheels new and antiques them himself, but they sold for like $150 for a set of four so I decided to antique some myself. I had to go to several places to even find new ones (they were way to expensive to buy online and ship) but I finally found them at a tire and caster warehouse in Nashville, TN when I was there for the weekend. I paid $60 for a set of 4. Anyways if you want to attempt to make this table you must make some hard decisions regarding you wheels.

Since I bought new wood and new wheels I had to fake that weathered, antique look myself. Building that table was a cinch and only took a few hours one afternoon. Then to give the table a weathered barn wood look I followed these instructions I found online. All it takes is staining the wood with some tea (brew it plenty dark) then applying a mixture of vinegar and steel wool (combine vinegar and pieces of steel wool in a glass jar and let it sit overnight) After applying the vinegar mixture, let is sit in the sun for 30 minutes and watch the cool transformation before your eyes!

Antiquing the wheels turned out to be much much harder. We followed the instructions found on this website but this process was not as easy. Although Tim (my wonderful boyfriend took on this responsibility which turned out to be the hardest part of the entire project) applied the paint stripper according to the directions several times, he still couldn't get all the paint off the wheels. It really was a pain so if I ever attempt this again or can offer you any advice - only get wheels that ARE NOT PAINTED! After that we followed the degreaser, vinegar and rusting mixture steps and got some nice nasty rusty wheels that I was ecstatic with. However the frames must have been made out of some sort of stainless steel or something that won't rust the same because we couldn't get them to rust no matter what we tried. We got some of the shininess off them and although they are still silver and not rusty, they look nice and weathered. Now I am sure you are sick of just hearing about it so here are some pics.

Here is a before shot of the wheels.


And a before shot of the frames.


Here is the paint stripper step.

Constructed table before antiquing.



To protect the table we applied a paste wax coating on top which will leave it with a hard protective coating but isn't shiny.


Here are the finished casters being attached to the table. (We coated the casters with several coats of spray polyurethane)


And here are some photos of the table in the living room of our new home.





We have only been here two days so there is still a lot of decorating to do but I am just thrilled with our new table. Right now I think it is my favorite thing I have ever made. Pictures do not do it justice...I wish you all could see it up close! Thanks to everyone who helped assemble, hunt for wheels for, move, or antique this project.

Please let me know in a comment below what you think of the finished product!

*Bonnybee

I'm linking up here...