How I Forced An Ikea Table To Turn Into A DIY FarmHouse Table (Photos)

This basic black Ikea Bjurstra table was the bane of my existence.

I’d walk into my kitchen and I’d see it, all black and annoying, with it’s scratched up surface from too many tussles with a Bey Blade and having one too many hot pots just plunked down on it. No, it wasn’t very old – we bought it and the matching benches at Ikea 4 years ago. I liked how it could expand to fit a bunch of people, and because I have 4 kids, I loved the Bjursta benches for either side.

But the color? Not so much.

In my country kitchen with my big chalkboard wall and my cute blue farmer’s hutch, the table, however functional, didn’t fit in. Neither did the non-Ikea chairs.

I had to fix it.

My idea was to cut the top off of it with a circular saw and use the rest of the table as a base for my very own rustic farmhouse table. But when I brought it up to my husband, he thought I was crazy. He didn’t think we could cut it off evenly enough to use the base, and that I would ruin the only table we had.

So I pondered this for quite a while. Months even. And I’d see DIY FarmHouse Tables
on vintage websites and I’d want one SO bad.

And then it hit me.

It was an Ikea table. It would come apart as easily as it was put together.

I felt pretty dumb for taking so long to remember that I could just pull it all apart. My excuse is 4 kids = no time to train a thought together.

In under 5 minutes I had a screwdriver and I was pulling it all apart. In less than 20 minutes the entire top of the table was gone, leaving me with nothing but a perfect table base. 10 minutes after that the benches came apart, and my doubting Thomas husband was on his way to the local Home Depot shaking his head and crossing his fingers. Oh ye of little faith.

He came back with five 7-foot wooden 1 inch planks. They had some nice marks and notches on them already, but I knew they’d need to be beaten a bit more before they’d turn country for me. He also picked up 4 of the same wooden planks for the benches, but these were 5 feet instead of 7.

Lying the wood out in the yard, my daughter and I took some tools to it. We hit the wood with hammers, smacked it around with chains, and dropped heavy rocks on it to dent it slightly. When it didn’t look so perfect anymore, we were ready to go.

My stain of choice is MiniWax Wood Stain in Charcoal Grey. Leaning the pieces of wood up against the house, I coated them twice, letting them dry between coats.

Once they were dry, my husband took over putting the planks together. He lined them up on the table and lined them together using four 1 inch by 1/2 inch thick boards. He drilled 4 screws into each board using #6 1 1/2 inch screws.

The benches only had two slats each, so he drilled them straight onto the base.

While my husband was working on the top of the table and the benches, I was painting the bases. I used Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Old White.

Because they were black, I coated them twice. Although I love the rustic look, I only wanted it for the planks. Once it was dry I covered the paint with two coats of Annie Sloan Clear Wax.

With the base ready, my husband lay down the planks on the table and benches, lining them up and re-adding the clamps that came with the original table. Now all that was left was adding a clear, protective finish. I used Minwax Fast-Drying Polyurethane in clear semi-gloss.

I coated the wood three times over the course of the day.

And this is what I was left with.

I turned my Ikea Table into a DIY Farmhouse Table

There really are no words for how beautiful this table turned out. It actually exceeded my wildest expectations, and everyone who sees it usually says ‘Wow!’ or some other phrase.

Check out the benches

My DIY Farmhouse Table is the most beautiful Ikea table, ever.

The total cost? $110 including stain, paint, acrylic, and wood.

Need help hacking your Ikea table? Fire away in the comments section.