DIY Farmhouse Patio Table

We have been wanting patio furniture for several years now. Every Summer we say "oh, at the end of the season, let's pick up a patio set on clearance." And every Summer comes and goes and we still don't have patio furniture.
This Summer we started shopping around and were having trouble finding anything we loved, in the size we wanted that was within our budget. We knew we wanted a table that could seat at least 6 people, preferably 8 or more. We found one set we really liked, but for the table and 8 chairs it was going to be over $2,300!! Not exactly in our price range. We were routinely checking Craigslist and online yard sale pages and still weren't finding anything we liked that fit our wish list.

Patio Table Wishes
- seat at least 8 people
- rectangular shape
- no glass
- low maintenance and able to stay out in the weather all year. We are okay to move a couple cushions in for the Winter, but would love something that can stay out all Summer.
- swivel chairs would be great, but not a necessity
- needs to fit well on the back half of our driveway without taking up the entire thing. Our driveway extends all the way to our garage, but there is a fence across it so we cannot pull a car back to the garage. Todd will still need a clear access path to the garage and gate when maneuvering his tools for work.

We started tossing around the idea of building a table to try and save some money, plus we could make it any size we wanted. We found this tutorial on Pinterest with Ana White's plans for a farmhouse table. Todd and I fell in love with this design. We checked out the plans and they looked simple enough. We had all of the tools needed and just needed to pick up some wood and find a free weekend. This past weekend we were out of town Friday and Saturday, so our Sunday plans were to just hang out at home, catch up on laundry, go to the grocery. You know, normal, boring weekend things. Well, we ended up with a free afternoon so we decided to go ahead and take advantage of it and start on the table. We went to the hardware store first thing in the morning to get the materials. We made it home in time to put the baby down for her morning nap and we got started on the table.

They advertise this as a $65 table. I'm not sure what type of wood they were using or where they are located to get everything for $65, but we spent between $180 and $250 for our materials at our local hardware store in Ohio. We purchased treated lumber. We made sure to get enough to build the table and a matching bench. We did purchase extra wood so that if we ran out or made a mistake on the measures or cuts we wouldn't have to make an extra trip to the store. We had plenty leftover after the table was completed so I'm sure we'll have extras to return after we complete the bench.

We set the boards for the table top on sawhorses to get a feel for the size and to make sure we made the finished table wide and long enough.

Assembling the table legs. 

I won't go into great detail as to how we made the table since Ana's plans cover all construction details. We did make a couple changes though. We wanted a larger table so we made ours 9 feet long (her plans are for an 8' table). This could also affect the price difference as we had to purchase 10' boards rather than 8' for the top. We also wanted a slightly larger overhang at the end of the table so that we could add chairs to the end if needed. I believe her plans have a 12" overhang at the ends. Since our table is longer, we followed the same steps and specs for the base and just used longer boards for the top. So ours has an 18" overhang at each end.

We were able to build the entire table in one afternoon. It took us a good part of the day, probably 6 hours or so. A lot of that time Todd was working on the table alone as I was having to take care of the baby. When we were both available to work, it went together much faster.

We are planning to build the matching bench this week. Since we used treated wood, we don't have to stain or paint it right away. We are planning to stain it a dark brown color. We are both hoping to have it stained before Winter. I think we'll wait a few weeks to allow the weather to cool down a bit, neither of us wants to be staining in 90 degree weather. Also, please excuse our messy yard & garage. Our patio, backyard and garage are a work in progress. We are hoping to wrap up some big projects out there this fall.

If you are looking to build your own table, we definitely recommend looking into Ana's plans. They were very easy to follow and made building this table a breeze. It also helped that Todd builds things and does construction work on a daily basis. He was able to teach me how to use the saw and I would drill the pilot holes and he would follow behind with the screws. We love doing DIY projects together and are so excited to have a table to gather around with our loved ones.

We both LOVE the table and are so pleased with the results. We can't wait to find some chairs, finish the bench, stain the table and bench and have our first grill out. I see many dinner parties with friends and family gathered around this table in our future.