DIY Farmhouse Console Table

Console tables aren’t just for entryways. One can be used in the dining room as a buffet, set up as a desk to create a home office, placed behind the couch as a sofa table, styled as a bedroom vanity or made into a TV stand.

This fun DIY project from The Navage Patch shows you how to make your own beautiful farmhouse style console table—with a touch of humor sprinkled in.

Greg and his wife Handan are the Connecticut couple who make up The Navage Patch, a DIY and Lifestyle blog with the goal of inspiring readers to tackle projects, big or small, that they may not have considered doing themselves.

Their tutorial takes you through the process, staring with the purchase of a pair of turned southern pine legs through Etsy. Woodcraft has stock island legs and table legs already made, also, or if you have a lathe, you could turn your own to suit your needs. Even better, if you can salvage a pair somewhere or find some for cheap at a Habitat ReStore to upcycle.

For the tabletop, Greg used a nice piece of cypress with interesting grain and a black knothole that he knew would add some nice character to the table. 

To get a similar farmhouse look, here are a few products Woodcraft recommends. General Finishes Pre-Stain Wood Conditioner is a wipe-on product that we suggest on a project like this to prepare new or bare soft and porous wood surfaces, allowing the stain to be more uniformly accepted. To get the look of old wood, try Varathane’s Weathered Wood Accelerator, which replicates the aging process without the wait, creating a grayed look similar to what happens over time. For a dark, water-based stain, we recommend General Finishes Espresso Wood Stain. Apply with a foam brush or cloth, then wipe it off to let the grain show through. To protect the finish, you’ll want to apply two-three coats of General Finishes High Performance Topcoat in flat or satin to achieve a look similar to the one shown here (also available in gloss and semi-gloss). Black Dog Salvage Guard Dog Topcoat (satin or clear matte) is another great choice for a tough protectant on your finished table. Sand lightly between coats with fine-grit sandpaper.