The new kitchen table

Oh my! I am so excited about not only the new space in the family room (after taking down the wall), but the fact that we have so much more space in our kitchen as well. Because everything shifted down towards the old office our kitchen space has doubled. It is DREAMY.

A couple months back (I can’t believe it’s been that long!) I asked your thoughts on moving our table and we did end up moving it between the sectional and the kitchen island. I had the light moved over and we LOVE it this way.

Because we have way more space there compared to when it was over by the back door and pantry we were able to consider a new table for the space – I’ve always had to work with a much smaller area so this was pretty exciting for me.

I’ve spent the past two months trying to find the perfect table. I went back and forth between buying and building a table. I did a combo of both on the previous kitchen table (we are moving that one down to the basement) and this time I was considering building from scratch. I had a definite look in mind and it involved these legs:

I am obsessed with the curved look of them. I wanted to go a little more “pretty” this time (compared to the more clean lines of our previous farmhouse table). Honestly though, I just couldn’t pull the trigger and start building – sometimes when you DIY a lot you like to just BUY something. :) So that’s what I started looking into next. I stalked Craigslist for solid month and almost drove three hours round trip to pick up an old table I was going to refinish. It was a basic turned leg table and I liked it…but not enough to drive that far, especially for a Craigslist table. What if it wasn’t in great shape or didn’t look like it did in the pictures?

So I started looking online but everything I liked was so expensive. It was when I was finally going back to plans of building it when I found THE ONE. I happened upon it one evening and fell in love with the shape and the legs and the size and everything…and the icing on the cake was when I noticed it came unfinished.

WHOOT! I couldn’t believe it! I never thought in a million years I’d find the table I wanted for a decent price and unfinished – I guess that’s why it cost less than others I was looking at. Most people probably want a table they don’t have to mess with. ;) But that’s great for me because it’s an empty canvas to work with:

This table is a smidge wider than our old one and much longer – about 15 inches longer with the leaf in the middle:

We’ll keep the leaf in pretty much all the time – it gives us plenty of room. At the old table the chairs were closer together so this gives us space to spread out. I’m considering chairs for the ends of the table too but not sure about that just yet.

The best parts are the details along the apron and the gorgeous legs:

I adore it. So beautiful. I cannot believe I found exactly what I wanted, seriously. The legs are nice and thick – the whole table is incredibly heavy – 100 percent solid wood. It’s made of rubberwood which has a similar finish and hardness to maple. The difference is the top is made in more of a butcher block look, not full planks.

I love that it’s a harder wood so it won’t be an issue when doing homework and writing out bills. Our pine-top table was softer and sometimes the writing would transfer. I was fine with it but would prefer something a little stronger. AND there are no grooves – it’s nice and smooth. I looked at so many tables that had those blasted grooves in the top!:

So now I’m trying to figure out what to do with it! I’ve always been a dark top/white leg kind of girl but I have to tell you I’m kind of loving the lighter look. I love the lighter wood against the chair color – and I don’t want dark legs that will match the floor too much:

At first I was considering a gray wash on the top and white legs, but we already have so much gray going on in the room. It would match the chairs and the light and the built ins and the fireplace… I did wipe on some dark stain underneath and it looks SO good, but again I think I want to go a different direction with this one.

So now I’m leaning toward just waxing it or brushing on some poly to seal it. I am loving the more natural wood look right now, but I’m not sure if I’d like this bare look long term. I think it needs something – a wash perhaps?:

As it is now you can really appreciate all the curves and pretty lines on it and I feel like those stand out more in this lighter state.

Any ideas for me? It’s a blank slate but I don’t want to do anything that’s going to be a pain to sand down and redo any time soon. I do want to do something soon though – it’s making me nervous to use it without any kind of protection on it.

I’m excited about the potential! I think it’s a beauty. :) Oh, by the way, I got it from Wayfair – my first purchase from there and I was really pleased with it and the delivery process. Plus free shipping!

Let me know if you’ve done a lighter or natural finish you love! I’d love tips!