Creating an Antique Farm Table

This was a cheap, but still very solid, Kmart table that I'd had for about 10 years.

  

 I painted the legs and underside of the table first.  I wasn't too careful with how I painted.  I just slapped it on and I only put about 2 coats.  I used an Eggshell base.  The color was called "Bleached Sand" under the Grand Distinctions brand from Menards.  It's a good paint and the "sloppy" job added almost a distressed look.  I then screwed down some 2x8's and 1 2x10 in the center of the table.  Any number, size, and/or combination of boards would work depending on the length and width of your table.  I wanted to make the table a little bit bigger than it originally was.  You'll also want some overhang of the boards to sort of cover the old tabletop.

I screwed the boards from underneath so the screws wouldn't be seen.  I then took some hammers, and with the help of my girls, we "aged" the boards.  We pounded all around the edges and on the boards to give them a worn look.  We even had some pretty good hammer dents.  I took a few nails and pounded them in as well.  Once, all that fun was done, I stained the boards with a gel stain.  I only did 1 heavy coat.  The more coats you put on the darker it will be so it really depends on the look you're going for.  Several days later (when I finally had time) I polyurethaned the table top.  I put on 2 coats, though one could easily do 3 if they wanted.  The only thing that I would have done differently would be to beat, stain, and apply the polyurethane on the boards before screwing them down, but all in all it's not that big of a deal.  I got a little stain on the legs, but I just painted over those spots.  The finished product turned out pretty well and looks like a beautiful, old farm table.  It's not a smooth top because of the grooves between the boards, but it serves it's purpose well enough and looks good and unique.