Monday, March 18, 2024
ikea-hacks-kitchen-table

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.ikea-hacks-kitchen-table

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.

Ikea-hacks-bjursta-table

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.

 

ikea-hacks-bjursta-benchesLying 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.DIY-farmhouse-table

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

ikea-hacks-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

ikea-hacks-bjursta-benches-farmhouse-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.

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12 comments

  1. hello

    I’m Jemima from Switzerland and I’ve got exactly the same problem: this bjursta thing is a bit too dark… I’m planning to hack it too. did the colour you used to paint the table-legs last?
    Because my carpenter skills aren’t that big; I’m planning to paint the board. but I dunno yet how to do so. Do you have any advices?

    Thank you so much for your inspiration!!
    It’s wonderful!

    Jemima

    • Hi! I used white chalk paint on the legs and coated it with two coats of wax, so I haven’t had any trouble with the paint peeling off. It’s been great for months. I stained the board, and I covered it three times with a Mini Wax grey stain then gave it 3 coats of polyurethane so it wouldn’t mark or rub off. So far it’s been amazing.
      Post a picture when you’re finished with yours! I’m really happy with mine.

  2. looks amazing..what kind of wood did you use for the table top?

  3. Hi,
    Did you keep the functionality to extend the table? I’m trying to think of a way to do this and still have the option to either keep the smaller 4 top or extend to seat 6/8.

    Thanks

    • No,I had to lose the ability to shrink it, but because I made it 7 feet long I wasn’t worried about making it smaller.

  4. Hey I have a bjursta bar table. I trimmed the led so it would be the height as a coffee table. Any tips on what I could do with it. I want to use it as an outdoor table for my balcony. Thank you !

  5. Hello Shelly, I have a Stornas Ikea table and I would like to make it two tone just like you did. I also want to lighten the wood to obtain a light Oak color, what should I use to lighten the wood? its currently in antique stain. Thanks!

    • Hi Christy,
      Depending on what type of stain it is, you should be able to strip some of the color with a stripper from Home Depot. I actually removed the grey color I used because it turned out a bit too blue, and I stripped it down as best as I could and sanded it like crazy. When I put the new stain over top, I could sort of see what was underneath, but it wasn’t that big of a deal. I actually liked it because it made the new wood look older.
      I think if I had to do it all over again I’d go on Craigslist and look for some old shiplap that someone was selling. Those old boards are amazing for a farmhouse table.

  6. Wow! It is really good info! Thanks for sharing this post ?

  7. Since it’s now been a bit since you posted… how did this hold up?!

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