How to Choose the Right Table Style - Shape for Your Room?

Round Table with Pedestal Base

Many of our customers assume that all farmhouse tables should be rectangular in shape.  But that shape may not be the best one for their needs.

Our home, for instance, is an old farmhouse with very square rooms.  The best shape for our family’s kitchen table is either square or round because these shapes best match the shape of our particular dining area.  A rectangular table simply wouldn’t be a good fit for our space.

When Are Square Tables or Round Tables Your Best Option?

A square table or round table works well in a square room because it allows each person seated to have enough room to push their chair out and get up and move around.  This also means square and round tables often have pedestal bases instead of legs.  Pedestal bases work very well with these tables because chairs can be easily pushed under them and nobody gets their legs caught on a table leg when moving around.

On average, a 36 inch round table with a pedestal support will comfortably seat 4 people.  A 48 inch table will comfortably seat 6 persons.  A 60 inch round pedestal table will comfortably seat up to 8 people.  And an 84 inch round pedestal table generally seats 9 persons very well. 

Be aware that when round tables grow to 60 to 84 inches in size (6 or 7 feet in diameter) then it gets harder for everyone to reach for food on the table’s center.  So what we typically recommend for these larger tables is that you also get a matching Lazy Susan.  We’ll make you one that’ll be an exact match for your table and it’ll make your piece much more functional and easier for everyone to enjoy.

Round Table with Pedestal Base

We generally like to keep round tables fewer than 65 inches in diameter if they have a single pedestal because very large round pedestal tables tend to become more unstable without extra leg support.  For larger tables, we build a double pedestal base to provide them with that extra support. 

Occasionally we build larger round tables with legs if that is what will meet our customer’s needs the best.  To make such a table look nice, however, we also add an octagon-shaped apron around the underneath of it.  This apron not only helps the table look great, but it also secures the legs and makes the structure very stable.  (All tables that have legs, no matter what style they are, have aprons in order to give them stability).

We typically make aprons 4 inches high.  And we also craft a bead around on the apron because it looks nice.  But we can adjust the width or shape of table aprons in order to give, for example, tall persons more leg room when seated in their chair.  So that is an option you can choose if needed.

Square tables can have either legs or pedestals.  We recently built a very large square table for one of our customers … it was 60 inches X 60 inches in size.  And for this table we constructed a double pedestal in order to give it a very secure base of support. 

When Are Rectangular Tables Your Best Option?

Rectangular tables work very well in rooms that are rectangular in shape.  As far as width goes, we always recommend that a rectangular table be at least 36 inches wide.  The table’s length, of course, can increase proportionally with the room’s length if that’s what the customer desires. 

In general – for a rectangular-shaped table with legs – a 48 inch long table will comfortably seat 4 persons and a 5 or 6 foot table will nicely seat up to 6 persons.  I’d say that the most popular sized rectangular table that is built in our shop tends to be 6 feet (72 inches) in length.  This allows 2 persons to be seated very comfortably on each side with one person on each end. 

Tables that are 7 feet in length can generally accommodate 8 people comfortably … 8 to 9 foot long tables can seat up to 10 persons very comfortably … and 10 to 11 foot tables can generally seat up to 12 people very easily.  (We’ve actually been building quite a few 12 foot tables recently).

What About Trestle Tables?

Trestle tables have not only pedestals but also feet that come off the pedestals.   This allows them to have very stable support while also keeping the pedestals from getting in the way of those seated at the table.

Trestle Table

One of the beautiful things about a trestle, for example, is that it’s usually possible to fit up to 8 persons around a 72 inch long table.  This is because it doesn’t have traditional table legs and there is simply more room for people to sit down around it. 

We often have customers that have banquette seating, where bench seats are already built into the space they want to put a new table.  A trestle table is often a perfect solution for such a situation because it’s easy to for individuals to maneuver around the trestle in order to access any built-in seats.

Trestle Table Base

Trestle tables also offer a variety of seating options.  For example, one seating style that is popular right now is to have seating on both sides of the table … but not on each end.  For this, we typically place support legs at each end of the table so there is more room on both sides.   You can however, install “company boards” on the ends of the table so that it’s possible to seat guests on both ends of the table if more seating is needed.    Such boards allow you to get even more seating on a trestle table during special occasions.

Table with Company Boards

What About Getting Custom Tables & Seating for Unique Situations?

We recently constructed a custom farm table for a beach house in Bethany, Delaware.  Our customer wanted to have a large table that would allow for every member of her large family to be seated when visiting.  The problem, however, is that the room where she was going to place this table was pretty small.  What we were able to do for her is tweak a couple of things.  We placed the legs just a couple of inches further apart than we normally do.  And she ordered narrower chairs so that 3 seats could be placed in between legs on each side of the table.  This gave her just enough space so she could fit all of her children and grandchildren at the table at once. 

Trestle Table with Chairs and Bench

These are the sorts of things we can do to meet your needs.  Please don’t hesitate to give us a call if you have any questions about having a custom farmhouse table built for you … one that will perfectly fit your space.





Please visit the following pages for even more information:

Furniture Gallery Page: http://www.furniturefromthebarn.com/reclaimed-barnwood-furniture-gallery.php

Farmhouse Tables Page: http://www.furniturefromthebarn.com/reclaimed-farmhouse-tables.php

Customer Showcase Page: http://furniturefromthebarn.com/customer-showcase.php

Have any questions?  Contact us anytime: http://furniturefromthebarn.com/contact-us.php

How to Choose the Right Table Size for Your Room

5-Foot leg Table Seating 6 Persons

One of the things we love about building custom tables is our customers can choose a shape and size that is a perfect fit for their home.  We really want you to discover what sort of table will be just right for you.  You’ll find the following information very helpful because it’s based upon extensive research and our real-world experience here at Furniture From the Barn.

When thinking about what your table is going to look like, the main thing you’ll want to do is evaluate the space where your table is going to reside after it comes into your home.  The table should not only look good in that space, it should also provide ample seating and functionality to meet your family’s needs.

Measure to Get Enough Room Around Your Table…

We usually begin by discussing your table’s width.  Ideally, the width of your table should be at least 36 inches.  This will give you enough room for both place settings and food.  Depending on the size of your room, the width of the tabletop can correspondingly increase with its length if there is enough space to accommodate it.

6-Foot Leg Table Seating 6 Persons

When measuring the space in the room it’s important to allow for enough seating so that everyone at the table will be able to sit down comfortably.  One great trick we’ve found to measure this is to take a bed sheet and then fold and shape it to size of the table you’re thinking about getting.  You’ll want to move existing furniture out of the room before doing this and then get a table measure to determine how many inches there are from the walls (or other furniture in the room) to that bed sheet (which is serving as the imaginary edges for the table size you’re checking).  There should be at least 36 inches of clearance so that every person seated around the table will have enough room to be comfortable, plus allowing others to get around them when they’re seated.  In reality, 42 to 48 inches of clearance is better, but you should really have a minimum of 36 inches. 

Since we’re going to be crafting a custom table to fit your particular space then, as much as possible, you want to avoid overcrowding that space.  Many customers tell us that they want the table we make for them to be the “last table” they’ll every buy … perhaps even hand down to one of their children someday.  So we typically have this goal in mind.

7-Foot Leg Table Seating 8 Persons

Measure to Be Sure You’ve Got Enough Room for Your Place Settings…

Each person sitting around a table needs a minimum of 24 inches of table space in order to accommodate their place settings.  Most of the chairs we offer range from 19 inches to 20 inches wide. 

We do have a popular chair that is 22 inches wide, but if you use that chair then you’ll probably also want to calculate at least 26 inches of space for on the table for the corresponding place settings for that seat.

7-Foot Trestle Table Seating 8 Persons

Can You Get Customized Table Legs?

We usually make the legs on our tables to be removable.  The exception to this rule is when a customer wants legs built with mortise and tenon joints.  Making removable legs allows for safer transit of tables from our workshop to customers’ homes.  We never recommend shipping a table made with mortise and tenon legs for a long distances because there is a chance the legs may get snapped off at some point during transit if the movers fail to properly handle the table.

Table with Cabriole Legs

We also custom make tables for taller individuals.  For example, our standard tables are 30 inches high, but we can increase that to help make taller persons more comfortable when seated.

What About Bench Seating?

Yes, we often make custom benches to fit a particular table.  Not only do we tailor make the bench to fit so that it slides under one side of the table, but we can make bench legs either higher or lower, depending on the need.  We even make taller benches especially for children (kids really love bench seating).  After the children grow bigger many customers repurpose their bench for use in a mud room or other ways.

Really neat!

The point here is that it’s your table and seating … we try very hard to meet the needs and desires of every customer so long as things can be built and shipped safely.

Leg Table with Chairs and Bench

You can typically get more seating on a bench than with chairs in the same space.  One thing many families order from us is a table that has chairs on one side with a bench on the other side.  Benches can also be made to slide under tables and be nicely tucked away so there is more room around the table when the bench isn’t in use.

Please visit the following pages for even more information:

Furniture Gallery Page: http://www.furniturefromthebarn.com/reclaimed-barnwood-furniture-gallery.php

Farmhouse Tables Page: http://www.furniturefromthebarn.com/reclaimed-farmhouse-tables.php

Customer Showcase Page: http://furniturefromthebarn.com/customer-showcase.php

Have any questions?  Contact us anytime: http://furniturefromthebarn.com/contact-us.php

Why Custom Building Your Furniture Sometimes Takes Awhile

When you order custom-made furniture from us you start the ball rolling on a unique building process.  This process may take anywhere from 4 to 12 weeks. 
 
While we always strive to deliver all orders as quickly as possible, it’s important for all of our customers to know our lead times for final delivery often depend upon a number of factors.  While the following ones may not include everything we do, they are probably the ones that impact delivery dates the most. 

The Batch Cycle…

Although we’re building more and more custom pieces of furniture nowadays, most of our business is still centered on hand-crafted farmhouse tables.  We typically build all farmhouse tables that are currently on order in one batch.  We do this because it’s much more efficient for us to select the proper number of high-quality boards for multiple tabletops at one time.  Then we devote lots of space in our shop to planing and gluing them together.  If we’re working on a batch cycle like this then we’re not building other pieces at the same time.

We normally build a new batch of farmhouse tables every 8 to 10 weeks.  If you place an order just prior to the start of a brand new batch then we can usually fit your table into this new batch of farm table orders.  If you place an order for a farmhouse table in the middle of a current batch cycle, however, then your table will be placed in cue to be built during the next batch cycle because the wood for the current batch has already been selected.  That means, of course, your table won’t be completed until the end of the next scheduled batch cycle of farmhouse tables (in 8-10 weeks).

Doing things this way ensures that your piece gets premium attention, along with the best wood we have on hand for the job.  We don’t rush any part of this process because, after all, we’re producing the highest quality custom pieces from re-claimed barn wood.   All details in your piece, including exact measurements, are made to order.  We’ve got to be very careful about what we’re doing.  The table or other customized furniture you acquire from us is far different from some table sitting on a showroom floor at Pottery Barn that comes from a mass production factory in China.

Your Type of Design…

Some design types are easier to build than others.  Certain shapes and/or styles are more labor intensive.  A leg table, for example is easier to build than a trestle table.  We’re getting many more orders for trestle tables nowadays and they add a little bit more time to those batch cycles.

We’ve built a few entertainment centers lately that have been custom-sized (with other custom features) in order to fit exact spaces in customers’ homes.  A few have features such as bi-fold doors, which pocket and slide back into the cabinet, instead of folding outward.  Intricate pieces such as this require exact dimensions and measurements before the building process can begin. 

My husband, Michael, also creates detailed drawings for intricate pieces so we can consult with customers and make sure they’re getting exactly what they want.  That requires a certain amount of time before the building process even begins.  It’s also not uncommon for a customer to change one or two specifications before placing their order.   Doing that often requires new drawings though, which adds a bit more time to the overall process.

The Size of Your Piece…

Some pieces simply take longer than others because of their large size.  A big hutch or table, designed with precise specifications and measurements to fill a larger area, for example, requires a much higher degree of attention in order for us to handle all of its features.  We also devote greater amounts of space in our work areas to build them.  We don’t mind; we love creating large pieces.  But we know from experience that products like this simply take longer to design and craft.

The Finishing Process…

After a table or other piece of furniture is finished being built, it comes into our finishing shop.  At that point, I often take a snapshot of it and email the picture to the customer so they can see what it looks like before colors are added.   An average table takes us about a week to finish.  But then we really like for it to sit in our shop about a week afterwards so it can cure properly, prior to final delivery.  As you can imagine, the finishing time for certain pieces is often longer, depending upon size and types of finish.

Custom Craftsmanship, Heirloom Quality Furniture

One aspect of the modern world many of us have come to enjoy is speed.  We all get most orders for physical products fairly quickly today.  I like this too … most of the time.  Having us build a custom, heirloom-quality piece of furniture for you, however, isn’t that sort of “instant, push button” type of product.  The time it takes for us to build hand-crafted furniture reflects its high value. 

The time needed to design, build and finish your furniture is very small compared to the generations who will cherish it.  Our long-time customers understand this.  Putting a huge amount of work and effort into every piece of furniture is what we do every day. 

Please visit the following pages for even more information:

Furniture Gallery Page

Farmhouse Tables Page

Customer Showcase Page

Have any questions?  Contact us anytime

Military Mom Acquires a Yellow Pine Farm Table

Back in 2012, one of our customers came to visit us with her daughter.  After walking through our display room, she ordered a custom-made yellow farm table.  She asked if it would be possible for us to build and delivery it before the start of the Holiday season that year.

I knew it would be a tough deadline to meet.  But we were motivated to meet this challenge.

You see, the individual ordering this particular kitchen table serves as a nurse in the military.  As a working mom who has seen much suffering from war, she really wanted to enjoy a special time at home with her children before heading back into the Middle Eastern combat theater. 

Her nursing job entails picking up wounded soldiers right off the battlefield by helicopter.  She shared with us the reality of seeing some terrible things firsthand.  As it turned out, she was scheduled for re-deployment to Afghanistan just a couple days after Christmas.

She wanted (and we really wanted for her) to be able to sit down on Thanksgiving with her whole family together around a new custom yellow pine table!

Crafting a Yellow Pine Farm Table Made with Old Barn Wood

From our standpoint, yellow pine is typically a southern wood. It was logged and sent up north from Southern States on river barges.  Much of it probably came to us from the Carolinas during the 1700s and 1800s.

 Yellow pine is probably the hardest of the pines we use to build farm tables.  Table tops made from our stock of re-claimed yellow pine barn wood can range from 1 ¼” to 1 ½” thick.  (That feature is very important to some of our customers.)

We have, on a couple occasions, made yellow pine farmhouse tables with tops up to 2-inches thick.  The result is a very thick, heavy table.   Such tables are exceptions, not the norm.  We can build them though.

One noticeable quality of our yellow pine wood is its grainy texture.  One can also see its hues are definitely more yellow in color than modern species, which are fairly light in comparison. 

That being said, we often mix in darker pieces of yellow pine with the lighter ones.  There were certain elements that contributed to the coloring of these darker pieces.  Mixing them with lighter-colored boards offers a lovely contrast in the final product. 

A Yellow Pine Farmhouse Table for the Holidays

Along with her new farm table, our customer also had us build a bench and corner cabinet for her.  We all looked forward to the delivery of these pieces to her kitchen. 

 After originally placing her order, it seemed as if she almost couldn’t believe she’d found us here at Furniture From the Barn.  The old-world look of the yellow pine tables we showed her on display was exactly the look she was after. 

It turned out she’d wanted a table like this for a long time.  We’re so glad she let us be the ones to make it happen.

Of course, we know from experience that our customers love receiving a hand-crafted farm table from our shop any part of the year.  But for this military mom, receiving her yellow pine table just in time for the holidays in 2012 was the perfect time to enjoy it with her family.  For her, it was the best way to sit down to her first meal on a new farm table constructed with antique wood.

Please visit the following pages for even more information:

Furniture Gallery Page: http://www.furniturefromthebarn.com/reclaimed-barnwood-furniture-gallery.php

Farmhouse Tables Page: http://www.furniturefromthebarn.com/reclaimed-farmhouse-tables.php

Customer Showcase Page: http://furniturefromthebarn.com/customer-showcase.php

Have any questions?  Contact us anytime: http://furniturefromthebarn.com/contact-us.php

Table for a “Farm Girl at Heart” … Near New York City

Dolores discovered us about 3 years ago.  I remember our first phone chat.  It took place on a Sunday afternoon. 

I often don’t answer the Furniture From the Barn business line on Sundays.  Sundays are usually reserved for family time.  We go to church.  We have dinner together.  Stuff like that.  But I happened to answer the day Dolores and I first met over the phone. 

Dolores lives in North Jersey, just across from New York City.  Many of her family and friends work in NYC.  Much of her life is rooted near there. 

Yet, there is another side to her.  Even though anyone who knows Dolores can see clearly she is an Italian gal from Northern New Jersey, those who get to know her really well discover she is a “farm girl at heart.”

Drawn to a Farmhouse Table Built with Douglas fir Wood

When Dolores first contacted me, she was in search of a very square farmhouse table for her kitchen.  Photos of ones we’d built out of reclaimed Douglas fir barn wood immediately attracted her attention.  She ended up ordering one 48” x 48” in size.

Douglas fir wood is similar-looking to pine, but darker.  It also has a more refined look to it, meaning any knots in the wood are smaller and better defined than knots found in most pines.

We’ve found re-claimed Douglas fir barn wood often displays very red undertones.  Most individuals who love the appearance of Cherry are attracted to the Douglas fir pieces we design.   

Customers who want thicker table tops can get them in Douglas fir too.  It’s a harder wood and a very good choice for kitchen tables.

Moreover, we find more people wanting other types of pieces made in Douglas fir nowadays. It has become a popular wood for bathroom vanities and kitchen islands.  We’ve had lots of interest in those pieces of furniture in particular.

When It Came Time to Deliver Her Farm Table…

About the time Dolores’ table was ready for delivery, Michael and I were scheduled to display some of our pieces at a furniture show in North Jersey.  As it turned out, this show happened to be only about 10 miles from her home.

It was the perfect opportunity to deliver her new kitchen table.  That was only the beginning of our time with her, however.

When Dolores discovered we were going to be in her area, she insisted Mike and I stay at her home.  Not only that, she volunteered to help us at the furniture show.  And on top of that, she cooked delicious meals for us throughout our stay with her.

To say we were smitten by her kindness would be an understatement.

One thing none of us knew at the time was that first table we custom-built for Dolores would end up being the start of a whole interior home make-over.  Her journey began with that farmhouse style table.

Among the furniture we’ve been privileged to build for Dolores are: a dining room set, living room set, hutches, chairs, and sideboards.  Most recently, Dolores asked us to build an Oak bedroom set -- as a present for her husband. 

Looking back now, it’s easy to see how all my conversations with Dolores over the years have allowed us to become close.  Neither my husband nor I knew, however, this “farm girl at heart” would turn out to be such an amazing person and friend!

 

Please visit the following pages for even more information:

Furniture Gallery Page: http://www.furniturefromthebarn.com/reclaimed-barnwood-furniture-gallery.php

Farmhouse Tables Page: http://www.furniturefromthebarn.com/reclaimed-farmhouse-tables.php

Customer Showcase Page: http://furniturefromthebarn.com/customer-showcase.php

Have any questions?  Contact us anytime: http://furniturefromthebarn.com/contact-us.php

Cloud, the king cat

It’s march 2^nd and they’re calling for more snow! I don’t know about y’all but were ready for some sunshine and the blooming of some pretty flowers!!

Winter can easily be a beautiful and unpleasant season all at once. It brings coldness that chills our bones, and darkness that shortens our days and binds our productivity, and for some unexplainable reason it pushes us closer together—humans to humans, and humans to their animals.

If you can’t tell we love our critters here at FFTB! We’re either rescuing, adopting, babysitting, cleaning up after them, feeding, washing them off after they’ve rolled and wallowed in the mud, snuggling up with them, making vet trips, having the vet come do farm calls and the list can go on and onnnn..

Recently we lost one of the farm cats to feline diabetes, his health may have had a different outcome but the brutality of this winter was just too much for him.

Cloud was a special cat that loved dogs and food; he was the “king cat” who snuggled with whom he wanted at anytime he wanted. He let the other cats do all the  “hunting” for him, he loved to frolic and hide in the garden, and he enjoyed lying out and sunbathing—he really was one of a kind!

 (squeezing between the pups)




















(snuggling up with his buddy Cosmo)

The reason I’m sharing this with y’all is because it’s saddening and heart wrenching to lose a loveone (yes animals are love ones!) but Cloud lived a peaceful life, gave us many laughs, and filled our hearts with love. The way I see it is we can look at this bitterly cold and harsh winter in two different ways, 1) sad and depressing because it took our Cloud or 2) joyous because the last few months brought Cloud inside where he was closer to us and we shared more memories with him-- I’ll chose choice number two.

We don’t have control over what and when things happen to us any more then we have a say about the color of the sky or why pigs can’t fly. If this winter hasn’t taught you that than I don’t know what will but what we do have control over is how we spend our time here on earth. So I’m asking and telling you PLEASE please please use your time wisely! Hug your mama, kiss your kids, snuggle with you pets and share some love because you just never know. 

Rest in peace Cloud Lasagna Kelly, forever in our hearts 

-Caitlyn

What Makes a White Pine Farm Table So Special?

The White Pine Table Discussed Here

When most people think about a “classic farm table” they usually picture it made with white pine.  White pine was used to build most of the kitchen tables found in farmhouses during the 1800s.

The pine boards you see on our website come from floor and wall boards taken from barns that are often nearly 200 years old.  Traditionally speaking, when it comes to farm tables, white pine is favored by the majority of our customers.

The pine used to build our farm tables is very different from modern pine wood used in furniture.  It offers significant benefits in both beauty and durability.

The wood was already 200+ years old when it was used to build barns back in the late 1700s to 1800s.  It’s known as “old growth” wood in the industry.

Because of their old age, the trunks from which this wood was originally harvested were often large.  As a result, the wood planks created from them can be 16 to 18 inches wide.  (It’s very, very unusual to find planks this wide today).  Modern trees being sliced into planks, as a general rule, just aren’t very big.

This means our table tops often feature very wide planks.  Such a thing is rarely seen in modern tables.

Another aspect of old-growth pine is that it can get a little darker in some areas, resulting in lots of variations of color.  You can understand why this is the case by imagining all the rain, sun, crops and animals that passed through the life of a centuries-old barn.

Sometimes we get to handle certain pieces of wood and can see where a tractor has left marks, with its metal studs, on some floor boards. At other times, we clearly see old saw marks, from where a mill saw sliced the original board.  Those markings look so wonderful that we take care not to sand or plane those out, as much as possible anyway.  We always try to leave historical markings like those.

Another interesting feature of our pine farm tables is that their surface is typically harder and more durable than modern ones.  Pine has always been regarded as soft wood, but tree farms today almost always use artificial chemicals, which results in even softer pine.  Those old-growth pine forests, on the other hand, never experienced artificial pesticides or fertilizers; their wood is noticeably harder. 

We treat old barn wood pine boards as “diamonds-in-the-rough.”  Our guys puts them through the planer, sand them a bit, and when the dirt and dust come off, the wood just comes to life.  Its natural color and beauty is immediately evident as soon as we begin cleaning the boards.

These are the kinds of unique benefits our customers treasure in our farmhouse tables.

Another View of the White Pine Farm Table

We recently finished a very long table -- this biggest one we’ve ever done -- for a family living in Bucks County.  They live inside a historic house built during the 1800s. 

Most of our tables have removable legs so they can ship more easily.  But our customer in Bucks County specifically requested the legs not be removable.  The husband really wanted his table to be completely built the old-fashioned way.

The table we custom-crafted for this family was a Federal style farmhouse table with tapered legs.  As soon as we got it from the delivery truck into its new residence, the table looked as if it was always meant to be a part of that beautiful home.

As things turned out, this husband and wife wanted their entire family, including grown children, to be present for our delivery.   They knew we’re a small family business and invited us to join them for their first home-cooked meal on this brand new (yet very old-looking) kitchen table.

It was such a memorable dinner! 

That family is the sort of company we often get to keep by doing what we do.  They’re now having us build other pieces of furniture for them too.  But sharing that first meal with them, on their new farm table, is an evening we’ll never forget.

Please visit the following pages for even more information:

Furniture Gallery Page: http://www.furniturefromthebarn.com/reclaimed-barnwood-furniture-gallery.php
 
Farmhouse Tables Page: http://www.furniturefromthebarn.com/reclaimed-farmhouse-tables.php

Customer Showcase Page: http://furniturefromthebarn.com/customer-showcase.php

Have any questions?  Contact us anytime: http://furniturefromthebarn.com/contact-us.php

Why We Use Tung Oil to Finish Our Farmhouse Tables

White Pine Table with Tung Oil Finish

One of our customers’ frequently asked questions is, “What product is used to finish the wood on a farmhouse table?”  I love it when they ask.

Our secret is Tung Oil.

Tung oil, also known as China wood oil, is a drying oil that’s been used for thousands of years.  (It was actually used to waterproof wooden ships at one time.)  It’s made by extracting the oil from the seeds of nuts from Tung trees.

Tung oil has a resin in it that does 2 things:  1) It creates an incredibly rich-looking patina that enhances barn woods’ natural beauty.  2) When properly applied, it offers wonderful protection to tables (or other pieces of furniture).

We use the most premium brand available.  It took us many months to find the supplier we use.  (Our source is safeguarded for proprietary reasons, of course.  If you become a customer, however, and ever want to re-oil your table at some point, then we’ll share our supplier with you  :-)

The particular brand of Tung oil we use gives every one of our customers the following benefits:

• It penetrates deep into the pores of the barn wood to bring out its beauty in a very natural way.  This gives our tables (and other pieces of furniture) a genuine "old world" look to them. 
• It’s incredibly water resistant.  It sinks deep down into the wood and becomes part of it.  Your table then becomes very resistant to moisture, dirt, common household chemicals, alcohol and variations in temperature.  Imagine leaving a wet glass on a varnish-finished table for 5 or 6 hours.  A cloudy mark would build up underneath its finish. This doesn’t happen with Tung oil.  The oil doesn’t create a plastic-like coating on top of the wood … it’s a part of the wood itself.
• You can always bring back your table to its original finish.  We’ve had families with young children buy our tables and then desire to re-oil them after those few years of very hard use.  No problem.  With our instructions, your table can always be brought back to its original finish.

Yellow Pine Table with Tung Oil Applied

When finishing tables, we typically apply up to 5 or 6 coats of Tung oil.  We also hand-sand the finish between each coat too.  It’s a process because each application of the oil takes about 24 hours to dry.  The results are well worth it though.

This is why the particular brand of Tung oil we use is special.  I’ve spoken to a lot of “do-it-yourselfers” who buy low-grade Tung oil and put it on their tables … only to discover that it takes a very, very long time to dry.  The whole project becomes very frustrating.

The brand we use isn’t cheap.  It runs about a hundred dollars a gallon.  But it’s worth it.  Our customers love the look and protection that results on their tables.  And that is very satisfying to us here at FurnitureFromTheBarn.

Please visit the following pages for even more information:

Furniture Gallery Page: http://www.furniturefromthebarn.com/reclaimed-barnwood-furniture-gallery.php

Farmhouse Tables Page: http://www.furniturefromthebarn.com/reclaimed-farmhouse-tables.php

Customer Showcase Page: http://furniturefromthebarn.com/customer-showcase.php

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