Let me tell you about this Farmhouse Table!
Have you guessed by now I’m loving this Hemp Oil from Miss Mustard Seed?!
If you missed my last post on Hemp Oil, visit HERE for more detailed instructions.
But this post is more about this great rustic farm table I came across. Don’t you just love it?
This belonged to the same gentleman who gave me the Antique Ice Chest to restore.
He told me he lived in Brisbane, Queensland (my stomping ground) as a child, in a place called Cribb Island (known to locals as “Cribby”). Now here’s the fun fact – my dad grew up on Cribb Island too! The place no longer exists, and is now (and has been since the late 70s) the location of the Brisbane International Airport.
Cribby is ALSO the same place my Grandfather and Great-Grandfather had their Pineapple farm and cannery, and you can read HERE about how we found some of their original Canning Labels and have reproduced them for sale HERE.
So there’s a little history lesson and trivia for you, but needless to say, this table came from his parent’s place back on Cribb Island many years ago. So it already found a special place in my heart and now, my home, when I found out this bit of history behind it.
The pic above is how the table looked when I received it.
The table top is removable and comes off in two pieces. When it all fits together, there are wooden pieces that wedge underneath in a ridge around the rim of the base to keep it from moving. It is obviously made by hand, many years ago.
And below, I had taken the base off and outside for a sanding. The original white paint was peeling away naturally in some parts, so I wanted to sand off all the flakey bits to get a smoother finish as I planned on keeping the authentic rustic chippy look.
(If you’re sanding – especially older painted pieces – ALWAYS use a mask to protect from inhaling any leaded paint dust)
Here’s a closer look at the table top after a bit more sanding also. I wanted to leave the top as naturally rustic and “farmhouse” as I could. There are so many dings and imperfections in it that add loads of character. The very ends of the table top had some ugly orange paint, so I sanded that off too.
Check out my post on How to choose a sander for your furniture project.
Yay for naturally occurring chippy!
NOTE: to seal in old chipping paint, so that you don’t disturb any of the old paint chemicals and nasties, I use a polyurethane varnish like Tough Coat Sealer.
Here’s where I show you an awesome pic of the difference that MMSMP Hemp Oil made to the finish on the wood top. I love it! (Left has been oiled, right has not)
Here’s the finish with Hemp Oil all over:
And here she is posing for some photos … See all that lovely chippy paint? Sealed in Fusion’s Tough Coat Matte Wipe on Poly, it is not going to expose anyone to the possible toxic paint that it was originally painted with.
I found these cute pots and faux plants at Ikea!
That is the Antique Ice Chest in the background below.
Our antique canning labels feature in a lot of my blog posts, and here they are on the table …
This table is quite a small one and would probably sit four comfortably, rather than six, but it will make a great “extra” space for when visitors come, or a nice study table or sewing table.
I think it will come in very handy for my Milk Paint & Fusion Paint Workshops!
If you are in the Logan/Brisbane area and interested in attending a painting workshop, please subscribe to our workshop email list here.
Happy Painting!