Trestle Table with Reclaimed Wood Top

I was so excited when I found this table base. It was hidden beneath other furniture looking sad and lonely. Someone had thrown a piece of plywood on top which made it look like junk. I saw the potential. I love the turned legs and I knew instantly I wanted to put a rustic top on her. Just need to find some fabulous barn wood shouldn't be hard right?

The base was a dark brown stain and in great condition. I decided to paint it white and distress it.

Once I got the base painted and ready the table sat for weeks. I just couldn't find the right wood to use for the top. Thankfully we ran into a friend who told me he had some rough cut wood that he thought was mahogany that I could have. It needed a lot of sanding and had nails in it so there would be holes did I still want it? Um yes! Nail holes and rough cut equals the perfect wood for this project! I about fell over when I went to pick the wood up. Perfect! It was very rough though and I have the slivers to prove it. About 100 of them.

I decided to secure the boards together using 2 x 4's & screws because they weren't perfectly flat. This way I could then drill through the ends using pocket holes to attach the top to the base.

I got the middle one attached then centered the table and attached the other two. To help even out the ends I ripped a board to about 2" and countersunk some screws to attach it.

You can see above the boards had some cupping issues. Once I had the top built and attached I called in my husband for an opinion. I liked it but I needed another set of eyes since I am selling this piece. Should I plane it smoother? Hubby said he thought it looked cool leave it, it's supposed to be rustic right? Yay!

(I used oak wood plugs and I love the way they look)

He also gave me a great tip. When working with wood that is splintery sand in one direction. It seems obvious right? Well I wasn't doing that. I normally use pine and sand in a back and forth motion with the grain. It didn't even occur to me to just go in one direction. It actually feels kinda awkward. As soon as he said it I was like duh. It made a HUGE difference. The finish is now silky smooth where before you couldn't run you hand over it without getting a splinter. Thanks Hubby!

Since I had to do so much sanding I lost the gray bleached out finish of the wood. So I decided to deepen the color with dark wax. I haven't used dark wax on bare wood before and it's lovely. It really brought out the texture and grain.

No fancy wax brush here. The wax is Annie Sloan Dark wax and the brush is one of those you get at the Goodwill for less that $2. It's a thick brush and it works great for wax. Of course I have no idea what an actual wax brush can do but I just couldn't spring for one after buying the wax. For now this works.

I love the juxtaposition (love that word) of the rustic reclaimed lumber and the curvy trestle base in white.

So what do you think? Do you just love those legs or what? My husband thinks I should start turning my own furniture legs since we have a wood lathe. (I think it was his grandfathers?) Um seriously honey, no thank you. I have to draw the line somewhere and turning my own legs is it.