A Farmhouse Dining Table for an Awkward Room
I think it was two Januarys ago when I first started talking about finding a new farmhouse dining table. I shared examples of farm tables I’d seen, and then a year later I swapped my dining and living rooms and created a new sitting room, which you can see in my recent fall home tour. (This post contains affiliate links.)
My new table had to meet a few requirements, which is why it took a while for me to finally choose it. First and foremost, it needed to fit my existing country style of decorating. I was looking for something sturdy with clean lines. The Tamiami extendable table from Wayfair checked all the boxes!
I also wanted a dark wood table top. I’d had a white dining table for years, which was fine, but I was ready for a change.
My recent decorating is trending toward warmer, richer colors. I’ll always keep whites and creams in my home, but I like the drama that darker colors provide.
The table needs to fit on the longest wall with the chairs pushed in when not in use, due to the weird traffic pattern in this room. At the same time, the table needs to extend long enough to seat my family when they’re all here – and that was the main challenge in finding the right farmhouse dining table.
When not extended, my new table is 61 inches long. There are three separate leaves to the table, stored under the table top, giving the flexibility of various sizes to accommodate a range of dinner party sizes.
When fully extended, the table is 133 inches long. Perfect! This room is long and somewhat narrow. When everyone is over, the table will comfortably fit with everyone seated around it.
I bought the matching Tamiami slat back chairs, along with the Valerie wood bench just to break up the look of the chairs. There are Tamiami ladder back chairs, too.
The grand kids can all fit on the bench, but it’s sturdy enough to hold adults too, up to 500 pounds worth of adults. The bench isn’t part of the set but the color matches and that’s what mattered most to me.
The farmhouse dining table is super sturdy and pretty heavy. I put it together all by myself! Hubby helped me assemble the chairs. I actually enjoy putting furniture together. I found a dining chandelier too! Once it’s installed, I’ll share how this room works with the table in the middle.
Now I’m anxious to host Thanksgiving dinner at my house this year! Everyone will be able to dine comfortably without bumping elbows. Finally!
I really like the dark and painted white wood. Looks really nice.
Thanks Betty! The contrast of dark and white caught my eye and I couldn’t resist! 🙂
Hi Jennifer, Love the new look. I have those chairs and I love them. They are paired with a table that was in my husband’s family. Needless to say, it is very old and it is refinished in off-white with an dark top. Great for decorating. Have a happy day.
Cindy- I’m glad to hear you love the chairs. I debated for the longest time whether to get the slat back or ladder back chairs. Your old table sounds wonderful!!
Hi Jennifer. Have been looking for an expandable table like this one – thank you for the idea. Checked it out on Wayfair & it looks good though now I have a question for you: are you happy with the appearance of the table top? I ask because rubberwood doesn’t have much grain, and because this table top is made of many pieces of wood glued together to form the whole top, rather like a butcher block counter top would be. Thanks.
Sharon in California
Hi Sharon!
I understand what you’re saying about the table top. It was my concern, too. The table top has a rather polished look (I would’ve preferred something a little more rustic). The third photo in my blog post shows what the table top looks like up close for the most part. There are, however, areas where it was purposely distressed – my hubby thought they were flaws in the wood, but the marks are intentional. I do have more photos of the table top that I can show you to give you a better idea of what the grain looks like. The photos are at home and I’m not there right now, but will send them later tonight.
The table is really heavy – almost 200 pounds! It’s very solid, which I like. My old table was made from real wood and not nearly as sturdy as this new one. It was hard to find a table that extended as far as I needed, without being too long when not extended. We haven’t used the table yet so I don’t know how well the top resists scratching. Overall though, I’m very pleased with it. I’ll send you the pics later! 🙂
I love your new dining set and I’m sure you’re excited to finally have it. My dining table (chairs long ago replaced) is an Ethan Allen 60″ trestle table that has been refinished once and needs it again. My then husband and I bought it in 1970 and I can’t wrap my head around the fact that that table is 47 years old. I keep it – not because of the attachment to the ex-husband, but because it’s Ethan Allen and I still love it. I don’t host family dinners anymore – that torch has been passed to my children with big houses as the family has grown but I can’t bear to trade it in for something new. There’s a lot of history around that table. I know you will make a lot of family history with your table too and this coming Thanksgiving will be a good start of many years of happy times with your new table..
Hi Pat!
I love Ethan Allen and don’t blame you for hanging on to that table. Their furniture is so classic and timeless, not to mention well-made. My bed is from Ethan Allen and is about 30 years old. When I divorced from my first husband, it was my gift to myself. I’ll probably keep it for the remainder of my life. I like what you say about a table having so many memories attached to it. My sister still has the table that we ate at when we were little kids.
It looks perfect in your dining room, what a great table for your whole family. So around Thanksgiving we’ll get to see a picture of how it works? I really like that the leaves store under the table,mine don’t.
And the hits just keep on coming! Great choices! What a beautiful space you have created, not to mention the memories that will be made in it 🙂
I really like how creative you are in solving problems. The table is very nice and I’m sure you will be very happy with it. I also change my preferences periodocally from light to dark, colors to neutral, more traditional to more contemporary. I think it keeps everything fresh for me.
I love the look of a bench with a dining table. I just love the look of a bench period! You did a very nice job selecting the new furniture. You sound like me – doing lots of homework before buying. We only have so much room in our nests so we need to make the right choices. Enjoy your Thanksgiving feast at your new table.
I love the clean modern Farmhouse look you created!