Choosing Wood for Farmhouse Table

Submitted by mutley on Fri, 02/18/2011 - 19:17

I love seeing all of the stained farmhouse tables and want to build one of my very own.  My husband swears that I am missing something, but I keep telling him that we can use pine.  I priced out the project on Lowe's with whitewood boards.  Would these be acceptable?  Do I need a higher grade?   

Yes, no, maybe so? 

 

Thanks in advance. 

P.S.  I did see the whitewood post below, but my husband has me confused.  :/ 

claydowling

Sat, 02/19/2011 - 06:52

Tables can be built out of almost anything.  You should make the selection of material based on what you like.

For a farmhouse table pine would be really nice. I love the grain pattern, I love the color, and I love the smell of pine when it's cut. I also love it's strength, which is not trivial when it is properly joined.

Keep in mind that whitewood is a generic term. Spruce, pine, fir or hemlock all get lumped in to that category. They all have different colors, hardness and take stain differently. Also, some fir smells really bad when you cut it. Perfectly fine if you don't mind that, but a fact to be aware of.