A dining table is the center of so many happy memories. It’s the spot where the family gathers for holiday meals, birthday cake, and after-dinner chats. You could either buy a table or make your own. Building your dining table may seem like a big project, but it is pretty ​straightforward. You can build one for yourself and even a few more for a profit. See the step-by-step plan on how to build a DIY Farmhouse Dining Table.

I’ve built this table over 3 years ago for our family and it’s still in great condition. We really enjoy it. Over the years it has been used for many different activities, creating many beautiful memories. Our kids use it for doing their homework, coloring, painting, playing with toys… Those activities will inevitably leave some scratches and marks on the table.

The beauty of making your own table from solid wood is that you can fix any scratches or blemishes any time you’d like; versus those tables that are made out of particleboard. Many people actually prefer to have scratches, dents, and divots on a solid wood table because that gives it its character.

Our previous table was made from particleboard and after few years the laminate started to peel. There’s not much you can do to fix peeling. So we had to get rid of it and build something more studier. I know this time the table should last us a long time!

You could also find matching DIY farmhouse bench plans here.

You also might be interested in another DIY dining table with cross legs or DIY Farmhouse Chair.

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DIY Farmhouse Dining Table PDF

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This PDF download includes Cut Diagrams, a List of Supplies, and 3D illustrations with detailed steps to build the project. Measurements are imperial and not metric. Does NOT include SketchUp/CAD files.

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DIY Farmhouse Dining Table

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Note: Lumber dimensions are listed as nominal size.  See lumber sizes for actual dimensions vs nominal.

Disclosure: Some of the links on this page as well as links in “tools for this project” and “material list” sections are affiliate links.

Dimensions

Step 1 – Cut the Tabletop Boards

When building DIY farmhouse furniture, typically people use construction lumber because it’s cheap. But you may already know that construction lumber is not the prettiest out there. So it’s important to take some time to choose the best pieces possible. You want to make sure the boards are not warped or twisted. 

Once you purchased straight boards, the next step is to cut them. When cutting the boards, you want to cut them as accurately as possible. The boards that are identical in length need to be cut to the exact measurements. Otherwise, you’ll have unwanted gaps between boards and boards too short or too long. 

To make the tabletop board identical in length, take five 1×8 boards and two 2×4 boards and clamp them together in one bundle. Once they are clamped, cut all 7 pieces with one cut to 72″ in length on a miter saw. If you have a smaller miter saw and cannot cut all 7 pieces at once, you will need to use a stop block to ensure all pieces are identical. 

Next set your Kreg Jig to 3/4″ wood thickness and drill pocket holes on 1×8 boards as shown in the picture. Then change the Kreg Jig to 1 1/2″ wood thickness and drill two pocket holes on each end of 2×4 pieces. 

Step 2 – Assemble Farmhouse Tabletop

Before attaching the tabletop boards together, use a random orbital sander and sand the boards to eliminate any rough edges. 

Then connect the 1×8 boards with wood glue and 1 1/4″ pocket hole screws. Make sure to clamp the boards together with Kreg clamps when driving in the screws. This will prevent the boards from shifting and misaligning. If the tabletop boards shift slightly, you could sand them down, but that is time-consuming. 

Once all of the 1×8 boards are connected, then attach the 72” boards on the sides with wood glue and 1 1/4″ pocket hole screws.  

Step 3 – Measure and Cut the End Boards for the Tabletop

Now that you have the top and sides assembled, measure the distance at the ends of the table. Then cut two pieces to those dimensions. It should be around 39 1/4″ in length, but your measurement might be slightly different. 

Apply wood glue on the ends and use 2 1/2″ pocket hole screws when attaching the side and end boards. Then use 1 1/4″ pocket hole screws when attaching the 1×8 top boards to the 2×4 ends. 

Step 4 – Cut Two Legs and a Leg Stretcher Board

As I mentioned in step 1, it’s important to purchase the best lumber possible from your hardware store. But many times when you bring the lumber home and inspect it carefully, you will realize that some boards might have more blemishes than others. Or some boards have a better-looking wood grain than others. 

When building your furniture, you want to install better-looking boards where they are visible. The boards with blemishes, try hiding them in places where they are less visible.

For steps 4, 5, and 6, use the best boards you have, because they will be visible. 

Take 4×4 and cut two leg pieces to 21 1/2” in length and one stretcher to 28” in length. Then drill pocket holes as shown in the picture. If you’re using Kreg Jig K4, you will need to remove the drill guide and clamp it to the 4×4 boards to drill the pocket holes. 

Step 5 – Cut Feet Boards for the Farmhouse Table

Next, for the feet, take 4×4 and cut two boards to 32” in length and two boards to 14 1/2” in length. For esthetics, the feet need to be chamfered at 45 degrees on the ends. Measure 2 ½” from the end of the board and cut it off with a miter saw at 45-degrees. The 32” piece will have both ends chamfered and the 14 1/2″ piece will be chamfered only on one end. 

Now drill two pocket holes on the top and bottom of the 15” piece, on the end that is not chamfered. 

Step 6 – Miter Cut Diagonal Bracing Pieces

Take 2×4 and cut 12 pieces to 14” in length have both ends cut at 45 degrees. Use a stop block when cutting these boards to ensure the same length on all pieces. 

Step 7 – Cut Boards for the Upper Section of Leg Assembly

The upper section of leg assembly has two layers of boards. See step 8 for the upper layer. The lower layer has exactly the same measurement as the feet, including the 45-degree chamfers. The only difference is these boards are hidden under the table and are not as visible as other boards. So for steps 6 and 7, you could use the remaining boards that might not be as appealing as others.  

Using a miter saw, cut two pieces to 32″ in length and two pieces to 14 1/2″ in length. Then chamfer the ends the same way as in step 5.

Step 8 – Make Cuts for the Top Layer of Upper Section.

The top layer boards are the widest spanning the width of the table.  

Take 2×4 and cut two pieces to 19″ in length and four pieces to 15 1/2″ in length. These boards need to have pocket holes drilled on the sides of the 2x4s to hold the tabletop. Make sure your Kreg Jig is set to 3/4″ wood thickness, even though you’re drilling into a 2×4. The reason for that is the tabletop boards are 3/4″ thick. 

Now that you have most of the pieces cut, take your random orbital sander and sand all the boards. 

Step 9 – Assemble the Upper Section and the Feet 

To assemble the feet, connect the 14 1/2″ board to the center of the 32″ board with wood glue and 2 1/2″ pocket hole screws. Make sure that the 14 1/2″ board is exactly in the center of the 32″ board. When attaching these boards, clamp them to your workbench to prevent unwanted shifting. Repeat the process to get one set for the bottom and one set for the top of the leg assembly. 

Step 10 – Connect the Feet with a Leg Board

Place the 21 ½” leg on your workbench with pocket holes facing up. Then connect the upper section and the foot to the leg with wood glue and 2 1/2″ pocket hole screws. Having the leg assembly lying flat on the workbench will ensure that the leg is not twisted. Next, stand up the leg assembly and finish driving the screws in the back of the leg. 

If you don’t want the pocket holes to be exposed or visible, you could cover them with dowel rods. Take a 3/8″ wooden dowel rod and cut it to 2″ in length. Then apply a small amount of wood glue inside the hole and hammer in the dowel rod. Do that to all the pocket holes you want to be covered. Let the glue dry and then cut off the dowel rod with a dovetail saw. (See DIY Rocking Chair as an example of how I covered the pocket holes.)

Step 11 – Attach Diagonal Brace Pieces to Leg Assembly

Take the diagonal brace pieces that you’ve cut in step 6 and nail them to the leg and the feet. Use wood glue and 2″ brad nails to connect the boards. 

Step 12 – Attach the Top Layer to Leg Assembly

The last set of boards you need to attach to the leg assembly is the top layer. Take the boards with pocket holes on the sides and attach them on top with 2 1/2″ wood screws. See picture. Make sure the boards are positioned so that pocket hole screws will be screwed from the bottom going up to the tabletop. 

Step 13 – Connect Leg Stretcher to Both Leg Assemblies

Place the leg stretcher on a flat surface with pocket holes facing up. It’s important to have a flat surface for this step. Otherwise, you’ll end up with one foot slightly higher than the other. 

Next, connect both left and right leg assembly to the stretcher with wood glue and 2 1/2″ pocket hole screws. 

Step 14 – Nail Foot Pads Under the Feet

Take 1×4 board and cut six foot-pads to 3 1/2″ in length. Then flip the leg assembly upside down and attach the pads on the edges of the feet. Make sure to change the setting on your Nail Gun to have the nails go deeper below the surface. Use 1 1/2″ brad nails for footpads. 

Step 15 – Attach the Table Top to the Legs

Flip back the leg assembly on the foot-pads and place the tabletop on top. Make sure the tabletop is centered. Use 1 1/4″ pocket hole screws to attach the tabletop to the leg assembly. Do not over-drill the screws otherwise the sharp tip of the screw will come out from the top. 

Step 16 – Stain and Paint

For this step, you could choose any stain or paint color you want. Just remember to use pre-stain before applying stain to prevent blotchiness. Once the stain is dry, apply several coats of oil-based polyurethane. Lightly sand the top with 350 grid sandpaper between the polyurethane coasts. Oil-based polyurethane takes much longer to cure, but it gives better wood protection. 

For the lower part of the table, you could either stain or paint it. I’ve built many of these tables and I’ve done them both ways, you can choose either way you prefer. You are done with a DIY Farmhouse Dining Table.