Rustic Coffee Table

I've decided that our living room needs some more "natural" elements.

The annual Restoration Catalogs may have helped sway me in this direction, but I've realized that pretty much all our furniture is painted, or made of man-made materials.  Obviously, a huge reason for this is because I've been making the most of what we have, and slapping paint on anything I can to extend it's life in our apartment, but the main reason we have all this faux-material furniture is because I was on a TIGHT budget when buying furniture the first time around.   Particle board was my best friend.

Not anymore... we need some rustic up in herreeee!

These bad boys started this whole thing!!!

I've been toying with the idea of a little DIY on our coffee table to take it from this... shiny and really dark...

To something more like this...

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Or this... (even though this is a dining table... you get the idea)

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I even toyed with the idea of painting it white, and getting a plate glass top to protect the paint on top (something like the below photo).  The glass would be essential here since it gets A LOT of wear and tear, and I suspect paint wouldn't stick so well to that slick surface.

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But then, the point here is to get more rustic going on, and less painted furniture.... so I was back to the idea of using reclaimed wood (or at least wood that LOOKED reclaimed).

I had been thinking of getting some fresh boards from Home Depot, banging them up, and then applying this "aging treatment" that I read about here to oxidize the wood with vinegar and steel wool.  Will it work?  I've heard mixed reviews, but supposedly it takes brand new looking wood and gives it the weathered, greyed out look... ultimately, I'd be nailing these boards to the table top, and painting the base white, or a lighter neutral color...

I've been toying with this idea for a few weeks, but then today, I saw this table on World Market's site, and it got me thinking....

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The Cameron Coffee table is $229, and I currently have a 25% off coupon that would make it $172. Things just got interesting... While I haven't totally ditched the idea of trying my hand at adding an aged wood top to our existing table, simply buying this new coffee table will be way easier (obviously), and possibly cheaper.  In the event that in the event that this DIY completely flops, I'll need to get a new table anyway!

Here are a few few pictures from the glowing reviews on World Market's site, that people posted of the table in their homes!

Cute right?  Rustic, natural wood, and apparently quite sturdy... Lots to think about!  Just need to make sure it's not too small - I like a good sized coffee table.

I also saw this weathered leather chair...

There is something about it that I love - obviously the nailhead, but I also really like the mottled looking leather, and low back.  And as you know, I've been looking for a reason to get rid of the wicker chair that DOES NOT belong in the living room... I may have just found my reason.

I'd love to see this in person - sit in it, see how comfortable it is... I want a deep seat!  Something to lounge in with my coffee on Saturday mornings.

Very excited about my potential new living room finds!