How to make a coffee table out of wood with your own hands?

A DIY wooden coffee table stands out noticeably against the background of factory-assembled furniture and adds variety to the overall interior of a living room, bedroom or office space. Its main functional purpose is directly related to its name, the main purpose of which is to create an accessible place for storing magazines, newspapers and books. If you place the piece of furniture next to cozy upholstered furniture or in the bedside area, it can be used for evening tea or serving a light dinner.

Manufacturers of furniture products offer many options for coffee tables in various designs. Despite the wide range of models offered, you can try your hand at making a table yourself - a homemade product that will be a real decoration for any interior.

Types of coffee tables

According to their design, magazine tables are divided into the following types:

Classic designs consisting of a tabletop with a clear geometric contour supported by four legs.
Folding models are transformers with a retractable tabletop that can increase the working surface by 1.5–2 times.
Coffee-dining tables for serving lunches and dinners.
Equipped with built-in shelves for storing periodicals.
With drawers for storing table napkins, tablecloths and other small items.

The choice of solution depends on what load the furniture will bear and how many people it is intended for.

Division into types according to the configuration of the upper part - table top:

Square.
Oval.
Rectangular.
In the form of a cabinet.

The shape of the support legs can be straight, curved, carved, metal, or on movable wheels.

For the manufacture of wooden tables, wood of various species is used, differing in natural color and pattern.

DIY wooden table

The idea of making your own much-needed furniture accessory, such as a table for newspapers and magazines, usually comes to you after visiting furniture showrooms and exhibition centers. Having made sure that a high-quality coffee table made of natural wood costs good money, and the purchase of this type of furniture is long overdue, as an alternative, the decision is made to make this necessary item yourself.

Material for production

For self-production, you should give preference to well-dried hardwood boards. Soft coniferous wood can be used to make support legs, but the tabletop should be made of a more durable material. To reduce the cost of a homemade structure, it is recommended to use scraps from cutting wood or buy a good ready-made board. You can use a ready-made wooden panel structure made of laminated veneer lumber.

Thanks to advanced gluing technology, the wooden structure does not crack when dried and is stronger than ordinary wood.

Glued laminated timber is affordable and lends itself well to finishing.

Standard sizes of the classic model

The simplest small table for storing magazines, recommended for self-production, involves a design with the following dimensions:

Tabletop lengths range from 1000 to 800 mm and widths from 600 to 450 mm with shelf thicknesses from 30 to 18 mm.
The height of the classic model is 450 mm.
It is recommended to make the support legs from wooden beams with a cross-section of 40 x 40 mm.

Depending on your wishes, you can change the recommended sizes. For example, a square wooden beam used to create a support part can be replaced with round blanks with a diameter of 30 to 100 mm.

Non-standard models of tables from improvised materials

As blanks for making wooden tables yourself, you should pay attention to inexpensive improvised structures made of wood. By showing a little imagination and using a creative approach, you can make an original piece of furniture from the simplest materials, which will become a real highlight - interior decor.

Wooden pallet table

Construction pallets are designed for storing bricks and bags of bulk materials. After using the building material, the pallets are stacked somewhere in backyards and lie there idle. But for their manufacture, natural wood is used, which can be used to create a beautiful craft - a homemade table.

Sequence of work:

First, marking work is carried out in accordance with the selected dimensions.
In accordance with the applied marks, the middle of the pallet is cut out so that the flat part of the surface is on the front side, and the raised part is on the bottom.
The support legs prepared in advance are coated with a primer. It is best to use carved wooden legs - supports.
The surface of the horizontal upper part is carefully sanded with a sanding mesh until smooth.
The prepared tabletop is covered with tinting compounds on top and sides
After the components have completely dried, the moment of assembly comes. The legs are attached to the top of the table with fastening hardware, nails or wood screws.

The assembled table is varnished or decorated in accordance with the general concept of interior design.

Using blanks from old furniture

It’s a pity to throw into the trash the smooth doors of a cabinet or an antique wooden sideboard with carved legs. Out-of-fashion wooden furniture can serve as an excellent preparation for an exclusive coffee table. From two doors connected to each other by parts of the side panels of a wooden wardrobe, an excellent version of the furniture design is obtained. Making such a homemade table will require very little time, and the almost zero budget for the product provides ample opportunity for creativity.

Drawers of chests of drawers are used to assemble a composite or solid table. The protruding parts are cut down and adjusted to the desired size of the future furniture structure. The assembled wooden tabletop is installed on the components from a chest of drawers or cabinets, previously cleaned of old varnish or paint.

Using a solid piece of wood

Often, after cutting down unnecessary trees, unutilized stumps or whole pieces of trunk remain on the site, which can become the basis of an unusual, original coffee table.

The natural workpiece should be wide and smooth, with a beautiful annular surface. The height of the stump suggests the following manufacturing options:

Low tabletop supported by thin metal legs.
Design without the use of additional supports. In this model, instead of a base, the entire mass of a stump or a single piece of wood is used.
Low model with support on mobile wheels.

The natural appearance of a stump or solid wood with bark “like in a forest” emphasizes the naturalness of the structure and will fit perfectly into any interior composition.

Wooden logs for the original model

To make a wooden table, you should pay attention to ordinary wooden logs. Their soft wood is easy to work with.

Take, for example, a wide log and sand half of it with sandpaper. The bark can be removed or removed completely if desired. Birch logs with black and white bark look very beautiful, which after coating with colorless varnish look very impressive.

The logs are assembled into a single structure and secured with nails or framed with a metal rod or corner.

Using Cable Wooden Reels

A large wooden reel for winding cable can be very useful in creating an interesting and unusual table on your own. This design has many advantages:

Harmonious round shape.
Possibility of creating a rotating structure.
Functional use of side cavities for storing various items: books, magazines, CDs and even tea utensils.

The flat side is used as a tabletop. To make the structure rotating, just install a “Health” disk under the lower part.

The division of the side cavities by decorative wooden elements into symmetrical zones gives the model an interesting and unusual look.

Laconic table made of pipes

You will need the following:

copper pipe;
pipe cutter;
clamps for fastening;
epoxy adhesive;
copper caps;
boards;
copper tees.

First you need to prepare the parts from the pipe. You can use the dimensions shown in the photo or use the parameters that suit you.

Once all the parts are ready, you can safely begin assembling the lower part. In the process, refer to the diagram shown in the photo.

We are gradually assembling the workpiece for the table.

If you are sure that all the parts are well connected to each other, then you can use glue for reliable fastening.

We attach the boards to the coffee table.

A beautiful, unusual, laconic table with your own hands is ready!

Decorating a wooden table

To give your homemade table a unique “charm” and individual decor, you can use the following ideas:

Decorative carving on a wooden tabletop surface or creating an individual design using the burning method.
Inserting transparent glass or stained glass into a wooden tabletop.
Highlighting individual parts of the structure with tinting paint.
Upholstery of the end parts of the tabletop with fleecy fabric. Decorative rivets or copper nails add a retro design touch and evoke associations with wooden antique travel bags.
Imitation of a lace tablecloth. Finishing the side parts around the entire perimeter with lace braid or ribbon with fringe tassels gives the piece of furniture a nice homey feel. This finish is successfully complemented by linen napkins and homemade lace.
Sticker on the front side of the table top is made of rough fabric such as mat or bamboo.
Decorating the tabletop or support legs with hemp rope and twine. To attach the decor, use a narrow strip of double-sided tape or glue.
Mosaic decor. To create this unusual decor, glue, colored plastic or pieces of multi-colored artificial glass are used.
Decoupage. Using a simple technique of applying decoupage, you can create unique coatings comparable to real artistic masterpieces of painting.
Metal corners. Framing the tabletop or legs with metal corners without glue holes gives homemade wooden furniture a designer “brutal” appearance.

The proposed decoration ideas are only a small part of the use of creativity aimed at decorating a homemade magazine table.

What do you need for work?

So, the simplest version of the table that you can make at home is a wooden one. And to work with wood or its derivatives, the following tools and materials may be required.

Jigsaw or hacksaw for wood . The latter is not so effective when it comes to creating large-sized furniture, since the work will proceed slowly. But to create a small coffee table, a hacksaw is quite enough. Although working with a jigsaw is definitely more convenient and faster.
Sandpaper of various roughnesses or a sander. They are necessary for processing the edges and surface of wood, which without it will simply be prickly and unpleasant. Before covering the product with paint or varnish, it must be sanded to perfect smoothness.
Sanding wood during manufacturing
Prices for popular models of eccentric sanders
Random orbital sander
Varnish and paint . The wood must be covered with paints and varnishes, otherwise it will quickly darken and become dirty. The varnish will allow you to preserve and brighten the natural pattern of the wood, and the paint will allow you to give the table the color that you would like to see. The compositions can be applied with a brush or roller; the paint can be sprayed from a spray can.
Primer for wood. This substance must be applied if you plan to paint the product. Otherwise, the paint will simply be absorbed into the wood, and the color of the table will turn out unsaturated. You will also have to spend a lot of the paint and varnish composition itself.
Primer for wood
Prices for wood preservatives
Impregnation for wood
Fastening material and fittings . Self-tapping screws, screws - all this will be useful when installing the table. However, it is important to remember that nails are not the best option. Tables connected with their help, especially those that are constantly used, will quickly become loose. So it’s better to stick with self-tapping screws, which require a screwdriver or screwdriver to screw in. You may also need some accessories - for example, wheels or some decorating elements.

Do not forget that before the main work you need to draw a clear diagram of the future table and estimate its dimensions. The drawing will help you avoid making mistakes in the future, and will also provide the ability to calculate the required amount of materials to manufacture the product. So it won’t hurt to arm yourself with a sheet of paper and a pencil, as well as a square, a ruler, and a tape measure.

Drawing of a simple coffee table

On a note! Those who own a computer can be advised to use design programs where you can draw the selected model of the table, calculate its dimensions and even estimate its final appearance.

WOODY furniture design software

Useful tips

A self-made piece of furniture will become a truly beautiful and aesthetic piece of furniture if you use the following tips:

Use of additional decorative inserts. For example, tables made from wooden cable spools have a central round hole into which you can insert a flowerpot with dried or fresh flowers.
Provides abrasion resistance. The material used for decoration must correspond to the functional purpose of the table - to store various objects on it.
Using tinting coatings to create decorative effects. An example is patterned coatings with the effect of artificial aging of wood using the canneling method.
A prerequisite is the stability of the assembled structure. A tabletop with a very smooth surface can be decorated around the edge with a relief finish, which has an anti-slip function.

A homemade wooden coffee table with your own hands opens up endless possibilities for creativity, opening up space for realizing your imagination and vision of beauty. Any version of the model will look truly stylish and will serve as a source of well-deserved pride for the home craftsman.

Photos of coffee tables

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