sooo...i have been looking for a coffee table for a while since moving to california. we got rid of a lot of things we didn't love in our apartment before moving out here, the coffee table being one of them. we had this vintage trunk for a long time, but it was just a little too rustic. i really love wire based coffee tables, but so many of them are really overpriced for just some veneer, aka fake, wood and some metal thrown together. so i opted to make my own with a little (a lot) of inspiration from Makerista's coffee table diy. check out her blog for some great diy projects!
you'll need:
- electric drill
- 24" to 36" round piece of wood (i got a 24" pre-cut piece of wood from lowe's)
- rustoleum stain
- polyurethane
- two paint brushes
- chalk
- wire basket (got mine at target)
- four 3" metal brackets
- four wood screws
- pliers
step one and two:
first, you'll want to lay out some old towels or a dropcloth to stain your piece of wood. ok, so i learned this the hard way, only apply one coat of stain. apply liberally and allow to soak into the wood. after leaving for 30 seconds wipe off excess with a towel. i let my stain sit overnight.
after stain has dried for 24 hours it's time to coat with polyurethane. apply two or three coats depending on your taste and allow to dry another 24 hours. ahhh, twenty four hours seems like an eternity when you're impatient like me and so excited to see the final product! hang in there though, the stain and clear coat need to cure.
step three:
remove handles from the basket if necessary with pliers.
step four:
measure the tabletop to find the center. mark with an x so that you can align your basket or whatever wire base you have chosen.
step five:
it's time to attach the base to the tabletop! ok, so for this you'll need your drill, wood screws and brackets. just place the brackets on the outer edges of basket in equally spaced out areas. attach each bracket with two screws and make sure the base is secure.
so that's pretty much it! the longest part is definitely the first two steps, but after that this project basically couldn't be any easier! i love having handmade items in my home. storebought stuff is great, but it's always nice to have a memory attached to things in your home.
