How I ended up taking on my first big DIY project with this amazing DIY coffee table.
Shortly after my husband and I moved into our new construction home, I was on the hunt for the perfect coffee table to go in our living room…
We had ordered couches and chairs specifically for this house before the building was even complete. I knew exactly what I wanted my precious new dream home to look and had planned out every detail..except the coffee table.
I just couldn’t bring myself to buy the coffee table off the show room floor that was modeled with the couch. Not only was it the wrong style, it just didn’t work with vision I had.
I also shy away from buying things as a complete set. Not only is it matchy matchy, but the little voice in head was reminding me that a room should look like it was assembled over time and not purchased in 1 day. There’s NO rush..
After spending 3 weekends in a row checking out show room after show room and all the antique stores in the area, my frustrated husband asked me what exactly it was that I was looking for.
I described my vision, and he decided it would be easier to build and paint it the way I wanted it than to find in a store. And so it began…….
This one little (ok BIG) DIY coffee table actually started us down the path of DIY-ing EVERYTHING..
Here is how it all went down
I was envisioning a BIG coffee table, with long planks of wood, square in shape, but with a rustic feel. Something I could paint to match my color scheme – I knew I did not want natural wood stain in this particular room (at that time anyway!).
We found DIY coffee table plans on Ana White’s website, which is now my absolute GO-TO site when we are looking at doing ANY woodwork.
This is the example photo she has up:
And so we got to work on our DIY coffee table..
We bought all the wood from the local hardware store (Lowes) for around $50.
The base was spray painted with White spray paint (from Amazon)(We used indoor/outdoor just in case in the future this coffee table gets used on the patio.)
The top was stained with Blue Shadow from Sherwin-Williams, which has been discontinued, however 
Varathane is Rust-Oleum’s Premium brand which is formulated specially for furniture makers and DIYers, so its a great choice!
It took less than a day to build it, and another 3 days to stain it (allowing each coat to dry completely), as we did 3 coats. I seriously wish they had the 1 hour dry and color in 1 coat options when we made this (like the Varathane mentioned above)!
The plans also advised to also do a topcoat of Minwax finishing paste (from Amazon)…shamefully I didn’t do this right away and ended up with a few condensation rings!
I love this stuff because you still get that rustic, unfinished feel. It’s not overly glossy like polyurethane.
Now (5 years later) this coffee table gets heavy use by my daughter as a coloring zone, baby doll house platform, dancing stage, snack table, etc. and still looks great! As we use the table and gain nicks and have spills, it only adds character to this amazing piece.
The Result: an AMAZING DIY coffee table
Unfortunately I don’t have photos of the process since we did this was pre-blog, but here was the final product:
The size is just right for our furniture, I can spread out DIY crafts on it, work on my scrap-booking, its GREAT for laundry folding haha.. And obviously its very sturdy, its held up for the last 5 years with zero issues. It just gets better and better.
Save Money and Do-it-yourself!
Go figure, about a month later I DID find a VERY similar table at a furniture store. the price tag? $900!!!!
I could not believe it! Feels like I got away with a murder for my gorgeous coffee table for less than $100 once you factor in the cost of the stain, spray paint, brushes, plus we had a buy a few tools we were missing.
BEST ~$100 EVER SPENT. PERIOD.
Did I mention, every time we have someone new over at the house, that coffee table ALWAYS gets a comment. People LOVE it.
Where is it now?
When my daughter started walking, we moved my beloved coffee table against the wall (so she wouldn’t bonk her head on the corners). Also we replaced the couch with a bigger better one and now have a big cushy ottoman there (more baby friendly).
HOWEVER, this is still easily my most loved piece of furniture in the house.
I mentioned earlier how now its the center of the show for my daughters playtime in the evenings, although I have plans to incorporate it into an actual playroom for her..
that is.. until she and any future brothers/sisters are old enough for us to de-child-proof the house again, then this baby is going back to center stage of my living room. Where it belongs.. FOREVEERRRRRR. lol.
xoxo, Christi
