We have had 3 coffee tables in the last 3 years. Basically, I was not pleased with any of them and I kept trying to find something that fit our lifestyle as well as our (my?) style.
We renovated our house over 5 years ago and have updated some furniture throughout the years, but the coffee table we first had was one that Zach's former roommate left behind and I had painted black in hopes that it would look less...rough...it was fine. It served it's purpose.
But then we had kids, and soon enough those babies were crawling all over the place and there were screws sticking out from the bottom of the coffee table, so it was not going to work.
After going back and forth, I landed on this coffee table/ottoman from Target. It worked for us for that stage of our lives. It was nice that it had storage, that there was no way for the twins to crawl under it and get hurt, and there weren't any sharp edges. To be honest, I didn't love the look. After about a year, I got annoyed with how big it was.. I posted it for sale on Facebook and it sold within an hour, so that was nice.
Once I'd sold it, it was time to decide on another table. We had this table in the storage room that had been in the house before the renovation. Zach liked that it was hard wood. I liked the size.
I didn't like much more: I feel like the stain is dated, the edges aren't my style, nor are the legs. But, like I said, I liked the size and I liked that it was free.
After a solid 5 minutes of debate, I decided I would make over this table to be our new coffee table. I went off to Pinterest to look for some inspiration.
Turns out I liked the hairpin legs...and of course Amazon had some that were just the right height. Now, I just had to sell Zach on the idea (much easier than I anticipated) and enlist his help.
We started by cutting off the edges so the table would look more modern. Then I removed the legs. At this point I thought this would be a 24 hour project...but turns out, I was wrong.
After staring at it, I realized that it wasn't actually a rectangle. If you look closely, you'll see that it comes in at the center, ever so slightly.
So I took it to my dad's workshop and he squared it up for me. (So handy to have a dad with all the tools I need for projects!) While I was there the top broke in half...my impatience for this project was being tested.
I ended up sanding it down in its two halves and then Dad loaned me some clamps. He also suggested that I put a board on top and bottom of the seam to make sure it stayed level while it dried.
Once the glue dried I sanded the top down again. Dad had also cut some 1x4s and 1x2s for me so I could reinforce the bottom. You can see them drying on the photo above.
Time for stain!
I picked a dark stain. I really like the contrast of the light and dark. Our floors are very dark, while our carpet is light (which does suck having little kids, but that's a different post for another day). I wanted to keep with dark stain, plus I hoped that it would help cover up the obvious seam you can see.
While I waited for the glue to dry on the top of the table, I stained the pieces that would be on the bottom to help reinforce it. Once those were dry and the top was together, I screwed them into the base.
I went with the Minwax Dark Walnut. And while I am SO impatient and wanted this project done and in my living room, I decided I should do it correctly. So I used a Pre-Stain to condition the wood. I did one main layer of stain, but in a few places layered it up to help even out the color. And finally I finished it off with 2 layers of Satin Clear Polycrylic Protective Finish.
This is what it looked like with one layer of stain, I added some more and let it sit in some of those spaces that were lighter than I desired.
FINALLY it was time to added the legs. Part of the reason I reinforced the bottom was so I would have a place the screw the legs.
TA-DA! I'm so pleased with how this has turned out! And after being in the living room, it has stood up to twin toddlers and looks like it will be around for awhile.
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