Little Red Wagon Coffee Table
- By Joan
- June 27, 2019
- 4 Comments
My latest thrift store find, a $10 little red wagon. I don’t have any young’uns at home any more so I see an upcycle in this guys future. Seriously, he’s the perfect height for a coffee table.
If this wagon ever had a logo, it was painted over some time ago. If you have a logo, I would suggest keeping it intact.
Turn your wagon over. The back wheels are stationary, but the front wheels turn…not necessarily something you want your coffee table to do.
I need to take away the handle, not only because it sticks out pretty far but I also need to secure those front wheels.
Use a wrench to take off the bolts holding the front wheels to the wagon.
Another bolt holds the wheel assembly to the part I just took off. This bolt happens to be welded on which can be cut off with a grinder.
Where the black paint is scraped off is where the welded on bolt was.
The handle is still attached to the axle of both wheels. Not seeing an easy way to get the wheels off, I’m once again using the grinder with a cutting wheel to cut the metal.
The handle is now completely off.
The wheels had to be lifted up or they would rub against the bottom of the wagon. A short piece of pallet wood does the trick of elevating the wheels.
Find a couple of bolts, nuts and washers to attach the wheels to the wagon. Use a metal drill bit the size of your bolts to drill thru the pallet wood and the wagon.
Insert bolts and tighten the nuts.
Base is done. The wheels no longer turn and there is no handle to trip over.
I haven’t used much pallet wood recently so this wagon is going to get a nice pallet wood top. Cut your pallet wood slightly larger than the width of the wagon…exactly how wide is up to you.
Cut two more pieces of pallet the length of your wagon. These two pieces will hold all the other pieces together. Use a marker to follow the curve of the wagon on both ends and cut these with a jigsaw. These two pieces will not only hold all the pallet wood pieces together but will also keep the top from sliding if someone happens to put their feet up onto the coffee table.
Use screws to attach the longer boards to the back of your pallet wood making sure they are spaced close enough together to fit inside the wagon.
Round the corners of the pallet wood with a jigsaw. Sand all your pallet wood and edges well.
Finish as desired. This is a beautiful walnut stain which really brings out the grain of the pallet wood.
Add handles so you can easily access the storage in the wagon. Finish with varnish or wax.
Always fun to create coffee tables from everyday items. You can find a gallery of the rest of my coffee tables (and side tables) here.
Stay inspired.
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Very cute, the wood sure turned out beautiful. Would look good on my patio.
Very cute – would love this on my deck!
Love this, might have to give it a try!
That is pretty darn cute! Very nice tutorial, also!