Scavenger Chic

Flea Market Flip Upcycled Wooden Dolly Coffee Table

• By Joan
• February 2, 2022
• 2 Comments

Upcycled Wooden Dolly Coffee Table

It’s a new year and it’s time to clean up the garage.  I needed to find just enough space so  I could park my car in the garage so I wouldn’t have to scrape off frost or clear off snow.

Hidden in my messy garage was a furniture dolly.  It was one of my many finds from a great day of flea market shopping back in August of 2019. The dolly is right there in the center.  Later in the post I’ll give you links for where you can find what happened to all of these fantastic finds.

 Right now it’s a dolly but I know he’s a coffee table wannabe.  He just needs a few things, like sides, a bottom, a top.

You could easily make this rectangle dolly yourself with just 4 pieces of wood, but what makes this a fabulous coffee table base is his four fabulous metal grimy wheels.  This thing has some age.

Work from the ground up on this coffee table.

Make sure the bottom layer of wood is all on the same level.  I added 2 pieces of pallet wood to the ends. Screw or nail on. The pallet wood has the same aged look as the remainder of the dolly and blends right in.

A thin, 1/8″ piece of mdf fills in the remainder of the base of the dolly.

This thickness of mdf is extremely flexible, reinforce the bottom with more scrap wood.  Nail or glue in place.

You could paint the mdf but I’m once again using just the slats from a broken shutter.  The slats are so easy to remove, just cut one end of the slat with a saw and the other end just pulls out.  You’re left with perfectly sanded and painted little bits of wood.

I’ve used wooden slats on other projects like this American Flag,  lullaby art and a thrift store tray.

This time I’m cutting the slats in half, sanded any rough edges,  and creating a herringbone pattern on top of the mdf.

When you’ve finished cutting all your pieces and have assembled your puzzle, use construction adhesive to attach.

Use this opportunity to sand the rest of your dolly while it’s still easy to get to. My dolly also had a few pieces of wood sticking out on the sides, I cut those off.

For the sides I piled up three pieces of old reclaimed 2×4’s cut the same length as the dolly.  You can tell they’re old because they really measure 2×4 inches and you can still see remnants of old plaster lath. 

Use a thin piece of wood, like lath, to hold your sides together.  My lath is, once again, shutter slats.  Use what you have.  Nail to the 2×4’s.

Turn your coffee table over and use 3″ long wood screws to attach the dolly to the 2×4 sides.  You may have to predrill the holes.

Cut two more 2×4 pieces for the upper part of the coffee table.  Take your measurement for this piece right next to the dolly just in case the sides have bowed in or out.

Use more long wood screws to attach these 2×4’s  from the ends.  Make sure all the 2×4’s around the upper edge are on the same level.

I had enough hardwood flooring scraps to make the top of the coffee table.  Since this was a hodgepodge of flooring sometimes the tongue and groove didn’t always fit snugly, in those cases I had to chop off the spline (the tongue).

Cut the flooring to fit the coffee table frame without overlapping the sides.

I used a nail gun to attach the flooring to the 2×4’s.

I was doing so well not going to the store for supplies but I did not have enough of any one type of wood to make a border for the flooring top.

These 1×2’s will be the only new wood found on this coffee table.  I mitered the ends then attached with finish nails.

If you don’t have hardwood flooring this is my DIY coffee table using pallet wood for the top.

Sand the entire top getting rid of  all the old polyurethane and the edges to remove any splinters.

You’ve heard of a white wash before?  Well I’m doing a black wash…watered down black chalk paint, painted on and wiped off with a rag.

I’m using paint instead of a stain because of all the different woods on the floorboards.  It still doesn’t penetrate equally but it does remove the orange tint and gives all the pieces the same hint of color.

Finish the top of the piece with clear wax. Paint on the wax, wipe off the excess then buff with fine steel wool when dry.

If you like flea market flips here is the complete list of my finds from just one flea market.  These will give you an idea of what I look for at the flea market…junk, I look for junk!

I still have a couple more projects left from my flea market finds, the two ceiling lights and a tripod.  I believe those are still buried somewhere in my garage.  Other than this coffee table, click on the links for all the above projects… a log floor lamp, padded seat,  wire spool table, a bar cart, the  shelves made from  desk drawers,  lamps made from  jack stands, a star made from tobacco sticks, whale weathervane from a jack, coffee table from silo doors, and a pair of raised stencil headboards from a free roadside find. 

Related posts:

Upcycled Hand Cart Coffee Table Shutter and Slats Coffee Table Upcycled Hand Cart Coffee Table Version II Thrift Store Tray Makeover with Shutter Slats