Scavenger Chic

DIY Rustic Coffee Table from Reclaimed Wood

• By Joan
• November 8, 2023
• 3 Comments

DIY Rustic Coffee Table from Reclaimed Wood

There are a few pieces of furniture that I love to make from scratch.  Benches, headboards and coffee tables, and I realized this week that I haven’t  brought you a coffee table since August of last year when I shared my swing arm butter churn coffee table.

Well now I had a hankering to make one.  So off to my favorite dump pile I went and the picture above is what I came home with.  I had no set measurements or ideas in mind just knew I had to have sides, legs, top and maybe inside storage.

Coffee tables are so fun to make.  All they really are is a box on legs and if you’re like me, you like them rustic.  Something you’ll have no problem putting your feet up on.  Coasters are optional.

Here is my coffee table in a preassembled form.  I have my top wood pieces, old hardwood flooring for the inside of my box. 10″ wide pieces for the sides of the coffee table, a piece of lumber for trim (although I ended up using scrap wood I had on hand)  and several 4×4’s from which to make legs.

Start by making your box.  The length and width are entirely up to you.  The inside of my box is 25″ because I scavenged 5, 5″  wide boards for the interior.  Screw or nail  the sides of your box together.

I cut 2, 37 1/2″,  1 x10s and 2, 25″,   2 x 10s.  It does not matter that the end pieces are thicker than the side pieces.

Cut 4  legs from the 4×4 posts, about 16″ in length and sand.

Attach your legs to your box with wood screws from the outside.

If you would like to hide your screws, consider using a dowel and countersinking them as I did with my Barn Door Coffee Table.

With scrap wood, attach pieces of wood around the perimeter of the box on the lowest edge of the 10″ side pieces.  I used a nailgun and 2″ nails.  The floorboards that I obtained are rather thin, so I also included a center support.  This will be the ledge on which the interior storage shelf will sit.

Turning the coffee table over, you can see the shelf supports are on the lowest part of the 10″ side pieces.

Cut your floorboards, or any other scrap wood you’ve found to use,  to fit around the 4×4 legs and nail to the scrap wood ledge.

Cut your top pieces to fit.  My top pieces were cut the exact length of the coffee table and have  a 1″ overhang on both sides.

A middle, scrap wood piece holds all the top boards together.  This middle support piece must be short enough to fit inside the coffee table box. Use screws to secure.

Two more scrap wood pieces, about 2″ x 29″ hold the ends securely in place.  Once again I used my handy dandy nail gun to attach.

Sand everything extremely well, especially the corners.

I finished the top with 2 coats of clear wax. Make sure you buff with fine steel wool to bring out the sheen.

I thought I was finished but decided at the last minute to add a border of recycled plaster lath around the lower edge of the box. 

Plaster lath is extremely rough, so make sure you sand these pieces as well.

This rustic coffee table is super sturdy, and when I say you can put your feet up, you can put your feet up! 🙂 

This rustic coffee table joins my collection of 24 other, upcycled and recycled coffee tables from over the years. 

As always, find your inspiration.

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