Our New Coffee Table

by FrugalBabe on November 20, 2008

Last week, I came across a unique coffee table in our neighborhood thrift store.  It was solid – I can’t pick it up by myself – and really cool looking, but in need of some love.  It was obviously homemade, and constructed all from 2x4s, with industrial-looking bolts holding it together.  I love simple, solid wooded furniture, and this table jumped out at me.  We don’t have a coffee table in our living room.  We have an ottoman, but my husband has had it since he was in college, and there are some stains that I just can’t get out.  One of the things I liked about the new table was how solid it is.  You can sit on it, put your feet on it, use it as a table – it will take a beating and still be fine. 

Anyway, we bought it and brought it home on the roof of my car.  I borrowed an electric sander from my parents and spent the last couple afternoons out in the driveway sanding our new table.  It had been stained a dark color and varnished in a previous life.  It also had a lot of deep scratches, and we prefer light wood to dark, so I wanted to sand off all of the old finish.  Today I put four coats of varnish on it.  We already had the varnish left over from the doors we replaced earlier in the month, so all I spent on the table is $15 to buy it and the time it took me to refinish it (which I thoroughly enjoyed, so it doesn’t really count as work).  It didn’t occur to me to take a "before" picture until I was halfway finished sanding the top of the table.  But you can tell from the sides what it looked like when I found it. 

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  • http://mygoodcents.net Kimberly

    Love that! Looks great :)

  • http://www.remodelingthislife.com Emily

    I love that! So unique! I just finished painting my dinged up free coffee table to give it a little makeover but haven’t taken photos yet. You reminded me!

  • http://frugalchick2008.blogspot.com/ FrugalChick

    It’s beautiful! Great job.

  • Sandra

    wow – looks like a brand new table! :-)

  • http://www.theclothesline-cathy.blogspot.com Cathy

    That looks great!

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  • Green Me

    You have a great eye! I would have totally passed that table buy with an “ugh, yuck!” A job well done :)

  • Anne Marie

    This looks great. I like that the sides are slightly taller/higher than the top… a few added creative ideas:

    1. make a cushion or two to fit on the top between the sides, then it becomes either a bench, or a comphy large foot rest.

    2. using a sheet of tempered glass that that fits on the top between the raised sides, you can create a “theme” table, placing menus, show tickets, photos, etc. under the glass. Or, if you can find a vintage scarf, that could be placed under the glass.

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  • Lindsey@BetterAfter

    This is so cool, and totally reminds me of the coffee table we had in my house growing up, which my dad made himself.  Great job!

  • Frugal Babe

    Thanks!  I’ve found so many awesome ideas on your site this week – I love it! It’s making me look again at ho-hum pieces of furniture we already have and wonder what I can do with them…

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