DIY Coffee Table

 

Hey friends and happy half New Year! If you follow me on Instagram, then you may have noticed that I have been working pretty diligently on completing a living room makeover. You may even remember one of my very first projects, the board and batten wall. Well, today I am back with another reveal, pretty much leading up to the final reveal of this room. I completed the DIY X Coffee Table, with the plans found on Ana White’s website. While this post is not a tutorial, as I followed the Ana White tutorial pretty loosely, I wanted to more so show pics and talk a bit about my experience.

Pretty much following the plans, I measured my space, purchased the wood, and got it cut based on my own dimensions from The Home Depot. I am so happy with how it turned out.

My Tips:

Preparing to Build:

• Make sure you measure the height of your couch along with the width, and your table should be about a third of the length size. The height of the table should be just below where your knees would be if you are sitting on your sofa. Does that make sense? If you follow Ana White’s plan exactly, your table could come out too large or too small for your space, so measure your space accordingly.

• Tools are important. Make sure you have the proper tools to build this table. A miter saw is needed to cut the wood pieces to the exact dimensions that you may need. I always get my wood cut a few inches longer than I need to to allow for adjustments if needed. I then use my miter saw to cut it truer to my necessary size at home. However, if you choose to have yours cut exactly when you buy it, that should be fine. Just remember. the miter saw will be needed to create the angles on decorative x’s.

  Additional tools needed are a Kreg Jig ( I used a Kreg Jig Jr.) , power drill, measuring tape, and I think that’s it, but refer to the Ana White plan to be sure:)

  Staining the Table

• After my building was complete, I lightly sanded my wood using a a fine sandpaper. I then conditioned my wood using Minwax Pre-Stain Wood Conditioner, applying it with a paintbrush. The directions state that you have to remove the excess product, then I let it sit over night.

• I then applied a few coats of these two stains Minwax Weather Oak and Minwax Special Walnut, allowing each coat to dry in between and sanding in between each coat.
• I let the stain dry and cure for a couple days then applied Minwax polyurethane to protect the surface from scratches or water damage.

I loved the look of the multiple stains, although Ana White’s tutorial calls for a different finishing technique.

But here she is in all of her finished glory!

I just love all of the knots and detailing that the stain pulled out of the wood.

Many of the shots show a sneak peek of my living room reveal, as I consider this room done! I will be back next week with a full room reveal.

Thanks for stopping by. If you have any questions about my experience in building this table, feel free to email me.

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