Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Salvaged wood coffee table

When we moved to our new house a couple years ago we decided to just buy two Lack side tables to use as coffee tables. They're cheap (~$8), easy and look okay.

Well we've decided it was time to upgrade to a real coffee table. I saw this Ikea hack on Apartment Therapy a few months ago and we bought the Ikea Vittsjo set. The Vittsjo is a pair of tables that nest and have a glass top to them. That's fine but perhaps too delicate for a family with a 16 month baby. 

Then they sat in the box for months. 

http://pinterest.com/pin/233342824415299915/


Over the long weekend, I found some wood next to a dumpster behind an old hardware store. I put as much as would fit in the car. I got some plywood, 2x4s and six pieces of old pine 1x12s that look like they were used for shelving for the past forty years. 

I thought the shelving wood would look great on our coffee table project.  A couple hours later and we had this. 






I just used some bees wax based wood restorer/cleaner to protect the wood and restore some moisture back into it. As well as some mineral oil --- the same stuff to treat cutting boards. 

The wood has a really nice aged look to it with stains and scratches. On one edge it still says "rain gages" in felt tip pin. A lot of tutorials tell you to make new wood look old by hitting it with a chain, hammer or other tool. No need here. This wood actually has been used for the last few decades. 

We'll get some more small baskets to put on that bottom shelf for Adeline's toys. Now to get to work on the smaller side table...

1 comment:

  1. This looks awesome! Did you do anything to affix the wood? Is the glass still under there?

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