Building our own coffee table

Building our own coffee table

A while back, I fell in love with this coffee table by IndustryMfgCo on Etsy. I love the pop of red, the simple sharp lines, and how it is a cube frame with a beautiful piece of wood sitting on top of it.

Lounge Table – Traffic Red by IndustryMfgCo

This is a trend I’ve been seeing for a while. Sometimes it is a little more industrial meets rustic, as with the one from Restoration Hardware:

Reclaimed French Floorboard Coffee Table by Restoration Hardware

We can’t afford either of these tables. But, more importantly, we think we’d like a taller than average coffee table. The average coffee table doesn’t really get higher than 18″. Some of the lower ones can get to 11″! From what I’ve been reading, ideal coffee table dimensions are two-thirds the width of your couch and should be as tall as the seat of your couch. The seat on our Chesterfield is 20″ tall, so finding a coffee table that height has been near impossible. But we think we want it even taller than that. We are thinking about 22″. This is because we plan on using the coffee table to eat on and to do projects on, and it will be significantly more comfortable to do those activities on a slightly higher table. So, we began to consider how build it ourselves, since it is essentially a steel frame w/ a block of wood on top, and we like to build stuff. Honestly, even if we could afford to buy either of these, I think we’d enjoy building it to our exact specs with our own hands with our color choices and small details added. :)

A coffee table idea sketch I drew

A coffee table DIY via the Handmade Home

To our delight, we aren’t the only crazies out there looking to figure out how to build this ourselves! Ashley from the Handmade Home tackled it as well (btw, I completely share Ashley + Jamin’s philosophy. It’s exactly what I try to explain to people when they are on the fence about doing something in their home that they want to do, but are afraid. In fact I’ve been thinking about writing something like this in my about page lately! But I would elaborate on it to include a bit about renting…). Check out her post, how to build a restoration hardware coffee table. She essentially had the same problem; she didn’t want to shell out over a thousand dollars for the restoration hardware table, and she needed more specific sizing. She had a mechanic friend build the base, and then she and her husband prepped, primed, and painted it, and she made a table top for it that can be easily replaced! I love that idea, because while my husband seems to prefer the sharp lines of the IndustryMfgCo I really love the more rustic look of the Restoration Hardware table. Also, it would be easy to switch out to glass, or even eventually tile it (My dad is a tile setter… I’ve been wanting to do some projects with him forever, and it is one of the main drawbacks of renting…)!

We have looked at a few local metal shops online and we are planning to ask if they will build the frame for us. If that’s a no-go then we are going to ask around our friend circle. Actually, we’d love to be able to weld this thing together ourselves, but we have the no-garage problem, and we can’t really afford the equipment right now. It’s definitely wish-listed though! We’re pretty sure we are just going to buy a countertop from IKEA. The LAGAN countertop is only $39! If we go with the IKEA countertops, we will have one dimension that will be fixed, and that is the depth, at 25 5/8″.  So, we are looking to build a frame at 20.375″ H x 43 1/2″ W x 25 5/8″ D, and with the butcher block the table would be a total height of 22″.

Now, what’s really up in the air still are the colors and details. Color really can’t be decided until we decide on more of the decorative elements of the room, but if we don’t paint it a brass/gold, I would really like to add a little brass on it somewhere, to add a little more interest and a hint of glamour. I thought of adding trunk corners on the corners of the frame below the wood top, but hubs says “I don’t like them”. I am also thinking about adding some brass strips around the table where the wood meets the frame. Maybe I’ll come up with something more clever as time goes on, but for now we just need to figure out how to have the frame built! :)

Living + Workspace Series:
• (09/15/11) Living + Workspace Layouts
• (09/29/11) The Midas Touch ← mood board
• (10/13/11) Living + Workspace; Built-in Sketches
• (11/11/11) Living + Workspace Update
• (11/14/11) Bookcases
• (11/22/11) Painting a Projector Screen
• (03/30/12) Before + After: Antique Lamp
• (04/06/12) Before + After: Front Door
• 
(06/19/12) Living + Workspace: Current Layout and Mood
• (06/20/12) Living + Workspace: A Revealing Update

 

12 Responses to Building our own coffee table

  1. […] Building Your own Coffee Table | Visual Vocabulary […]

  2. […] + Workspace Layouts • (09/29/11) The Midas Touch ← mood board • (10/04/11) Building Our Own Coffee Table • (11/11/11) Living + Workspace Update • (11/14/11) Bookcases • (11/22/11) Painting a […]

  3. […] + Workspace Layouts • (09/29/11) The Midas Touch ← mood board • (10/04/11) Building Our Own Coffee Table • (10/13/11) Living + Workspace; Built-in Sketches • (11/11/11) Living + Workspace Update • […]

  4. […] Living + Workspace Layouts • (09/29/11) The Midas Touch ← mood board • (10/04/11) Building Our Own Coffee Table • (10/13/11) Living + Workspace; Built-in Sketches • (11/11/11) Living + Workspace Update • […]

  5. […] + Workspace Series: • (09/29/11) The Midas Touch ← mood board • (10/04/11) Building Our Own Coffee Table • (10/13/11) Living + Workspace; Built-in Sketches • (11/11/11) Living + Workspace Update • […]

  6. […] + Workspace Series: • (09/15/11) Living + Workspace Layouts • (10/04/11) Building Our Own Coffee Table • (10/13/11) Living + Workspace; Built-in Sketches • (11/11/11) Living + Workspace Update • […]

  7. […] + Workspace Layouts • (09/29/11) The Midas Touch ← mood board • (10/04/11) Building Our Own Coffee Table • (10/13/11) Living + Workspace; Built-in Sketches • (11/14/11) Bookcases • […]

  8. […] + Workspace Layouts • (09/29/11) The Midas Touch ← mood board • (10/04/11) Building Our Own Coffee Table • (10/13/11) Living + Workspace; Built-in Sketches • (11/11/11) Living + Workspace Update • […]

  9. […] + Workspace Layouts • (09/29/11) The Midas Touch ← mood board • (10/04/11) Building Our Own Coffee Table • (10/13/11) Living + Workspace; Built-in Sketches • (11/11/11) Living + Workspace Update • […]

  10. […] + Workspace Layouts • (09/29/11) The Midas Touch ← mood board • (10/04/11) Building Our Own Coffee Table • (10/13/11) Living + Workspace; Built-in Sketches • (11/11/11) Living + Workspace Update • […]

  11. […] + Workspace Layouts • (09/29/11) The Midas Touch ← mood board • (10/04/11) Building Our Own Coffee Table • (10/13/11) Living + Workspace; Built-in Sketches • (11/11/11) Living + Workspace Update • […]

  12. […] died as well. Alternately, we purchased a new coffee table from West Elm (as opposed to making our own), two Stradmon Chairs from IKEA, two RAST dressers that I gave a little campaign dresser […]

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Welcome to Visual Vocabularie! My name is Jesyka, and I am a designer, artist, mom to Laelia and Luca, wife to software engineer and UX designer Tyler, coffee lover, and all around enthused person. This is my blog; here I share my personal projects, whether it's a furniture makeover, a new painting, a birthday party, an invitation I designed, or a favorite outfit for my little. You’ll also catch a glimpse into our family life in Los Angeles.

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