If you follow me socially, you may have seen a snippet of this console table.
I had no intention of writing a dedicated blog post about it, though I’ve had so much interest and so many questions that it just seemed to make sense.
Do you remember my concept board for the flip house entry?
I was inspired by the new season of House Rules on Channel 7 to come up with my own set of guidelines to help dictate the style direction.
Well, after searching and searching for the perfect console table at the perfect price, I was near biting the bullet and just forking out for an expensive piece, when I happened to notice this pile of timber beside our driveway…
Now, when I say ‘notice’ I don’t mean that I abruptly became aware of it like it had appeared out of nowhere. Quite on the contrary, it had actually been sitting there for over twelve years (left behind by our previous home-owners) so I well and truly knew it was there. However, suddenly, I was seeing it for the first time.
“I’m gonna go build a table out of the wood in the driveway,” I announced to hubby.
“Um, okay. You know that cypress is worth a fair bit?” came his reply.
“Well, at the moment it’s worth nothing,” I said.
“True,” he agreed.
So I drew-up a very rough plan then started trimming my timber.
The base is simply old treated pine. I cut it on a slight angle to give the table a gentle splay.
Here are the legs before being glued and screwed together. As you can see, the design is pretty basic. Really, anyone can have a go at building them.
The top is made from one plank of solid cypress.
It wasn’t wide enough on its own so I cut it in half then biscuit joined the two pieces together.
Although I loved the ashy weathered finish I wanted something with a tad more warmth so decided to sand the top to enhance the natural colour of the timber as well as remove any overly rough areas and level things out a bit. It came up beautifully (ignore the speckled look in the above pic – it was raining).
Then I simply attached the legs to the top with some glue and screws.
Once the glue was fully cured I stood the table right way up. And to my surprise it seemed pretty perfect!
I was concerned that the slender pine legs may be too skimpy for the chunky cypress top though the proportions are fine. I also thought that the base may need some kind of structural brace however it’s incredibly solid as is.
To finish I decided to add little angle brackets. These are simply screwed and glued in place and although I added them purely for decorative purposes they also work to increase the overall strength of the table.
The dimensions are around 83cm H x 150cm W x 30cm D/33″ H x 60″ W x 12″ D
It’s unusual for me not to share a pretty after photo though that will come when the entry is revealed. At this stage I still need to oil the table top and paint the base a deep green. I know it looks okay in its natural rustic state though it’s not quite the look I’m going for.
Hope you like it. Can’t wait to share more!
*UPDATE*
Here is the finished table! You can see more over in my entry reveal post HERE.
Wow Kristine, you make building furniture from scratch looks so simple. And from seeing your step-by-step, it actually is. There are really no secrets. It’s just cutting, fitting together, screwing and gluing. Perfection. I think it’s funny you were using power tools in the rain though.
LOL! I shouldn’t really have used the word “rain”, it was just a bit of very light drizzle.
Do you have any idea how much your fans look forward to seeing an email from you arrive in our inboxes? You are inspirational.
Aw, too nice as always Julie. Thank you :)
Question: How are the legs attached? They appear to be slanted but your cuts for the legs look straight across. So I’m confused. I love it and would like to try it except for my confusion.
Thanks.
Yes, they are slightly slanted as mentioned in the post (very hard to pick up with the camera). If you look at the photo where I’m cutting the legs you can see that the mitre saw isn’t set square at 0 (which is 90 degrees). It’s actually set at around 8 (which is 82 degrees).
Hope this helps.
I love this table and it’s exactly what I had in my head for my guest room.
I can see the angle of the legs are cut at about 82 degrees. I’m guessing you cut both ends of the legs…the end that is sitting on the floor and the end attached to the top at an angle…at the same angle. Did you cut the small brace piece that is attached between the legs and to the underside of the top lengthwise at 82 degrees as well? I can’t figure out how to get it to sit flush (like in the picture) and still align with the angle-cut legs. ?? Help… :)
Yep, you’re spot on. The braces at the top are also trimmed on the same angle lengthways so they sit flush against the table top. It’s a bit of a tricky cut. The lower braces are just straight.
AWESOME! Thanks for the explanation…now back to building my table. :)
Wow. Gosh I hope you have someone to High Five you, when ever you have an idea.
Ha, ha. Usually I just get skeptical looks :)
Perfect idea and execution – as usual! I am book marking this because it actually fills a need I have – as usual with your ideas! Thanks for what you do. :)
Thanks lovely :)
Uhm …yes, hurry please! 🙄
Ahhh – this is perfect! You’re so creative – it really is inspiring. Thank you for sharing.
Thanks so much :)
Yep, you nailed it. Love the table!