We held on to our last coffee table for many years in the hopes of sprucing it up some weekend. (It had great bones, but a horrible wax on it that smudged and made the whole piece look sad.) We eventually ended up selling it to another soul with a bit more DIY savvy than us. So we give props to all the DIY masters behind these coffee tables:
Shown above the jump, from left to right:
TOP ROW
1. A geometric marvel!
2. Made from an old barn door and old steel caster wheels from railroad carts.
3. Pallets galore.
4. Just an old wood plank and vintage spindle legs.
5. Almost anything could work as a table theoretically if it's compacted enough.
BOTTOM ROW
6. A Nakashimia-esque table at a fraction of the price.
7. Amazing what a high gloss coat of yellow will do to plain ol' pine.
8. Love the simplicity of this one.
9. More compaction, this time with vinyl records.
10. Another use for chalkboard paint.
(Images: 1. Homebug; 2. Design*Sponge; 3. Marie Claire Maison and Bodie & Fou; 4. Re-Nest; 5.BHG Do It Yourself; 6. AT:LA; 7.AT:NY; 8. vdov.net; 9. NotBeige; 10. Pound Designs. Originally published 2010-06-04)
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The checkers one makes me realize that I want a SCRABBLE one!
No. 10 (2nd): where is it?
Now I wish we would have kept all of those old record albums...very cool.
I have one similar to #6, but much thicker (about a foot thick). My grandfather made it from cypress driftwood he and my mom hauled out of a river north of New Orleans. It took TWO YEARS to dry out the wood enough to make the tables (one log made three tables).
Ooooweee! I LOVE that birchwood table, what a fab idea.
Reuse, recycle, reduce... loving this piece. Great examples for us all! :)
clchilds - I know it's not the same as using your own, but thrift stores usually have a ton of old vinyls available for under $1 each. Definitely would be a great conversation piece, and a fun project!
I love the logs one (#5). It looks like a tough DIY to get right, though. You'd need to make sure all the logs were level, and packed tightly enough, etc. etc.
AWESOME... so inspirational. I want to make them all!
The homebug link doesn't work any more, unfortunately.
I saw the pallet done in somebody's book on cheap decorating: can't remember her name. But, she bought fence post finials and turned them upside down for a traditional look instead of the industrial look.