Before & After: Too-Short Table to Chic Coffee Station
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(Image credit: Carroll)
Carroll really wanted a narrow cart in the kitchen to act as a coffee station. When finding something already made was going to be more than she wanted to spend, the decision was made to DIY, starting with this table that was a little on the short side.
(Image credit: Carroll)
From Carroll:
My projects almost always start with a functional purpose. I never start out thinking I am going to create something aesthetically pleasing, I just start looking for something that will serve a need in my home (more storage, more counter space, a little something to fill up a blank wall, etc.) and when it ends up pretty, it’s just an added bonus. In this case, I wanted to: A) fill up a blank wall in my kitchen and B) have a place to put a single cup coffee maker without crowding my already-at-a-premium countertop space.
A few hundred hours on Pinterest later, I was obsessed with finding a small narrow coffee cart to put in the kitchen. A few thousand hours of Ikea, Restoration Hardware, West Elm, Overstock and E-bay later, I was convinced that in order to spend less than $800 on a kitchen cart and to get the right size to fit the narrow space, I would have to make my own. Found the perfect-sized table on Etsy for less than $300.
Unfortunately, when the table arrived, the top was badly damaged and the vendor had overstated the height, so it was too low for my purpose. But I was not to be deterred. I pried off the top, removed the hardware and gave it all a good cleaning and a light sanding. Now, what to do about the height? Just live with it? No way. So I’m off to Home Depot to roam the isles and hope a devine solution lurks somewhere in the builder’s section. And, alas, it did — in the form of some short chubby wood legs that could be glued onto the existing legs, adding about 6 inches. Perfect. Although I’m usually a sloppy glu-er, the idea that I was planning to put a 100 pound marble top on the table drove me to glue and clamp overnight just like my Step-Dad taught me.
Once the legs were glued tight, I sprayed the whole table with white primer and finished with 2 coats of Sherwin William’s Top Sail. The marble top was about $120 at a salvage stone yard. I splurged on the “jewelry” / hardware with solid brass handles and towel racks from Signature Hardware (about $70). This pic was taken before we added the single-cup coffee maker which we use EVERY SINGLE DAY. Total cost: $500.
Thank you, Carroll!