If you’re new to this blog, you might not know that I already made a new coffee table (with a fun epoxy top) back in May last year. So, what could possibly possess us to change it up so soon? Well, two things.
First, it had gotten bumped pretty hard a few times making the legs a little less sturdy. Plus, we got a new couch. And it’s grey (our last couch was a greenish yellow). So the grey coffee table just didn’t look right with it, and I can’t leave well enough alone, apparently.Â
So, we made another coffee table. And it’s probably our favorite to date.
Really, Trey came up with the idea for turning something like this beautiful 2×4 table into something smaller that could work as a coffee table.
Building the coffee table out of basically a bunch of cut-to-size 2×4 boards turned out to make this a super easy project. After buying the supplies, the building portion only took a couple hours (less if you had your boards cut to size already), and then sealing it took only as long as the dry time. Easy!
Supplies:
-(9) 55x2x4 inch boards
-(12) 8.5x2x4 inch boards
-(2) 13.5x2x4 inch boards
-(2) bench style hairpin legs, or 4 wooden legs (I used these)
-2.5 inch wood screws (I bought a box of 50 and used about half)
-sandpaper
-Polycrylic protective finish in semi gloss
Tools:
-power saw
-power drill
-paint brush for stain
-saw horses (optional)
First cut your 2×4 boards to the sizes listed above. Set the boards up as they will be for the final look, and mark where the legs will go to ensure space.
Also, please excuse our messy garage. Trey and I built this coffee table together on Christmas Eve in our garage… and it’s a little less than picture perfect in there right now. 🙂
NOTE: If you wanted to remove power tools from the equation altogether, I bet this project could be pulled off pretty easily if you just got all your pieces of wood cut to 55 inches and simply wood glued the whole thing together.
We wanted our legs to sit inside the table and wanted it to weigh a little less, so we went with a more hollow center. Either way, just throwing that out there.
Second, lay out the top layer of boards (consisting of five of the 55x2x4 boards). Keep in mind that this will be the top of your coffee table, so pick the prettiest sides. We offset every other board 2.5 inches to get that bundle of 2x4s look.
The only kind of tricky part to this table is finding the best method to hold the boards together horizontally. We opted to use a couple cross beams and hide them with the second row of 2x4s.
So lay out your second row of 55x2x4s on either edge (be sure to stagger 2.5 inches). Grab your 13.5x2x4s and use them as a guide to figure out where you’ll need to put the notches. Go ahead and lay out your smaller 8.5x2x4s on the vertical edges for that row as well just to make sure they fit.
Mark the edges on your second row of 55x2x4s, so you know where to cut, and give yourself some extra room. This part will be totally hidden anyway. We used our circular saw to cut the notches, but it can be done with a jigsaw or even a handsaw + chisel.
A quick google search can show you the best notching techniques based on the tools you have available. Again, it’s gonna be totally hidden, so no big deal if it’s a little/lot sloppy. Â Once cut, drill your second row and crossbeams into place.
Next, layer by layer, screw all the boards in place. This is where you can add a staggered, stair step look to the edge if you want. Like I said, ours is offset 2.5 inches. Once you have all the boards in place, screw the legs on as well.
Last you’ll want to sand the entire surface and edges well. 2x4s aren’t always the smoothest. Then seal with a few layers of semi-gloss polyurethane. We chose not to stain the wood as we wanted to keep the light, raw wood color.
But if you want to stain before sealing—go for it. I’m not going to stop you. It all depends on what will look best in your space.
This coffee table turned out to be much sturdier than any of the others we’ve had in the past, making it a perfect spot to kick your feet up at the end of the day. Thanks for letting us share! xo. Emma (+ Trey)
This is pretty neat! I’m having trouble understanding why I need the 13.5 boards though…
Wow thats amazing. The table looks really good. Thank you for this idea!
Omg I love the table, it is so simple and stylish. It can be used as side table as well.
Omg love this table and over all all the furniture placement, Well 2×4 is a fairly medium sized table, I would say I would go for 4×4 because we have a family of four. Thank you for sharing the tutorial
Great coffee table build until it’s time to buy the hairpin legs. Would have been nice to know the legs were so expensive before starting this build. A set of 4 legs at 14″ is $60! By the time you buy the 2×4’s, Kreg screws, legs and polyurethane, this gets to be an expensive build.
I did build the project anyways because I liked the design and wanted to build my own. It’s a pretty simple build and mine turned out to be really nice. I like the table except for the weight and would have liked to spend a little less building it. Thanks for the idea and sharing your build.
Great to see that… I made it too. Plans from WoodPrix’s plans helped me a lot 🙂
wooden coffee table looks awesome. you have great photography skills.
This is so cool!
( https://www.thetaylorsauce.com/london-town/ )
I love this coffee table! It kind of reminds me of jenaga blocks, which is what I used as my guestbook at my wedding, so this table would be really sentimental to have. Great job!?
So unique and creative design! What a beautiful and functional piece of furniture!
Love the rug ! Can i get it somewhere???
So simple but soooooo gorgeous! Such a great look 🙂
Hi Meghan!
Emma used the 16″ legs, but you might measure your couch to figure out how tall you want the coffee table to be. 🙂 -Jacki
I love this and want to recreate it this weekend. Do you remember if you bought the 14″ or 16″ hair pin legs?
Love the table + the cowhide is killer…
I would definitely recommend for anyone who is thinking about taking on this project to use pocket holes to attach the 2×4’s to each other. Drilling from top to bottom is a huge no-no when it comes to building furniture out of construction lumber. Lumber moves, especially construction lumber as it has a significantly higher moisture content than kilin-dried wood typically used for furniture. As you can already see in the finished picture of this table, some of the top 2×4’s are already bowing and will continue to so in a worse fashion because they were not properly attached to each other.
The use of pocket holes will allow for the wood to move seasonally, without causing bowing and cracking. It will make a huge difference in longevity of the wood/furniture piece you are making, as well as durability.
What size hairpin combination legs did you purchase for this?!
What a great idea! I love how simplistic yet stylish the table is! Thanks for sharing.
This is so cool 🙂
http://elpegotiblog-hechoamano.blogspot.com
I’ve seen DIY coffee tables before, but this one is by far one of my favourites! I love the varying of lengths of wood and the finishing looks great. I’ve been doing a lot more projects at home lately and am so thankful for your site – there is always such awesome inspiration!