Our living room had a weird nook in the corner that made designing a layout for couches and tables a challenge. We lived with different arrangements over the past 8 years and found a couch that finally felt right. Unfortunately, the weird nook still left us with an 8″ gap behind the longest stretch of the couch. This gap caused bowing on the backside of the couch and also a huge space with no resting place for drinks or phones. And we were off on a hunt to find a 10 foot console table that is only 8″ wide. No such luck. The only thing we found that was 105″, too wide, and $1600. We kept stewing over it and finally decided that it was too simple of a piece of furniture to not make it ourselves. Now before you check out thinking that you can’t do this. Yes. You. Can. We didn’t use any fancy tools — sandpaper, a drill, and scraps of one of Patrick’s old t-shirts.
Supplies
10′ x 8″ x 2″ Lumber
Parsons Legs
Top Plates
Sample Pot of Stain (I used English Chestnut in the same brand and size as this link)
Things I had on hand:
Drill with assortment of bit sizes
Wood Filler
Assorted sandpaper grits (60 up to 300)
Leftover Polycrylic (clear coat)
Process
Sand, sand, and sand some more. I started with a pretty rough grit (the lower numbered sand paper) and gradually moved up. Once I got to around 120 grit, I added wood filler to the spots that were still not smooth. Then kept sanding.
After everything was super smooth, I used one coat of stain. Using some squares of Patrick’s old t-shirt, I wiped the stain on in the direction of the grain. Immediately after wiping stain on, I used another t-shirt square to wipe off the excess. The instructions state to not let the stain dry before wiping off the excess. The wood was soaking up the stain very quickly, so I found going in small sections the best way to get the color on and excess off in time. Don’t forget to stain the legs, too!
Next, I wanted to seal the board, since I knew drinks would be placed on this table. Three coats of polycrylic in a satin finish is usually my sweet spot for sealing paint jobs. Sanding with a super-fine grit, like 2000 (yes, thousand) grit. A friend mentioned that even using a brown paper sack from groceries works as sanding between clear coats. The abrasion is just enough to ensure the clear coat adheres well. I like to remind myself that more work and effort on the front end will save time on touch ups down the line. Full disclosure, I did not clear coat the legs. I did not see the benefit as they would not be as high traffic and completely hidden behind the couch.
Now that the clear coat has completely cured, it’s time to put it all together! We had to think on the leg placement for a bit. Would the board bow over time and could we get a little bit of storage on the end of the table? Ultimately, both of these concerns had us install the legs about 2 feet from the end of each board. The top plates are pretty straightforward, we did use a square and clamp the plates while screwing them in for extra insurance that the pieces wouldn’t shift. And pilot holes never hurt, either.
This simple table was such a breath of fresh air among our projects. Everything went off without a hitch and the only pivot was adding leveling feet once we got the table to it’s final spot. As always, let me know if you have any questions or send me pictures if you try out this project!
