Hello all!! Hope your weekend was great! We’re moving slow around here today. The kiddo and hubs are home in honor of MLK Day and I forget how long it takes me to take and edit pics and then write when I’m not the only one at home. ;)
I’m SO so thrilled to share my latest DIY project! It is EXACTLY what I was imagining for the basement. I’ve been trying to find a table just like this for months, so I’m excited it all worked out.
I’ve been looking for an industrial-type table for the basement forever – it’s the “vibe” I’m going for down there. I had something in my head, I just couldn’t find it. I mean, I didn’t actively look online or anything, partly because I knew what I wanted wouldn’t be cheap. I even looked up the number for a local welder to see if I could have something built to match what was in my head.
But then I was in TJ Maxx last week and I spied a table that fit all my wants…kind of. It’s hard to tell from the pic, but it was in sorry shape:
You can kind of see in the pic that the front right wheel was about an inch off the ground, so the whole table wobbled like crazy.
And the top…well, it was just a mess. It was really thin and warped and had cracks in it:
If it had been thicker and not warped I could have dealt with the cracks, but really, it had had much better days.
Even with all the issues I was kind of shocked to see the $39 price tag on it – I just expected it to be more. It’s a good sized table, a nice height, long. The price had been knocked down big time because of all the issues. But I came up with a plan to make it look awesome, so I grabbed it up (and then carried it around the whole store, looking really awkward.)
To start the redo I took the table top off:
And brought it with me to Lowe’s to pick out new wood that fit the same dimensions. I ended up with about $15 (I think?) of pine wood and cut it down to fit the same size tabletop. I came up with a simple design I liked:
(Excuse the gross rug in the garage.)
Once I got the design and sizes of the boards figured out, I started nailing. I actually cut down a piece of scrap particle board to use as a base – I made it slightly smaller for a reason that I’ll show you in a bit:
I nailed the center pieces on first, and then as much of the edge pieces as I could. Here is a better shot of the particle board from underneath:
I just cut it down with my jigsaw -- the edges aren’t pretty, but they don’t have to be. If no one will see it, I don’t worry about it. ;)
Then I used some thinner, lattice wood to frame out the bottom:
It gave me more support for the edge pieces and my main goal was to thicken up the table top. I put the lattice flush with the top boards to make the whole thing thicker and more substantial.
That’s the reason I made the particle board “base” smaller – if I had made it bigger the rough edges would have shown on the sides. I wanted it to look finished and that allowed me to do that.
Hope that makes sense!! Usually I don’t do things the “right” way, I just do them the “what’s easiest and works way.” It’s worked out well for me. ;)
I sanded down the sharp corners and edges, then did one coat of my Minwax dark walnut stain that I use everywhere. (I showed you how to apply it here.)
Oh my goodness, it is SO not perfect. The boards don’t all match up, there are gaps and you can see the cut edges of the wood on the side:
While I was putting it together, I realized I should have mitered the four thicker outside pieces of the tabletop, but later I found I really liked that look -- I love the rough edge at the end. So it worked out for the best! (And it was way easier than mitering!)
I just screwed it back on to the base after a coat of poly dried:
It is the EXACT look, size and height that I was going for right there:
UGH, I LOVE when a project works out!!
Oh, I forgot to mention I fixed the wonky wheel by taking it out on the deck(with the top off) and hanging the shorter side off a step while I pushed down on it. It was just bent and I bent it back, so now all the wheels are level:
They actually roll too. (Squeal!) I have a thing with wheels – kind of obsessed with them.
I accessorized it with cool lamp (from a consignment store) I’ve had forever and never found the right place for, one of my amber vases from the antique store and a brass bowl I picked up at Target a couple months ago:
Oh, and one of my favorite parts is that it’s open underneath so I can keep our blankets tucked away. That basket is from HomeGoods and I LOVE.
Here’s a quick before and after – so many of the issues were hard to see in the photo, but now we have a level, non-rocking, sturdy industrial table that is perfect for this space:
The basketball hoop is totally chic too – please don’t be jealous. ;)
Sometimes it’s nice to build things from scratch, but don’t count out reworking store bought items too! I would have totally tried to get the table for even cheaper, considering all that was wrong with it, but sometimes they don't let you return if you do that. I wasn’t sure this redo was going to work out so I didn’t want to chance it.
Have you made something store-bought perfect for your needs? I’d love to hear!
P.S. Just found this one online that is really similar – mine just doesn’t have the bottom shelf:
Their price? About $430. Mine was about $50. Not too bad eh? ;)
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