How to Make an Inexpensive Coffee Table

If you've shopped for a coffee table lately, you're aware that the price can go off the charts. Here are some ideas for a less-expensive stand-in while you wait for your ship to come in.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Chicken Coops
• Concrete Urns
• Footlockers
• Glass Blocks
• Wood Stain
• Coffee Table Books
• Glass Tabletops
• Large Planting Containers
• Paints
• Tile Grout
• Unfinished Tables
• Varnish Or Other Clear Finish
• Wallpaper
• Wallpaper Liners
• Wood Shipping Crates
• Wood Wastebaskets
• Lumber
• Clear Silicone Caulks
• Wood Or Plastic Cubes

1. Build a platform of glass blocks; two blocks high (about 16 inches) is about right. Top the blocks with a sheet of thick, ground-edge glass for a slick modern look. Join the blocks with silicone caulk.

2. Cover any type of sturdy base - a footlocker or two same-size broken stereo speakers, for example - with a rich-looking wallpaper such as faux leather, faux marble or faux granite; you might want to paint any exposed hardware a coordinated color or special metallic. Top off your creation with a glass top or a wood top from a home center (apply stain and a clear-coat to the wood or paint it).

3. Put clay flowerpots (can be inverted), sturdy wooden trash cans (inverted), cement urns, porcelain fish pots or a chicken coop to work as a table base. Use the bases singly or in pairs, and top them off with glass or wood.

4. Cut down the wooden legs or pedestal of an old - but not valuable - table to suitable coffee-table height.

5. Purchase an unfinished coffee table and finish it yourself. Unfinished-furniture stores and home centers may offer classes or easy finishing products such as spray-on or sponge-on faux finishes.

6. Purchase furniture legs (sold at home centers) and screw them in to a wooden table top. Finish as desired.

7. Put a couple of stacks of coffee-table books to work as a table base that you can top with glass.

8. Haunt thrift shops and tag sales for a secondhand piece that will work. It doesn't have to be a coffee table per se; consider a cedar chest, rustic toolchest or a flat-top steamer trunk.

Tips & Warnings

• Put plastic "buttons" (available at home centers and hardware stores) under glass table tops to discourage them from sliding.
• Glass table tops should be thick - probably at least 1/2 inch - for strength and ample weight (so the glass doesn't shift easily). Ask the glass store for advice; generally the larger the piece, the thicker it will need to be.
• Have the glass store grind the edge of a glass top so it's not sharp or splintery.

on 11/22/2005 I have seen many variations of one simple idea: Placing something visually appealing under the layer of glass you put on top of the impromptu table.

A collection of black and white photographs, old records, stamps, cards, or a Mondrianesque mosaic of similarly hued paint chips all look really stylish and take a basic under table to another level of detail.

To ensure the arrangement does not move, use restickable glue (a glue stick that turns any paper item into a post-it note) to arrange the items on your table before laying down the anti-skid buttons and finally the glass.

on 11/22/2005 At most large craft stores you can buy unfinished wooden trunks with flat tops, just made out of simple wood sheets. You can use a stapling gun and reupholster it with a nice fabric, or even put quilt padding under the fabric for a small ottoman for a couch. If you need to learn how to reupholster, I suggest watching a few episodes of Trading Spaces on TLC.

on 11/22/2005 Find an old wooden door, paint the door(if you want to), and use it as a table top. It's an inexpensive alternative to a store-bought table and it's one-of-a-kind.