Handmade Square Plank Coffee Table

Have you ever been searching for something that you can never find? You have a very clear picture in your head of what you want, but nothing you see fits with what you want. Or, let’s say once you do find it, it’s nowhere near what you’re willing or able to spend on it? I was feeling that way about a coffee table for our family room.

 

We’ve recently moved into a new house with a large family room, so we splurged on a new, large sectional. I knew I wanted a large coffee table to supplement all the seating that the sectional provided, and didn’t feel like a traditional rectangular coffee table would look right in the room. A large square table would be ideal, but I would have been open to a round table, if it looked ok. I searched high and low. Everyday I scoured Craigslist, Facebook Marketplace, Letgo, Freecycle, and all the other typical big stores where you can find a variety of choices for furniture. Nothing was what I was looking for.

 

Our Requirements

I should mention this: my husband had some strong opinions about what he wanted in a coffee table. That ruled out a lot of what I was seeing and liking. He felt adamant that there should be no lower storage shelf under the table. He really likes being able to sit on the floor and put his legs under the coffee table while eating or playing a board game. Have you ever noticed how many coffee tables have a lower shelf? I didn’t either, until I had to start ruling them out. Oh boy.

As for me, I had found that I liked a slightly rustic farmhouse look. You may have noticed that farmhouse furniture, while still very popular, is pretty expensive! We had a budget to stick to, and buying a piece that was supposed to look handmade and rustic just wasn’t sitting well with me. I  knew I could build what I was looking for, so long as I had decent directions or plans. 

 

We had a wood stain that we both liked the color of, and keeping in mind that the other piece I was building for the room was going to be white, I ultimately decided to build our coffee table from scratch, instead of continue to search.

Rogue Engineer to the Rescue

After searching through many styles and plans, I finally found this table by Jamison, the Rogue Engineer. I was pretty sure I could follow his plans and simply alter the parts I needed, in order to fit our needs.  I also realized after the fact that our couch arrangements and color is very similar – I guess I was on the right track, thinking I needed a square table! What is it they say about great minds? 🙂

Isn’t this table gorgeous? I particularly loved how the table top is framed on the outer edge. Since the basic structure was what I mostly needed, I chose to build the main part and simply leave off the the bottom shelf. I also had some different plans for the finished look. I’m not going to rewrite the full directions, since Jamison did such a great job. I’ll simply include my comments and the parts that I changed.

My Process

I started by choosing my lumber, and then cutting it to size using my miter saw. I then drilled pocket holes using my Kregg Jig and screwed the the top pieces together and used wood filler to fill in the small gaps.

 

Then I built the base and set the top on it to see how I liked it. I had a feeling I’d need a slightly larger apron. The directions for the lower shelf included two 2×4” pieces, so I just cut two more and used the four pieces to make an apron.

 

This looks more like what I was picturing!

After the top and bottom pieces were put together separately, I sanded and stained the top, and then I sanded and painted the bottom.

 

Once everything was finished, I screwed the base to the top from upside down, and then it was all done!

 

In the end…

A few things didn’t come out perfectly – one side of the apron is a little crooked. For my first time using the Kregg Jig though, it went pretty well. I had borrowed it from my friend, but I’m totally sold, and I have lots of plans for new projects soon with my own Kregg Jig!