Pop's Coffee Tables

Way back in November of 2012 (when I was staying with the rents while the hubs was already working on the new job and the house had sold...) I stumbled upon a project. When I moved into my first apartment many, many years ago, I got one of those horrific matching living room and dining room sets from Rooms to Go. I am mortified to even admit that now... most of the pieces have been long sold on Craig's List. All that remains are a coffee table and 2 end tables that have been hiding in an extra room in my parents house for maybe 7 years! I had totally forgotten about them until we were packing up some of our stuff one evening and it occurred to me that with this new big house we could really use some extra tables. Truth be told, these were slated to be put in the family room since the beautiful PB one that we have does not fit with the sectional (yes - we bought an insanely expensive sectional without measuring the opening where the table would sit. DUH!)

This is what the tables looked like...

I decided that we didn't have enough on our plates with the move and that building new table tops was just what we needed to spend our 'spare' time doing! So my dad and I sketched out two tables. A smaller end table (18 inch square) and larger coffee table (27 inch square). I wanted to reuse the legs from the existing tables and add rustic looking wood tops. Since I had just read Hi Sugarplum's Reclaimed Shelves and Desk post, we didn't have to think too hard about how to make this happen!

We came home from the 'Man Store' with the needed supplies already to cut to size and got to work! It was a super fast project thanks to my dad and our awesome assistant! We basically used 3 of the 9 inch wide pieces for the bigger table and 2 of the 9 inch wide pieces for the end table. We used the same process for both tables so I am going to outline it for the bigger coffee table only.

1. Lay the 3 boards on your work space
2. Place your 3 support pieces going the opposite direction on the 3 boards
3. Attach your support pieces using wood screws
4. Lay your trim pieces on all 4 sides of the table to ensure they fit
5. Attach your trim pieces using wood glue and let it dry
6. We opted to also use finishing nails to attach the trim to the tabletop
7. Attach the leg hardware to the bottom of the table

 And this is how the tables sat for about 2 months as I lived out of a box decided how I wanted to stain them! When I stumbled upon this amazing idea to use Steel Wool, Vinegar, & Coffee Stain! Tune in tomorrow for the full scoop on this awesome stain!