DIY Rustic Style Coffee Table With Reclaimed Wood

Making a rustic style coffee table with reclaimed wood is a lot of fun. This is a great opportunity to use up scrap wood, or to go to a reclaimed lumber store and buy some different pieces. This project is all about creativity, and creating a pattern, which is really an art piece.

The build is very simple, and utilizes staples and glue.

To construct the base I used reclaimed redwood with simple glue and staples joints, all butted together. All the pieces were 1x2s except for the legs which I added a small 1x1 piece, to make the legs were square.

I cut the 1x2 redwood to measure 18 inches for the legs. To make each leg, I stapled together the 1x1 to the 1x2, and then I stapled that piece on to a 1x2 piece to create each leg. I cut up rails out of the same wood that measured 28 inches on the long side and 18 inches on the short side, and I stapled and glued those to the legs to create the base.

I had picked up a whole bunch of different reclaimed wood for the top. Most of them were in the neighborhood of 3/4 inch thick, so I planed them all down to be about 5/8 of an inch thick. Then I cut them into 1 1/2 inch wide strips on the table saw.

The pattern on the top is all about miter joints. So I got all the wood lined up, and I started making mitered cuts, and developing a design as I went along.

When I had all my wood cut, I started to glue and staple the wood down onto a 2x3 foot piece of 1/2 inch plywood. It's important that you have your pattern already figured out, so you can just glue and staple right away. I used 3/4 inch staples, and I made sure to have good glue coverage everywhere.

I followed my pattern, however I let the wood run wild on the sides, because I was planning on cleaning up the edges later with a circular saw.

To ensure that all the wood attached properly, I clamped it down for an hour while the glue was drying.

Then I set up the circular saw with wood as a guide to clean up the edges.

Next up, to give the top more of a finished look, I cut up a frame for it, using some reclaimed clear fir. I mitered the edges, and then I just glued and stapled those pieces to the top.

After that, I gave the base a good sanding with a block sander, and I smoothed out the top with a a palm sander.

And finally, finishing. I sprayed some polyurethane on my table, however you could finish it in any way you want.

For a more in depth look, please take a look at the video that goes over the various steps: