Reclaimed Planter Box Console Table (Guest Posting)

The is a guest posting by the Handy Husband

Ever since we moved in to our new home, my weekends (and sometimes weekdays) have been filled with seemingly never ending home improvement projects. Until recently these projects were primarily focused on fixing things that were in disrepair: caulking the bathtub, installing a new laundry room faucet, touching up the baseboards with a fresh coat of paint, etc.  Although I have been able to punch my ‘man card’ more than a few times over the years, I had never tackled any ‘creative’ projects before.  As my wife has been known to say I am to ‘brute force’ what she is to creativity.

When my wife and I first began to discuss the idea of building our own sofa table I must admit I was a bit skeptical. I had never taken on a creative project before and was admittedly a little nervous about the possibility of being involved in a ‘Pinterest fail’…whatever that means.

The plan was to use some old industrial type mining boxes around the yard to create a distressed wood sofa table to sit behind our couch in the family room – a sort of Restoration Hardware look…without the $3,000 price tag.  Despite my initial concerns, I decided to go for it and was extremely pleased with the results.

Best of all the entire project only cost around $20-30.  With brand new sofa tables costing a minimum of $200+, this project was not only fun, but a huge money saver!

On to the play by play….

Step 1: Gather supplies and tools

Supplies:  For this project I wanted to create a distressed wood aka ‘shabby chic’ sofa table to sit behind a large sofa in our family room.  I found a couple of industrial mining boxes, as well as 4X4 and 2X4 studs in and around our yard (graciously left by the previous owner) that I thought would work for the project.  My plan was to join the boxes together (upside down) and use the 4X4s as legs.  I also grabbed a beat up pallet from the garage in case I needed some additional distressed wood scraps during the construction process. Purchased supplies included 24 4inch lag screws, 2 decorative antique handles and 6 matching antique hinges.

Tools: tools I used included a hammer, prybar (preferably the skinny kind), wood glue (from Home Depot), a cordless drill with bits, tape measure, pencil, and awl.

Scrap wood we found in our garden: two large mining boxes, 4×4 posts, and a scrap pallet

Step 2: Glue large cracks and add support beams as necessary.

With distressed wood, small cracks and imperfections in the wood are expected.  However, large cracks or splits in the wood need to be mended to ensure stability during and after the construction process.  For this project, I was particularly concerned about a few large splits in bottoms of the mining boxes (i.e. my table top).  I used wood glue along the crack and clamped the boards together until the glue dried. You can also attach shore up severely damaged boards by using perpendicular support beams attached to the underside of the table top.  I used scrap pieces of 2X4 as support beams underneath the places in the table top that I mended with glue.

Mend large cracks and splits by using wood glue and clamps.

Support beam placed underneath the table top where I glued large cracks

Step 3: Join the two boxes together

To join the two boxes together, I had to first remove two wood strips on the end of each box.  I used a hammer and skinny pry-bar to carefully remove these strips.

Carefully remove the end pieces on one side of each box

After removing the end pieces I was careful to salvage the rusty nails as these will be used later on.

Salvage the rustic nails from the box

After the end pieces were removed from each box I used scrap 2X4 pieces to join the boxes together.  I used normal wood screws to attach the 2X4s to the underside of the table (where they would not be seen).  For extra stability I used the rusty nails I salvaged earlier to attach the sides and top of the table to the 2X4 supports underneath (where they would be seen).  I pre-drilled holes before hammering the nails in order to minimize wood splitting.

Connect the two boxes together using scrap 2X4s

Step 4: Use scrap pallet wood to fill the transition gap

After joining the boxes there was a small gap between the top pieces of each box.  I used wood taken from the scrap pallet to create a nice transition piece.  I used salvaged nails to attach this piece. I also used an awl to ensure I didn’t create hammer marks in the wood when pounding the nails.

Using salvaged nails I attached wood taken from the scrap pallet to create a transition piece on the table top

Step 7: Cut and attach the legs

Once the table top was completed it was time to create the legs.  I wanted the completed table to be the same height as our sofa.  Using a measuring tape I calculated the approximate height that the legs needed to be (couch height – table top thickness = leg length).  I then cut four 4X4s to length and attached them to the table using black 4 inch decretive lag bolts that I bought at home depot.  I used 6 bolts per leg to ensure stability.

Six 4 inch lag screws used to attach each 4X4 leg to the table top

 Step 8: Wash and wipe down the table

After attaching the legs, I washed the entire table down with a hose and used a scrubbing brush and a little soap to get rid of any remaining dust and dirt.  I then let the table dry in the sun for a few hours.

Washed the table down and scrubbed off dirt and dust.

Step 9: Seal the table

After the table was dry, I used a 80 grit sandpaper to ensure there were no rough spots on the table or legs. Once the table was relatively smooth, I applied two coats of a polyurethane sealant that I bought at Home Depot.  The polyurethane darkened the wood somewhat, however, I was pleased with the final look. In between coats, I used 150 grit sand paper to buff out dried sealant drips (especially near the bolts).

Brushed on two coats of sealant while lightly sanding table with 150 grit sandpaper in between coats.

Step 10: Add some flair

Once the second coat of sealant dried the table looked great, however, it still seemed to be missing something.  I decided to add some rusty antique hardware (bought at a local antique hardware store) to spice up the overall look.  I attached a handle on each end as well as 6 hinges (2 on each end and 2 in the middle) to really enhance the rustic look.

Added decorative hardware to enhance the overall look

Project Notes:

This project did not require advance wood-working skills and took me a full weekend to complete. With the decorative hardware, this project cost around $50 to complete.  A similar sofa table at Pottery Barn or Restoration Hardware can easily cost upwards of $1,000 or more.  Beyond the cost savings our family had a fun DIY weekend in the Autumn sun.  We also had a furry companion who helped us out with quality control. Hope you enjoyed the post!

– Handy Husband

Extra: our little helper