I Flied? No, You Falled: Making a Table from Scratch for the First Time

Over the summer, Sage and I each wanted to take on a project that was big and outside of our comfort zones (other than my depressing, damp garage, of course). That’s how you grow! We got together for moral support, to spend time together now that she deserted me we don’t work together any more, and to share Sage’s power tools.  So, while Sage was working on her amazing metal coffee table, I was also trying to make a table of my own.

Unfortunately, my construction didn’t go quite as smoothly as Sage’s but (spoiler alert) it was still a functional table by the end. This is a tale about my first attempt at making furniture from scratch. Like most DIY efforts (at least in my experience) a lot went wrong, and I spent most of my time trying to recover from disasters and keep the project moving along. DIY is more of an experience of “falling” than “flying” – the best I usually do is a controlled fall.

I set out to make a table to go under the window in the living room. For the reveal of our world-famous, award winning, cactus side table, I rigged up a crazy set-up so a row of plants would sit right behind my red armchair.

I loved the way this looked, but obviously needed my pots and pans for other uses. I also wasn’t hopeful I would find a table of the exact dimensions and height that I would need in a style I liked, and I wanted something more substantial than just mounting a shelf under the window sill. The perfect thing to DIY!

I had been pretty busy in the lead-up to our designated project day, so I googled “how to make a table” on my way to meet Sage, and when we showed up to Home Depot I had only the desired dimensions and a vague idea of how it could all fit together.

Lesson #1: Take a little while to research and plan before starting a big project.

We started in lumber, where I was lucky enough to find a single piece in their common board section that was in good condition and was pretty much exactly my desired dimensions, so I decided to base my table around that. It was only $10!

I also picked out some square posts that were substantial enough for legs for about $3 each, and some other boards to built the rest of the table structure.

After a lot of wandering, discussions with Sage, and assistance from some very helpful (if a bit condescending) employees, I had all my supplies.

What will follow now is NOT a step-by-step tutorial, or any sort of cut list or guide to make a similar table for yourselves. For one, I doubt many people would need this exact table, since it is made for the dimensions of my house. But most importantly, I had no idea what I was doing. Loads of things went wrong, and I would do a lot very differently if I were starting over. But hopefully this can reassure some people that, yes, you can make furniture even if you have no idea what you’re doing. And, no, it is not the end of the world when something goes wrong. You can totally recover and still make something that vaguely resembles is pretty much the final product that you had in mind.

I started by doing a lot of loose math to figure out how to cut the different pieces of wood to end up at my desired height. I planned to use the board as it was, cut the legs down to size, and build a frame with the thin pieces.

Using the table saw was pretty thrilling. This was the day that Sage taught me how to use it, and it made me feel like a total pro.  (I wasn’t.)

Most of the pieces I just measured and cut, but to get the legs to be exactly the same height, I clamped them together and cut them in one pass.

Here is the wood all cut!

At this point, I was feeling pretty pleased with myself. Supplies and cutting were day 1, so on day 2 I returned, and this is when all the disaster happened. DIY is such an emotional roller coaster!

I started by assembling the apron with little wooden wedges I had cut to join all the pieces together.

This was my first mistake. For one, they sell nice metal pieces, link this, that I probably should have invested in. For another, most other tables that use wood do it more like this:

That just gives more surface to work on so the wood has a better chance of holding up structurally.

Lesson #2: Take a little while to research and plan before starting a big project. …Oh, wait, was that the same as Lesson #1?

But I didn’t know any of that, so I went ahead and attached them anyway with little nails on each side.

While I was going, I secured each piece with wood glue so that the final structure would be a bit more sturdy. So at this point I clamped them down and let them dry for about 30 minutes.

I entertained myself in the interim by sanding. Fun.

Attaching the legs was where the real problems began. The wood of the leg pieces was a very different material than the rest of the wood, and it was really hard to drill through. Like, pushing-as hard-as-I-can hard to drill through.

I drilled a pilot hole for each, drilled through with a larger bit, and then drove the screw in.

At least, that was what was supposed to happen. In reality, I broke a drill bit:

And stripped a few screws, which Sage helped me get out using her ingenious stripped-screw-removal system.

Still, it did eventually come together, although I was feeling a lot more rueful, and a lot less confident, as I contemplated my constructed frame.

Still, there was nowhere to go but onward! I completed the base by adding supports to the legs. I wanted a low support on each side and a long, higher up support along the back.

I was pretty pleased when my original cut fit perfectly.

But that pleasure quickly turned to sorrow when I immediately stripped the screw I was attaching it with. This wood was giving me a lot of problems, because it would suddenly run up against a hard spot, and I am not experienced enough to catch that in time and pull back.

Fortunately, Sage has a dremel with a metal attachment, so instead of removing the screw, I just cut off the top, leaving a little gold stud behind… which I think actually looks awesome! Hooray, I thought, I am being rewarded for my mistakes!

Since I knew these screws would be visible, I had purchased gold ones for joining the low side supports. I am very glad I did, since it makes the “gold stud” look better.

I did the same on the other side (for symmetry) and had a lot less trouble joining the various supports along the back.

Attaching the top was pretty easy.  I just lined it up carefully so it would be symmetrical on the frame, and attached it with little corner braces.

Fortunately, my drilling problems did not follow me into this step.

Despite everything that went wrong, it still stands up like a table!

Despite my reasonable pride immense self-satisfaction at this point, I noticed that did have a bit of a wiggle (known as racking, which Sage explains in her post about making her coffee table), so I added a pair of corner braces on the two back legs.

The braces didn’t solve the whole problem, but they made a big difference.  Since my table will be behind a chair and pushed up against a wall, I feel comfortable with how sturdy it is.

I finished it with Watco Danish Oil in Medium Walnut (affiliate link – read our policies).  I’m really happy with the finish, so I’ll do a whole post about that process another time.

I’m so pleased with the final result!

OK, I get that you really can’t see it very well in that shot, but that is where it is supposed to go.  Here it is without all the stuff in front of it:

I like the simple lines and warm wood tone.  It is a pretty understated presence in the room (which is the idea, as I have a lot going on in there), but I LOVE having all my plants front and center.

Even though a ton of things went wrong along the way, I still got where I wanted to be in the end.  And you can’t really tell what a disaster it was.  In fact, I think some of the details look pretty good!

It really pulls the room together.  This side always looked a little “dinky,” and this piece helps ground it, and pushes the chair forward a bit to form a better seating area.

I’m so glad I took on this project, even though it was way out of my comfort zone (and, for all I knew, beyond my abilities).  Perhaps others will read this and not get discouraged when they mess up a whole lot along the way on a project.

In the end, I got a table that was perfect for my space and an excellent learning experience!

(Sharing at Remodelaholic, Think and Make Thursday, and Thrifty Decor Chick’s October Before and After)