Wine Barrel Coffee Table

Lisa Yax Sayers
by Lisa Yax Sayers
I saw a table like this on one of my favorite websites, but didn't want to pay what they were asking, so I got to working searching online. Used barrels have gone up in price because many people are looking to turn them into functional furniture around the home. But if you search for the right thing, you can find some inexpensive options! Unfortunately I lost a lot of photos when my computer crashed, but can share what we did and point you in the right direction to make your own!
First thing you want to do is search for a wine barrel trough or planter! You could get the entire barrel, but then you have the added work of cutting it and putting it back together. Here is a site that has the planters/troughs. And considering the cost of the finished table was close to $1000, we were happy with this price and the free shipping! http://www.barrelcreation.com/rainbarrelsplanters.html
We got lucky and our barrel was actually shipped in this base! We had already thought about how we would put it on legs, but this was perfect! The base was made out of 2 - 2x12 boards, 26" long that were cut for the barrel to sit down in. Each 2 x 12 was screwed into a 1 x 3 for the "feet". Everything was unfinished, but a coat of stain on it all worked out perfect!
Running lengthwise from one 2 x 12 to the other is a barrel stave (which you can also find online).
For the top we used three unfinished solid oak stair treads. Two had the the bull nose which gave us the rounded edge and the third was used in the middle. We used our kreg jig to drill pocket holes and nailed them together. Then I told my husband I need his large towing chain so I could beat it up! He then looked at me like I had two heads! I also added some "worm holes" using a pick, as I wanted a distressed look.


We screwed the top to the base using some brackets on the underside of the top at each end.


A coat of stain and some top coat and we were good to go! We also considered putting the top on hinges so we could store things inside, but I decided I probably wouldn't do that anyway, but it is an option!


We love our new table and have had many requests to build more! Hope this was helpful!
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  • Jennifer Jennifer on Feb 24, 2016
    I love this! I had a friend that made his out of the big blue plastic barrels and somehow he managed to make it look just like wood and the whole thing cost him about $25
    • Lisa Yax Sayers Lisa Yax Sayers on Feb 24, 2016
      @Jennifer that is awesome! Would love to see a photo! Thank you for sharing!
  • Jennifer Jennifer on Feb 24, 2016
    I will see if he can send me a pic and will share. I'll also ask him how he accomplished the real wood look!
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