Coffee Table Made From Leftover Fence Boards

Madison McGahan
by Madison McGahan
3 Materials
$60
1 Day
Medium
I am a DIY addict!!! There, I said it!!! The only problem I can find with that statement though, is that I'm always craving change in my decor and always looking for the 'better piece' of furniture I could make.
With that said, I have had 3 formal living room coffee tables in our new house and we've only been here one year. I couldn't seem to find the right fit.
But then I got an idea from Pinterest (of course) I saw what looked like an old reclaimed wood coffee table in a picture about Sherwin Williams paint. So of course there was no info on the piece. But, as I always do, I thought "I could totally make that!!!"


It had gorgeous bun feet and huge black nail heads. So I looked online until I found some nailheads at DIYUpholstrysupply. I ordered them right away!!!
Next I ordered some gorgeous bun feet from Home Depot. The Pinterest table had gorgeous bun feet.


Next I took 4 pallet boards and multiple fence boards sanded them pretty smooth with first 150 grit, then 220. Then started painting them white. 1 thin coat is all you need. You can use chalk paint or latex it doesn't matter (chalk paint just dries faster).


Next I sanded the paint mostly off, but left some, only enough to see some of the wood grain.
Next I took my favorite kona stain and coated the board and quickly rubbed it off so it only gave it a grey weathered look
Next I started assembling it all together
Trying to make sure I assemble the base the perfect width for the boards I'm prepping.
As you can see I used a bracing corner bracket to give the corners an industrial look. They come silver and you can get them in the cabinet hardware section of Home Depot. I just spray painted mine with hammered black spray paint.
Once I started trying to figure out how I wanted the base and the bun feet to look, I realized that it would be WAY too low for me.
So I picked up these beauties from HD and stained them the same way!
Once I got it all together, I spent the rest of the evening (and into the early morning.... Cuz you know, I'm obsessed with it) and hand drilled each hole an 8th of an inch so that I could then hammer the nails the rest of the way in with my rubber mallet!
I used a wood glue on the boards, but the nail heads were actually long enough that they went into the base, making it even more secure.
And there you have it!!! I've had this table for a year now (which is nearly a century for my time) and I have no interest in changing it what so ever. This is one of the few pieces I'll keep for quite a while!
Below is my HomeTalk live segment featured on Facebook. If you are interested in making this table, this IS the best tutorial. It should answer all your questions for building it. Plus in the comment section, HomeTalk has provided links for the finish tutorial and where to buy the nailheads!


Happy DIYing!!! :)
Resources for this project:
Cedar fence boards and wood legs
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Frequently asked questions
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3 of 23 questions
  • Melody Melody on Jan 27, 2018

    Outstanding! Can you tell me the dimensions of the table? I was wondering if it could be not so wide.

  • Cynthia Cynthia on Jan 31, 2018

    Hi, which website did you use for the DADS nails? I see the link above for Amazon, but they are the same as your video. If I can find them for $ 30 like you mentioned that would be ideal! I am finally finished with my table and now awaiting the beautiful details. =)

  • Lyn Lyn on Dec 23, 2018

    So you stapled each board to the base and didn’t glue them together??

Comments
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2 of 168 comments
  • MarianM MarianM on Sep 23, 2022

    It looks amazing. The most I like the colour of the table.

  • Patty Patty on Feb 03, 2024

    Love the color. The nail heads look so good. I have a coffee table I'd love to try this on.

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