Create a DIY Upcycled Coffee Table for Your Living Room

Tools and Materials

• Tree trunk
• Ax
• Sandpaper
• Brillo pad
• Water
• Fireplace (you can use a heater or log burner for this, it’s used to dry the wood out)

The first thing I had to do was find myself a tree trunk! Luckily, I had a friend who had a tree cut down and had plenty of wood for me to choose from. I took three different sized pieces, with different heights and widths, to create three small tables with staggered size. 

Using an ax, we removed all of the bark on the trunk. It took a while and there were quite a few bugs as well, but once the bark was removed I loved how the bare wood looked. Make sure to be extra careful while doing this part, as one slip of the ax can take off a toe!

This part took a few different tries to get it right. At first we tried to lay them over the subfloor heating, with a towel underneath them, to dry them out. This did dry them out quite a bit, but not enough. We decided to sand and clean them up a bit, and then try to dry them again after.

We sanded the logs a few different ways as well. At first, we roughly sanded them outside. 

Then we brought them inside and I washed and scrubbed them with a brillo pad and water. I wanted to get rid of the mud that had accumulated on the ends of the log, but I didn’t want to remove all of the dirt, as I liked the rustic vibe that a bit of dirt lent to the piece as a whole. 

Now we tried to dry them out again. We placed the logs in front of a wood stove, propped up on logs so that the heat could get under the logs to dry the bottom as well. We also rotated them around a few times so that each side dried as well. This process worked a lot better than our first try, and after one night they were ready to be put into use. Even with this, they weren’t completely dry, but with time they will eventually dry out entirely. 

I gave them a little sanding once more, and they were ready for action.

These logs are easy to move around and provide a nice little spot for my mug of coffee in the morning. I loved making them, and I love the fact that they were free even more! If you’re having trouble finding a tree trunk to use for this project, try contacting a local gardening company and ask if they’re planning on cutting down a tree any time soon. Let me know if you’ve tried this project and how it went for you in the comments down below!