My husband and I have been at this DIY thing for over a decade but have only recently started documenting our projects and plans on our blog.  With a super tight budget it’s difficult to splurge on store bought items for our home, so we build our own furnishings while trying to use as much salvaged and reclaimed wood as we can.  Case in point, this DIY Reclaimed Wood TV Table.

Here’s what we’ve been working with – a dresser we picked up at Target about 12 years ago for $100 that has served multiple purposes.  First, clothing storage for our bedroom, then a changing table/dresser for our baby (who’s now 7) and finally as a media cabinet in our living room.  From afar it looks cute and cottage like, but get a little closer and it’s a little rough around the edges.  Kind of like getting your photo taken without any make-up on…not bad, unless you zoom in.

After we recently built a kitchen island for a relative, I knew something similar would be a perfect compliment to our living room, which has a rustic, cottage like, comfy vibe.  Building a piece of custom furniture is always a much longer process than I expect because of the planning involved.  The designing stages are crucial, as it is here where you’ll determine the perfect dimension of the piece.  The best part about the plan we are about to present is that it’s completely customizable.  We would encourage you to adjust the dimensions of the table to fit your space!

There’s a secret feature to this table that is perfect for those of us that don’t have the luxury of a wall mounted flat screen television.  The leg at the back center of the media cabinet is actually hollowed out to conceal your television cord!  This worked great for us because our wall outlet just happens to be at the exact center point of the wall, meaning we could line up the back center leg with the outlet so the cords AND the outlet are concealed.  And that’s the genius part of building your own furniture – it can accommodate all of those little things that make a piece of furniture both beautiful and practical!

And one last note, we were fortunate to have access to some reclaimed wood but you can easily substitute store bought materials, we’ve listed the sizes of wood you would need below.

Tools Needed

Miter saw

Table saw

Kreg Jig

Drill

Jig Saw

Orbital Sander

Supplies Needed

1×2 material

1×4 material

2×4 material

2×6 material

4×4 material

1 1/2″ Kreg screws

3″ cabinetry screws

1 3/4″ screws

With this project, we can cut all of our pieces that will be needed right at the beginning.  You may find that some parts will need minor adjustments as you go along, just be sure to dry fit it before you start attaching pieces.  Our finished table has the following dimensions; 50″L x 19″W x 33 1/2″H, so here are the cuts we made to get there.

A = bottom shelf pieces, use 2×4’s and/or 2×6 material.  Our total width across all of the pieces is 16″ and the length is 50″.  We purposefully mixed in different widths of boards to give the piece more character and less consistency.  You can do the same by ripping down 2×4’s and 2×6’s to inconsistent widths or all pieces could be the same size, depending on your taste.

Use a chisel to remove the remaining wood fragments.

Continue until you have cut a dado into all four legs.

Using 1 1/2″ Kreg screws, attach the skirt to the leg.

Attach the other leg to the opposite end of that same skirt.  It’s helpful to use the other piece of skirting as a temporary support while you put the screws in.

Attach the two small pieces to the large piece as shown below with 1 3/4″ screws.

We like our supports to overhang the legs by about 1/4″.  Work the support into the dados, check that the legs are straight with a level and clamp them until dry.  Make sure to wipe off any excess glue that oozes out!

Before we can attach the front skirt, some support needs to be added behind it.  Use the piece labeled Letter H and use 1 1/2″ Kreg screws to attach it to the front legs.

Lay your shelf pieces out to determine what order you want them to be in.  We like to mix up different sizes of wood for a more rustic look.  Make a pencil mark where each board starts and stops, this will help determine where pilot holes need to be drilled. If you’ll be staining this bottom shelf, apply a coat of stain to the inside edges before you attach anything.

Move your table up onto some sawhorses, lay the bottom shelf pieces on top of the support and put the 3″ cabinetry screws through from underneath.

If you will be wrapping your front piece of bottom shelf around the front legs as we did, you’ll need to notch a corner out the shelf to make it fit.

This is the notch we cut out of our bottom shelf piece.

Using your pieces marked as Letter D, space them out evenly between the supports and attach with pocket screws.

Using a table saw with the blade only set to go partway through the leg, make a series of cuts, each time moving the leg a little more towards the side so the saw continues to remove the excess wood.

This is what the table should look like at this point.

The table legs and bottom shelf are almost the same color gray as our walls – which I’m happy about because it makes the table blend into the room a little better.  It feels like we’ve just added in some additional texture with the rough wood.

Our outlet to plug in the TV also happens to be perfectly centered behind the middle wooden leg, so it is hidden as well!

Here’s a close up of the top of the table.

If you’re looking for more project tutorials, stop by our blog and check out some of the other things we’ve been working on!  Thanks so much for having me Jen!!

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Thanks Heidi! That table is amazing! It looks so awesome in the space, and I love the wire baskets underneath too. Heidi has such awesome ideas on her blog. Here are a few of her most popular ones that you should check out. She has some serious talent!

This Industrial Iron Pipe Family Photo Display is awesome isn’t it? I love how you can fit such big photos. Such a great piece for a big wall. 

She also has this amazing tutorial to build this outdoor Patio Table with Built-In Ice Coolers that has places for flowers, iced drinks, or anything else you want to put there. SO cool!!

She also has a fun tutorial that will help you build your own shutters on a budget. These Easy Breezy Beautiful Shutters turned out so cute! And, they only cost her about $5/shutter to build.

Make sure to follow Kruse’s Workshop and

xoxo

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As I was working on our master bedroom redo, I knew I wanted a bench at the end of the bed. The wrought iron bench I had there was fine, but it didn’t fit the look of my bedroom (and I kept stubbing my toes on it). So I needed to look for something different. And it’s the  perfect place to put shoes on in the morning and stack pillows up at night.

I wanted something modern but with a touch of wood and metal …  Finally, I found this “reclaimed look” bench at Overstock that I liked:

But … turned out it was only 10 inches deep! Iit was just a bit too shallow — so it would be awkward to sit on to put your shoes on, etc. But I fell in love with the simple, clean lines of that bench and I decided to make one on my own. So off to Lowe’s I went!

I’ll tell you what mistakes I made and how I finally ended up with this bench — which I love — and tell you how you can make one of your own (without making the same mistakes!)

Here’s the short version of the story. I built the bench the first time hoping I could imitate the clean lines and nearly invisible seams of the Overstock bench. But the heavier, thicker and wider wood didn’t agree with that plan (and neither did my carpentry skills)! So the first time I tried to put it together with nails in the corners — but they didn’t hold enough and the bench wobbled from side to side. I tried adding Liquid Nails adhesive to the joints but that didn’t hold and was thick enough that the joints didn’t fit well. So I took the nails out, sanded the Liquid Nails off and started again. I could see that I needed better reinforcements at the joints and probably something else to hold the legs in place.

While I liked the look of an “X” bench, I wanted to try something a little different. So with that in mind, I wandered the aisles at Lowe’s seeking inspiration. It finally struck in the electrical section … and yielded the bench you see in the pictures!

Supplies (estimated total cost about $40)

• Standard tools like paintbrush, sandpaper, chocolate, power drill, drill bits, saw. You may need a hacksaw if you have to trim the galvanized pipe.
• about 20 2″ wood screws
• around 25 3/8″ or 1/2″ wood screws
• four 3/4″ wood screws
• Standard corner brackets (like these) — probably four to six, depending on the size you buy
• two five-foot lengths of 2×12 select lumber (when I measure mine it’s actually about 1 1/2 inches thick and 11 inches wide). Make sure it’s free of defects like warps, cracks, etc. I bought fir.
• Wood stain (I just used some I had left over from another project … my #1905 Cottage floors!)
• Polyurethane or other non-yellowing sealant
• two five- or six-foot lengths of 1/2″ galvanized pipe (you can find it in the electrical section of the hardware store – that’s the cheaper grade and just fine for our purposes)

Building the Main Bench

My bench is 60″ long and 22″ high. I tested the height I wanted by using books on top of an existing chair to see what was comfortable.

Here’s the diagram to give you an idea of the overall construction:

First, use your power saw (I used my compound miter saw) to cut the legs. Cut the bottom ends first so you’re sure you have a nice clean end there, then cut the tops at a 45 degree angle so that the longest point is 22″ long.

Cut the top, 45 degree angles in opposite directions. (see diagram)

Get someone to help hold the boards in place and and pre-drill some holes to go alternating side and top into the other board. Chamfer if you can. (Chamfer is a fancy word, as Fancy Nancy would say, that means making the top of the pre-drilled hole just a bit bigger so the head of the screw will be lower than the surface of the wood.) (like this:)

Screw in the long screws — 2″ screws (or thereabouts). These will help hold your bench together. You don’t have to use 9 screws on each side like in the diagram — just use what makes sense.

To be safe, you might want to use a tiny tiny bit of wood glue too, but not enough that it will ruin the tight seam in the wood. Get the seam as tight as you can.

Flip your bench over, gently. Keep an eye on the legs; they’re not ready to support much weight.

Get your corner brackets and attach those. Use the shorter screws. Predrill to avoid splitting the wood. In my bench, I had room for three brackets on each leg.

There will likely still be a bit of give in your bench — it will still be a bit wobbly.

Galvanized Supports

This is the tricky part. Keep in mind: The galvanized pipe will cross in the middle, one in front of the other.

Gently flip your bench upside down (on something soft). With a helper, place one end of each pipe against the brackets in each corner about where you think you want it to be. You can probably just “eyeball” it, but to be careful, you could measure. Mark center with a pencil, and place one pipe on the closer side of the center line to you and the other on the far side of the center line. holding them in place, mark a spot on each bench leg where you want the other end to go. In my case, the lowest end of the pipes were at 2″ up from the bottom of the leg. If you followed the same measurements, yours may be the same.

Move your pipes (for now), and mark the center of the leg and your “bottom of pipe” measurements on the legs. For me, this was 5 1/2″ from the front and back of the legs and 2″ from the bottom.

Get your drill — if you bought 1/2-inch galvanized pipe you should be able to use a 1/2 drill bit; you may have to use a 9/16″ or 5/8″ bit. Take your drill bit so that the edge of the hole will be on the spot you marked — so the bottom of the pipe will be where you want. Drill just a tiny bit of a hole to get started and then shift the drill at the 45-degree angle your pipe will be at — towards the seat of the bench. Drill so the top of the hole goes in about 1/4″ or so. Do this on both legs.

Test your pipes and see if they fit where you want them to. If not, just drill/adjust until they behave.

Get out a smaller drill bit to pre-drill holes for your four 3/4″ screws. On each pipe, about 1/4″ from the end, drill a pilot hole for the screws.

Put your pipes in place. If your pipe ended up on top of the corner brackets like mine, you may want to use that same drill bit to drill a pilot hole into the corner bracket as well. This will be a pain.

Put a 3/4″ screw in each end of the pipe into the wood to hold the pipes in place.

Finish Work

Get out your wood filler and fill in the screw holes and the gaps between the boards on the top and sides. No matter how good you think you are, you’ll probably need to do this.

Let the wood filler dry; sand it smooth.

If you want to distress your bench, now’s the time.

Take it outside and do the first layer of stain. If you get some on the galvanized pipe you will probably want to wipe it off, but the l brackets don’t matter because you want them a bit less bright anyway. As with any stain, pick the stain you like and let it stay on just long enough to get the color you want, then wipe off the excess stain. Let dry.

Put on as many coats of polyurethane to make the look you want. You want to protect the bench; but too many coats will make it look glossy.

And I would be so thrilled if you checked out the FULL Master Bedroom remodel. It’s my favorite room in our home!

Have a Creative Day!!! 

xxoxo

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I spent this weekend visiting my mom and sisters in the Bay Area for Mother’s Day. 

One of the things I love most about that area of the country is that people take existing homes and remodel them to make them their own. That area of the country was settled primarily in the 50’s and 60’s and it really became known for a type of home known as the “ranch”- a one-story home. These homes are being bought and remade. I love the ways that the new owners are taking the boxy exteriors and adding charm and interest with gates trellises and other architectural embellishments.

Over the weekend, my mom and I drove around her town and took some pictures of homes that have been remodeled and updates with these fabulous DIY changes and I thought I would share them with you!! The thing I love most about these trellises and gates, is that they are an easy DIY update that ANYONE can use to add charm and curb-appeal to their home – no matter WHERE you live!!

I hope to add a trellis to the top of my garage in the 1905 house, and I would love to add a fence and pergola gate to the front of the home. I hope to get started on it this summer!!

Add a trellis over a driveaway for a grand entrance.

A peaked pergola and stone fence with a gate is a great entrance idea.

This might be my favorite — a pergola entrance with two benches. So quaint and pretty!

A pergola above a garage adds architectural interest to a plain facade.

Add a uniform fence and gate to the outside of your home. It gives a sense of privacy plus it’s an attractive way to keep kids corraled.

DIY Barn Doors are a pretty facade and add a trellis with vines and pergola over the top, soften the look.

I love this architectural trellis fence gives privacy while also giving a glimpse of the yard. I also love the pergola top with the rounded gate – it’s so welcoming.

This remodeled ranch has such a welcoming exterior. I love the garage doors, the cupola and the welcoming trellis gate.

This gate shows that you can combine a iron gate with a wood arbour for amazing results. The climbing roses make the whole entryway come together.

The white gates with the trellis tops and arched gates with pergola make a welcoming entrance.

I hope to combine some of the ideas in my 1905 home. Hopefully I can build a trellis over the garage and a pergola over the porch in the back. Plus, a trellis gate around the property and a rounded gate with a pathway to the front door. I’m so excited to get started!!

Which Trellis or Gate Idea is YOUR favorite?? 

Let me know in the comments!! 

xoxo

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