DIY Reclaimed Wood TV Table

Jen — Fri, 04 Jul 2014 11:00:49 +0000

Hello fellow Tatertots & Jello friends! I’m Heidi from Kruse’s Workshop and am super pumped to be here today to share a step by step tutorial outlining how you can build your own TV/media stand like this one.

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

Step 1 – Cut Pieces to Length

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.

B = tabletop pieces, use 2×4’s and/or 2×6 material. Our total width across all of the pieces is 19″ and the length is 50″.

C = side skirts, use 1×4 material. Our length is 13″.

D = interior supports, use 1×2 material, length is 12 1/8″.

E = horizontal supports dadoed into the legs, use 1×2 material, length is 18 1/2″.

F = interior supports, use 1×2 material, length is 13″.

G = legs, use 4×4 material. Our height is 32″.

H = front interior support, use 1×2 material, length is 42 1/4″.

I = back interior support, use 1×2 material, length is 44 3/4″.

J = front skirt, use 1×4 materials, length is 42 1/4″.

Step 2 – Drill Pockets Screws with the Kreg Jig

I flipped the pieces over to show you where you need to add pocket screws, which are identified with white arrows. If you need assistance setting up your Kreg Jig, follow these instructions.

Step 3 – Cut Dados

The bottom shelf of the media stand will be completely supported by two cross bars that are situated into the legs. To do this, use your horizontal supports (Letter E) to determine the width of the dado and mark it out on the legs depending on where you want the bottom shelf height to be. In our case, it is the 4″-6″ pencil marks you see. The pencil marks from 6′ – 7 1/2″ represent the thickness of our wood we are using for the bottom shelf.

Set your table saw depth at 1/2 inch and make a series of small cuts, moving the leg slightly to the right each time to remove this section of the leg.

When you’re done, it will look something like this.

Use a chisel to remove the remaining wood fragments.

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

With the dados cut, we are ready to assemble the table, but before you begin the next step, sand all of your pieces – especially the sides, tops and square edges. An orbital sander with 80 grit sandpaper works well or a sanding block if your wood is already fairly smooth.

Step 4 – Attach Table Skirting to Legs

First we will be assembling the two ends of the table by attaching a piece of skirting to the legs. Line up a piece of skirting (Letter C) on one of the legs, making sure to pay attention that the dado is turned outward so it doesn’t end up on the inside of the table frame. We put our skirting 1/4″ in from the outside of the leg to create a small reveal. A clamp may become your best friend throughout this project, unless you have someone to help you hold pieces in place while you screw them in.

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.

Complete this step once more with the other set of legs so that when you’re done, you should have two pieces like this.

Step 5 – Assemble Interior Framework

Next we will build an interior support that will be necessary for attaching the tabletop to the table base. Grab the pieces marked Letter I and the two pieces marked Letter F. On the letter F pieces, drill two pilot holes (we used a 5/32nd drill bit) in the opposite end of the pocket screws.

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

Once both of the side are attached to the long support, set it up between the two leg pieces and align it with clamps.

To attach the interior frame to the skirt, drill 2 pilot holes in each side.

Here are the approximate locations of the pilot holes. Once the pilot holes have been drilled, run the 1 3/4″ screws in.

Step 6 – Add Horizontal Support Bars

Apply some wood glue to the dados that were cut out.

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!

Step 7 – Attach Front Skirt

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.

We wanted our front skirt to have a 1/2″ reveal, so this is how we determined where the support needed to be screwed to the legs.

After the support is attached to the legs, you can screw the front piece of skirting (Letter J) to the support by drilling pilot holes from behind and using 1 3/4″ screws.

Step 8 – Build Lower Shelf

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.

Take the bottom shelf boards away and drill pilot holes all the way through the bottom support.

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.

Step 9 – Install Center Framework

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

Step 10 – Attach Table Top

To prepare the table frame for attaching the tabletop, we’ll need to drill a bunch of pilot holes. The white arrows below show where we drilled our pilot holes.

Lay your table top pieces across the top and attach from underneath with these screws. Again – if you’ll be staining your table top, pre-stain the inside edges of the tabletop pieces before you attach them to the frame.

Step 11 – Secret Cord Storage Leg

This step is completely optional. We were adamant about creating a way to hide all of the cords that come along with a TV – so this was our best solution. Mark out the width of the section you want to remove.

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.

You will most likely need to use a chisel to remove any excess material left behind by the saw. When the shaft is clean, clamp the leg to the back center of the table and attach with screws.

After the leg is attached, use a jig saw to cut out a small section of the countertop to allow the TV cord to drop down the back.

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

Step 12 – Apply Finish Coats

I love building our own furniture because we get to decide what type of finish to apply. For this particular piece, I used an American walnut stain for the top. The legs and bottom shelf were painted with one coat of gray milk paint, no primer needed! Then I put a coat of Van Dyke brown glaze over the top. To protect it from our children, I also put two coats of semi gloss indoor spar varnish on the top and one coat on the legs and bottom shelf.

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.

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DIY Reclaimed Wood TV Table