Buying new expensive furniture is a financially costly option. As an alternative, for those who love exclusive and unusual interior details, a hand-made method is suitable.
Minimal experience with tools, imagination and creative thinking - that's all that is needed.
You can start with the manufacture of a coffee table, which uses a variety of and unusual improvised materials.
The finished product will decorate and diversify any room, living room or nursery. Often, unusual furniture is installed in country houses and summer verandas, where it emphasizes the style and brings the desired atmosphere.
Tools and materials
The basis of the future table is the material from which it is planned to make the countertop. There are many options for imagination, we will consider them below.
In addition, the following tools will be required for work:
- a hammer;
- scissors;
- pliers;
- fasteners (nails, screws, etc.);
- carpentry table with a set of knives (if any) or a hacksaw.
Working on a carpentry table requires additional skills. If they are available, then you can use a chisel, cutter and planer. When working with a tree with their help, it will be possible to perform more subtle work.
With the help of a sharp cutter or a set of special knives, it is possible to skillfully decorate a coffee table.
You need to stock up on additional materials, such as:
- glue;
- sandpaper;
- paint (preferably in the form of a spray);
- primer;
- decor (fabric, multi-colored plastic, lace, glass details, etc.).
Wooden coffee table
The most common material in the manufacture of furniture structures is wood. Even in the case of choosing it as the basis, the creator has several options.
The product can be made from:
- pallets;
- whole stump;
- logs.
A beautiful and practical coffee table made of pallets is carried out in several stages:
- At the first stage, it is necessary to determine the dimensions of the future table, and make markings on pallets.
- Cut out the core of the pallet. It is important to consider that the outer side should be smooth, and the reverse side should be embossed.
- Treat the legs with a primer and let them dry.
- Paint the countertop on all sides. Toning can be done in several layers. In this case, each layer must be treated with a fine-grained sandpaper.
- After drying all the parts, fix the elements with metal fasteners: nails, screws, etc.
Making your own table from a solid stump is even easier. The difficulty lies in choosing a piece of wood that is suitable in size and shape. From the point of view of aesthetics, a pine, birch or poplar stump is suitable for such a table. The choice should be stopped on an even and wide specimen with unusual rings.
You can apply the material in different ways depending on the size of the table:
- low with thin metal legs;
- medium, where the base of the stump serves as a support;
- low on wheels.
According to the artist's idea, the stump can be subjected to minimal changes, limited to painting or varnishing. Grinding and installing wheels will help to give a classic look to the product.
Note!
Another option for lovers of natural style is a coffee or coffee table made of logs. Its production does not differ significantly from the previous versions.
The appearance of the finished product almost entirely depends on the appearance of the prepared wooden frame. Variants may differ in the width and expressiveness of the ring pattern.
First you need to process the logs with a piece of skin. To maintain the most natural look, the bark should be left on the sides and bottom. A more rigorous look will be given by metal legs or from an old table. If desired, supports can also be made of wood.
Making a coffee table out of wood is not a difficult task. Such a product brings a certain amount of originality and natural comfort to the home environment.
Chipboard coffee table
Exclusive furniture based on chipboard is a cost-effective option for those who want to work on the product themselves. This photo of the coffee table shows that such furniture outwardly is in no way inferior to a wooden product.
Note!
You need to start work with the development of a drawing of the future table. Ready-made patterns of the base and legs are applied to a chipboard sheet and outlined with a pencil, and then scratched along the contour with a nail.
Thus, you need to cut out two countertops, one of which will be the surface of the table, and the other - the bottom shelf. You need to attach flanges to them, and fix the wheels with bolts.
It is preferable to use rubber wheels because of their reliability. To diversify the appearance will allow a glass shelf between the tabletop and the base. Lacquering will protect the thing from premature destruction.
You can make such a table with your own hands from old unnecessary furniture. Decor elements will help to update and breathe new life into the old element of the interior.
There are many interesting options for coffee tables from: glass, a radiator, windows and books, an entrance door, a wardrobe or drawers from a chest of drawers, a suitcase, a coil (cable), etc. Anyone who has imagination and a sense of style can come up with additional options.
decoration
The decor of the coffee table is the final and very important stage of work. Any ideas that fit into the interior of the room are suitable here.
Note!
Consider the most correct and harmonious options:
A table made of pallets, a stump or logs will decorate the applied carved pattern. The tabletop may not be made of solid glass, but of many glued pieces.
The use of fabric in decor should be neat. For this purpose, a material with a thin pile is suitable. Use your old coat as a base and secure with small nails and rivets.
Vintage notes will give lace and fringed ribbons, fixed around the perimeter of the object. It seems as if a tablecloth is covered on the coffee table.
A fashionable trend in recent years has been the use of twine and coarse hemp rope. Attaching it is pretty easy. It is necessary to lubricate the surface of the table with glue, and tightly wrap the base and legs of the table.
The decor in the form of a mosaic looks bright and unusual. Additional gloss will be given by varnishing the surface.
Decoupage decoration. This type of decor allows you to apply any image to the surface of the countertop. This will require special napkins for decoupage. The quality of the result depends on the availability of the necessary technical skills.
In any finish, it is important to take into account the practicality of the finished coffee table and its stability. Apply for this additional fasteners, stain treatment and varnishing.
Putting ideas into practice is not difficult if you approach the process with intelligence, imagination and great enthusiasm.
DIY coffee table photo
In the era of electronic media, few bother to read printed publications. Despite this, coffee tables still occupy a place of honor in every home.
In addition to their direct purpose, they can be used for other useful things: serving a light breakfast or dinner, minor repairs and home creativity.
Simplicity of construction, a variety of shapes and designs, a minimum of tools - all these advantages of coffee tables attract the attention of home craftsmen. In our article, we will make a detailed review of popular homemade products and give practical advice on how to make them.
Design options for coffee tables
The easiest way is to make a coffee table with your own hands, using edged boards, veneered chipboard or MDF.
In order to hide the connection points of the plates, the classic method is used - assembly on round wooden spikes (dowels). All that is required from the home master in this case is to accurately mark the installation locations of the spikes on the ends of the sidewalls and drill the mounting holes for them in the bottom and top covers.
The simplest coffee table made of MDF board
To increase the rigidity of the structure between its side walls, you need to install a vertical cross member. A small niche for storing magazines and other little things will not be superfluous here. It can be made from a plate left after cutting the covers and sidewalls.
Mobility is a useful option of the table. It is implemented by installing furniture wheels on the bottom. Compact transport wheels can be hidden, or you can buy larger ones and deliberately highlight them. So we get an original table on wheels from polished bars supporting a massive wooden table top.
For those to whom mobility does not play a big role, and who want to see a solid rustic-style table in their home, we can offer an option from powerful boards. Such a table will undoubtedly become one of the main decorations in the living room of any country house.
Reasonable laziness, combined with a thirst for creativity, often leads to interesting discoveries. One of them is a table made from an old tire.
It's very easy to assemble:
- Two circles with a diameter of 3-4 cm less than the outer size of the tire are cut out in the chipboard plate.
- Four metal legs are screwed to the first circle.
- The bottom and the cover are fixed with self-tapping screws to the sides of the wheel.
- The jute rope is used to decorate the sidewalls and the lid.
Homemade design from an old tire looks great
So it turns out an unusual coffee table, which, if necessary, can be used as a banquette.
The idea of using "random" items to create home furnishings proved to be extremely productive. She gave life to numerous homemade products from boxes and pallets. A little imagination and a minimum of expenses are required in order to assemble a coffee table made of wood based on four standard drawers.
The assembly algorithm looks like this: the boxes are placed on edge, placing them in a circle one after the other. Having connected the structure with the help of self-tapping screws, a shelf is made in its center. Here you can put a flower vase or pour decor from river pebbles or shells. The woodworking is completed with sandpaper, stain and varnish.
Natural wood does not need sophisticated decor. Using it for interior decoration, complement the decor with a simple table. To assemble it, you will need several planed bars and slats of a picket fence.
The frame of the base will look solid and massive when using a contrasting color combination with the top. To do this, the bars need to be tinted with a dark stain, leaving the cover in the natural color of the pine sawlog.
Wood in furniture goes well with metal. You can verify this by making a loft-style coffee table on metal legs. Its cover is assembled from three pieces of tongue-and-groove board "forty" and framed with a cornice plank.
To make the legs, you will need a welding machine, a piece of steel plate 1.5-2.0 mm thick and several scraps of smooth reinforcing steel with a diameter of 10-14 mm.
Having bent four rods according to the template, square pieces of plates (or thick carpentry corners as in the photo) are welded to them and alternately attached to a tabletop assembled from a grooved board. For final finishing, you need to grind, toned and varnish the lid, sides and paint the legs.
Instead of a bar for the manufacture of the base, you can use a rectangular profile pipe. Having welded two rectangles from it, cleaned the seams and covered the metal with silver paint, we will get reliable supports for the countertop, assembled from thick oak boards.
To increase stability, the metal sidewalls under the cover are connected with a piece of a profile pipe.
Coffee tables with sawn wood tops look very impressive. Finding this basic element is easy. At any sawmill you will be offered a "semi-finished product" of the right size. An electric planer and a belt grinder will help you bring it to condition.
The legs of the table can be made from thick bars or a rebar can be used for them. The contrast between the massive top and the light metal base gives the structure a touch of exclusive design.
Another interesting option for combining materials is wood and glass. The tabletop can be oval or round, resting on a cruciform base of two bar frames.
Crafted from a wooden pallet and covered with square glass, this movable coffee table looks stylish and modern.
The glass gives a rich look to the entire structure and closes the gaps between the pallet slats through which small objects can fall onto the floor.
Those who prioritize functionality will surely like the transforming coffee table. Through simple manipulations, it radically changes not only its height, but also its appearance.
In the assembled state, it is an ordinary stand for magazines and newspapers. By lifting the two sides with legs, we increase the height of the table and expand the surface of the tabletop to a “dinner format”.
The basis of another transforming system is two metal frame-pedestals. Each of them is hinged to the table top. In the assembled position, they lie horizontally, and when the lids are lifted, they turn on hinges and stand upright.
The height of the unfolded structure is 73 cm. This is quite enough to use the transformer as a computer desk.
Its cover consists of two plates that can be shifted horizontally. In this case, one plate rotates on a hinge around its axis. If necessary, such a transformer can be turned into a dining table for 4 people in a matter of seconds.
Coffee table transformer "three in one"
Someone creates folding adaptive systems, and someone successfully experiments with ordinary plywood scraps. The result of the search for new forms was such an unusual coffee table.
We can only be surprised at the scrupulous accuracy of the calculation and its talented embodiment in a visible image.
Theoretically, everything looks simple: the base is sequentially glued together from three dozen plywood frames. Each of them has a certain angle of inclination of the legs.
In practice, to calculate all the elements of a plywood stand, a three-dimensional modeling program is needed.
The plywood “pie” assembled together attracts the eye with an unusual futuristic shape. A glass lid completes this piece of innovative carpentry technology.
“We would like something simpler, but also beautiful,” the home master will say. Please, there is a table no less elegant, but more affordable to manufacture. It consists of three packs of thin planed boards.
Numerous slots in the type-setting table top can be covered with a glass cover.
A few words need to be said about the connection of glass with wood. The best solution is to use a transparent "optical" glue. It is quite difficult to drill thick glass at home without causing irreparable damage to it. So give up the idea of mechanical fixation and let modern chemistry do its best.
Self-manufacturing
Speaking about the material for the countertop, we completely forgot about the wooden lining. This is an excellent material at hand, equally suitable for creating a lid, sides and legs.
Tabletop made of eurolining - beautiful and reliable
The shape of the tabletop from the lining can be any. The lid, assembled from wooden planks, is cut with an electric jigsaw along a given contour.
To make a coffee table from a lining, we need several tools:
- screwdriver;
- jigsaw;
- belt grinder;
- hacksaw;
- roulette.
The dimensions of the finished product and the design of the docking units should be thought out in advance and entered into the draft drawing.
The finishing of the table is carried out in two stages. Before assembly, sand the surface of the lid, bottom and legs with sandpaper. After completion of the work, the wood is covered with a tinting stain and a colorless varnish.
It is even easier to make a coffee table made of chipboard. This material performs two functions at once: it forms a continuous surface and carries the load. We recommend using veneered board, because paint and varnish cannot hide the texture of wood chips on bare chipboard.
After completing the assembly, you need to close all the edges (tabletops, bottom and legs) with plastic furniture tape, warming it up with a building hair dryer before gluing.
The coffee table exists in an innumerable number of varieties. Make it easy; drawings, if required, are not at all complicated. True, there is a folding mechanism in the transformer tables, but if you wish, you can implement it yourself without being a very skilled craftsman; we will touch on this point later.
But, on the other hand, a coffee table in the interior is like a business suit for a man or makeup for a lady. The same material, similar cut, the same cosmetic bag can give the owner the appearance of a respectable gentleman or a careless bon vivant, a sleek self-confident lioness, a playful ingenue or an overdressed coquette.
Therefore, we will not dwell in great detail on step-by-step recipes on how to make a coffee table yourself (although due attention will be paid to this), but we will focus primarily on the aesthetic and creative side of things. Then - on reliability and durability, combined with low cost. This is also an important point: the coffee table is one of the most heavily used pieces of furniture.
And what is it in general?
Is there any definition of what we decided to take on? Any norms, requirements, rules? Ergonomic terms? Only one thing: the height is from 40 to 50 cm.
Registration
First of all, the decor gives the look of the table, so it would be appropriate to start from the end: with decoration and decoration. Having solved this issue, it will no longer be difficult to choose a design from ready-made ones or develop your own: the loads on the subject are small, and suddenly a flaw came out, it is easy to redo or do it again. The cost of labor and money - just nothing.
You can decorate the table in different ways, see fig. The positions will be sorted as they are read, from left to right and from top to bottom. In the same order they are arranged according to the degree of increasing complexity of the work.
Wallpaper
With the help of the most ordinary wallpaper, you can quickly and inexpensively ennoble the most ancient shabby table, as long as it is strong. Cleaning, priming, painting have no features. A piece of wallpaper on the surface of the tabletop is also suitable for anyone: it is covered with glue in several layers with transparent colorless or tinted lacquer NC or acrylic.
Each layer, except for the finishing layer, is sanded after drying, but for this you need a velvet skin, which you can’t always find on sale. Therefore, we do this: we take two pieces of sandpaper number 240-280 and three against each other until the base begins to look through. This is what we grind.
Note: it is desirable to collect the pouring abrasive powder. It is very useful for various works, especially on glass.
If the wallpaper is embossed, then grinding begins with a layer above which the unevenness of the relief no longer protrudes. As a rule, this is the 2nd - 4th layer. Above it should be at least 3-4 layers of varnish.
Lacquer is applied in an envelope from the center to the edges. The first layers are plentiful so that it flows to the ends; at the same time, the tabletop is placed on stands, the floor is covered with a film. Sanding layers are applied slightly shrinking to get a run-off of the varnish coating (its thickness can reach up to 4 mm) to the edges of the countertop. Drops hanging at the bottom after complete solidification of the entire coating are cut off and the edge of the lower layer is sanded.
The elegance of the table will be given by wallpaper nails or metal push pins driven in a row along the edge. The most important condition for it to look is that the plaques should be arranged in even rows and with a uniform step. Here the simplest device will help out: a piece of a metal corner with holes drilled on one side with a diameter slightly larger than the thickness of the button rod (most often - 1.2 mm). It is used as a template, moving around the perimeter. The extreme holes should be spaced from the edge by the value of the driving step minus half the diameter of the cap.
Shell stones
From a vacation at sea, you can bring a pile of empty shells and sea pebbles. A table with such a scattering under glass looks romantic. But the popular bamboo frame design, as in the picture, is not very practical. Bamboo stalks taper towards the top, and it is not so easy to pick up four pieces of uniform equal thickness, and dust soon collects in the cubbyhole between the glass and the bamboos, which is difficult to clean out. Adhesive glass does not adhere well to smooth semi-circular parts. Finally, bamboo does not grow near salt water, and such a table does not look quite natural.
For the manufacture of a frame for a sea table, it is best to use the most common plinth. Sectional configuration, size, tone, texture - in a huge assortment, the price is inexpensive. Glass with aquarium silicone is glued tightly to the top shelf of the plinth. Silicone glue for gluing aquariums is sold in pet stores, it lasts forever, holds incredible loads. It is available in transparent (gluing is not visible), white and black, which gives additional possibilities for design. The chamber with filling turns out to be practically airtight, nothing gathers dust inside.
For a tabletop 400x750 mm, glass with a thickness of 6 mm or more is required; for 600x900 mm - from 8 mm; for more - from 10 mm. The glass needs to be mirror-like, without striae and waviness. If you are not too lazy and choose from the inside of the plinth a quarter as deep as the thickness of the glass, it will be glued flush and the table will come out absolutely reliable and safe.
Note: in the early 80s, some French company made a splash in the exclusive furniture market by selling aquarium tables. The underwater world was visible through the transparent tabletop. Manufacturers assured that the resource of a closed ecosystem in a thick hollow tabletop is 40 years old, but it turned out to be a complete embarrassment. The fish began to multiply, the biological balance flew into turmoil, and the aquarium table turned into a vile-looking burial ground. A friend of the author of the article remarked on this: “They would first bring out the fish, which are in French ...”
Mirrors
The mirror table will fit into any interior. Mirrors, reflecting the environment, automatically include it in the design style.
The base is an ordinary box of sufficient strength with smoothed corners, carefully painted. It is impossible to leave wooden gaps in plain sight: wood is a natural noble material. Leaving it in narrow stripes means deliberately suppressing what by its nature should dominate, and this is bad taste. Bare wood can and should be left under the mirrors, so they will stick more firmly to the glue - mounting nitro, construction or aquarium silicone. The base box must first be primed with a niro-based primer, not water-based!
The authors of the design recommend painting the base with silver (aluminum powder), which is quite justified: the silver color is in harmony with mirrors in any setting. But, if the table is made for a certain interior, the color tone may be different. For example, in an art deco living room - golden (painted with bronze or gold leaf), black or white - in classic modern; in high-tech - also black or blue, purple; in the fusion living room - bright red, in the minimalist - any in a general tone; Let's say lettuce.
Decoupage
Decoupage - gluing ready-made fragments of a drawing onto the base, something like modified decals. The decoupage technique itself is simple, and everything you need is sold in sets, but preparing the base (top layer) and fixing the pattern requires some work.
Until recently, decoupage furniture was considered a sign of simple (if not bad) taste, but the decoupage technique is improving, the choice of ready-made drawings is constantly expanding, and now even connoisseurs often confuse decoupage under varnish with hand-painted art.
The tabletop is first sanded, leveled, gaping cracks are sealed, as in the restoration of furniture. Then primed with chalk, mixed with transparent furniture varnish NC until the density of sour cream. Primers cannot be used on water! After decoupling, the face is covered with transparent acrylic varnish in two layers or furniture nitro varnish in 3-4 layers. Each subsequent layer is applied after the previous one has completely dried, as described above.
Video: decoupage master class
Mosaic
Coffee tables have been adorning since they first appeared. But few people know that the tabletops for them were made of marble or alabaster - it is impossible to make a solid classic mosaic on a wooden base: fibrous-layered organic materials with monolithic mineral ones are very different in terms of temperature, mechanical and strength characteristics.
Note: do not confuse alabaster - a translucent pinkish semi-precious and ornamental stone - with building alabaster.
Nowadays, a durable and beautiful mosaic on a tree can be typed from plastic. Fragments can be cut out of PVC plastic boxes for electrical communications. They are produced mainly in white, occasionally in black or dark gray. But painting is not a problem. Graffiti paint is ingrained into the PVC with filler. There is only one condition - you need to paint the already cut fragments, otherwise the white threads will be visible along their edges on the already assembled composition. Stick plastic smalts on the tree with mounting glue; the base is pre-leveled and primed, as if under a mirror.
Art painting
Here you already need artistic taste and the set hand of the painter. It is undesirable to use a stencil - not a ceiling or even walls, the slightest streaks right before your eyes. The base is primed, as if under a mirror, for all types of painting, except for Khokhloma, where priming with clay is included in the technological process.
It is advisable to use traditional Russian wood painting techniques: in addition to Khokhloma (which is very complex) - Polkhov and Gorodets. They are designed for wooden utensils and kitchen utensils; they don’t eat at the table and don’t make dough in it, so it will be for many years.
Video: decorating a table with stained glass paints
Craquelure
And finally, the crack technique. Principle: not yet completely dried paint (the finger is imprinted, but without tack) is covered with a special varnish-crack. When it dries, it drags the paint behind it, it cracks like a mesh, and the finished coating looks nice and old. This is especially valuable in country or traditional styles - baroque, empire, etc.
The crack on the table must be lacquered, otherwise dirt will soon fill in the cracks and the view will disappear. This allows you to do without expensive craquelure varnish. Instead, you can use:
- PVA glue, diluted two to three times - for water-based paints (gouache) and nitro. Apply a little bit, with the thinnest layer, after determining the dosage according to a prototype of exactly the same paint! The contours of the gouache painting come out a little blurry, airy. Bright colors are highly undesirable.
- Egg white - for oil paints.
- Table vinegar - for alkyd and acrylic enamels.
- Edible gelatin - for all types of paints, but the coating lasts no more than 5 years even under varnish.
Video: complete restoration of the old table
Round tables
Round coffee tables are the most popular: a small table is cramped and the corners get in the way. For example, we give three constructions. On the left in fig. - a round table with a folding top. The look is archaic, would go with any old-fashioned (or just plain old) living room.
In the old days, such tables were called business tables; guests left their business cards on them when they left. If, when leaving, the visitor saw the rear of the countertop (which was secretly given to the servants), this was an unambiguous sign that his appearance in this house was no longer desirable. But such a passage did not give a reason for a challenge to a duel. Today, a business table can be used in a less offensive way: an acrylic mirror is firmly glued to the countertop with aquarium silicone.
At the top right is a wooden table-shelf, also 700 mm in diameter. The design is elementary simple, but if there is something heavier than gloves or a scarf on the table, it is better to support the shelf with the tabletop under the edges with racks made of polished metal pipe. Option - radial partitions made of laminate, wood, chipboard. Supports from a bar will spoil the view.
Below right is also a 700 mm round table, requiring a minimum of labor and cost. Why? It can be seen from the drawing. The tabletop is nailed to the legs from scraps of sticks through and through, then primed and finished clean. The tripod must be assembled in advance, not with glue and nails; the wooden ring on it is decorative. The top is cut into the plane according to the markup with a home-made pseudo-thickness gauge from improvised materials, see the section on stump tables.
Idea: an unusual round table made of plastic pipes (it)
transformers
A folding coffee table is also not new. They have long been made on the model of a dining table: with a sliding top and an insert board. Tumba, as a rule, was assigned the role of a wine cellar. Party workers kept there together in a bottle and stacks of wine glasses a volume of Lenin or Karl Marx. Depending on the received visitor, one or the other was called to the “deck”. Techies, not prone to hypocrisy, despised such double-dealing with all their hearts.
In our time, coffee tables finally got rid of the hypocrisy of the owners. The most popular design is a coffee table and a dining table at the same time. In a small odnushka - a godsend. How such a transformer table works is shown in Fig. higher.
Its highlight, of course, is the transformation mechanism. Purchased ones are quite expensive, but you can make your own. To do this, you will first have to master some kind of program that allows you to produce three-dimensional modeling. The easiest way is Google Sketch Up. It is not as functional as the PRO 100, but it is much easier to use, and it is enough for a table transformer.
The principle of operation of the mechanism is a system of levers with two dead points in the extreme positions and with a point of unstable balance between them. This ensures ease of conversion without rumbles and pops. The steps for creating a mechanism are as follows, see the figure:
- We draw a schematic diagram (pos. 1), even by hand or in CorelDraw;
- We develop a layout in three dimensions and check the interaction of parts, pos 2;
- We make one section in kind from pieces of wood (pos 3), check how everything goes, adjust the dimensions;
- We make detailing already under the metal, pos 4;
- We assemble the sections, finally check in kind, pos 5;
- According to the mechanism, we make a cabinet, boards and assemble a table, pos 6.
For such a mechanism, you will need about 4 m of a professional pipe 20x20, 1.2 m of its own 50x25, a meter of strip 20x4, 6 M8x120 bolts, 2 M8x60 and M8x50 each, 8 M4x20, 26 M8 nuts and 30 washers 30x8, 12 intersection couplers, 6 cm a piece of a corner 45x25 and 4 gas lifts 120-140N. Wooden details - according to the chosen design of the table. It is better to put MDF on the countertop, it is lighter and stronger than chipboard. Costs - about 1000 rubles, which is more than half the price of branded models.
Video: an example of a finished transformer table
Note: in the following figure - drawings of the transforming mechanism without gas lifts, on springs. This one will cost even less, but you will have to conjure with the springs, picking up their strength.
Originals
The fact that a coffee table is better to have an original look is also a common place. To paraphrase a famous saying about the Indians, we can say: a good coffee table is an original coffee table. To begin with, we will analyze three designs (see Fig.) in order of increasing manufacturing complexity.
From the press
A coffee table made from old newspapers and magazines (on the left in the figure) is not only original in appearance, but also subtle in design. That there is evidence, albeit not traditional, but developed taste. True, the room under it should be decorated accordingly. It will not look in any interior of a common design, even if it is old or modern.
The manufacturing technology is quite simple:
- We roll waste media into tight tubes and fix each with a few rubber bands.
- Immerse for 2-7 minutes in a bucket or trough with a water-polymer emulsion; it doesn't stink and is cheap.
- We hang on wire hooks on a clothesline to dry; it is necessary to dry in a non-dusty room, laying a film below under the flowing excess.
- We glue the puk-pedestal PVA; dry in an upright position, tied with a thread so as not to crumble.
- We mark the planes with a pseudo-thickness gauge (see below) and cut it to size with a hacksaw with a fine-toothed “clean cut” blade.
- We glue a tabletop made of mirror glass at least 12 mm thick with aquarium silicone.
From logs
This table, the middle one in fig. from above, it is already more difficult to work, but you don’t need as many logs as it might seem. It is based on the same wooden box glued to a 20 mm plywood board on wheels. It is furnished on all sides with logs on glue. The height of each pole is the height of the box plus the thickness of the round block of the same logs lining the upper surface (20-50 mm).
The marking of the planes on the logs is done with a home-made thickness gauge, which has already been mentioned and will be discussed in more detail below. When sawing, sawdust is carefully collected in any suitable pallet so that dirt from the floor does not accumulate. Kruglyashi are glued to the face; then the sawdust is kneaded on liquid nails until the density of plasticine is obtained and the gaps between the rounds are rubbed with a rubber spatula. It remains to sand, properly vacuum, lacquer the top - and you're done.
This table has two nuances. Firstly, sawdust from, so to speak, regular sawing, is probably not enough. Therefore, it is necessary to put part of the material into sawdust. Secondly, it is advisable to put glass at least 6 mm thick on top of the entire plate on the aquarium silicone. It will not only protect the wood from pollution, but also protect it from ultraviolet radiation, which causes the wood to darken. And the view of the glass false table will not spoil.
bent
Table on the right, no fig. at the beginning of the section is still available for self-production, but it already requires serious skills, a ventilated production facility and the strictest safety measures in manufacturing. Its design is based on the property of wood to soften when heated dry (not to be confused with steaming!) And then keep the shape given to it. Different types of wood, and the same - depending on whether it is in the array or in veneer, can be molded in different ways, on which home-made technology is based.
First of all, you need to make a type-setting, on nails, blockhead in the form of the internal space of the table. Material - solid hardwood: oak, elm, beech, walnut. The blockhead will cost a lot, but it is reusable, up to 15 products. The blockhead is immediately covered with a fluoroplastic (Teflon) film with an overlap on non-working surfaces. Non-working - which will not fit with veneer. The film is fixed with small nails with plywood linings for caps. You need to fix it well, teflon is very slippery and does not stick at all.
factory variation of the bent table
Then you need lime, birch or (better) bamboo veneer. The length of the strips - along the length of the entire surface of the table; the stripes in the layers must be solid and oriented in adjacent layers mutually perpendicular. The best, but time-consuming and difficult way of laying is diagonal.
The first layer from the block is laid on a dry one, heating the veneer with a building hair dryer; the initial ends of the strips are fixed with carnations. You need to work in a gas mask, not in a petal! Stroyfen develops temperatures up to 400 degrees, and just at this temperature Teflon begins to decompose, releasing deadly poisonous hydrogen fluoride. In fact, 300 degrees are enough to soften the veneer, and bamboo and 160. At this temperature, you need to set the hair dryer, but God saves the safe. Volatile fluorides are no joke.
After cooling the block with the first layer, the carnations fixing it are removed and the laying of the second layer begins; the ends of its strips are also temporarily fixed with nails. The second and subsequent layers are heated in sections of 20-30 cm, applied, bent in shape, held until cool, lifted, lubricated with PVA, waiting for setting, heated and molded further.
This is how all subsequent layers are formed until the desired thickness is obtained; minimum - 6 layers and 12 mm. The fixing studs of each layer must be remembered to be removed before laying the next one. Finally, the finished table is carefully torn off from the block (expensive fluoroplastic will have to be thrown away), soaked 2-3 times until it flows through with a water-polymer emulsion, dried and decorated using any of the methods described above. Of course, keeping the style.
From boxes
A coffee table made of wine boxes has been walking on the Web for quite a long time, see fig. The design is elementary simple and very functional. It is immediately clear that if the authors use the contents of the container, then in moderation and high quality.
In terms of aesthetics, here we can only recommend driving nails deeper with a finisher and puttying the holes with sawdust of the same wood mixed with liquid nails, as described above. This will not only hide the fasteners. Now you can close the central recess with some kind of sheet material. In addition to actually a full-fledged plate, this will give an amazing adaptability of the table to the style:
- Glass - any modern style.
- Wood - country.
- Polished metal - art deco and high-tech.
- White, black or colored plastic - modern, minimalism.
You can emphasize belonging to one or another direction by placing a lamp in the center of the corresponding type.
Simple
A very simple and cheap coffee table with a bookcase can be made from laminated chipboard, see fig. You can do without shaped metal racks by replacing them with pieces of timber, as shown by the red dotted line. One or two per niche, in the center or from the edges - depending on the expected load and design. True, such a table is not very suitable for the living room; more in the bedroom or nursery.
Sawing boards will be cheaper to order in a furniture company, they will cut them there. It is not necessary to assemble on eccentric connectors, it is possible on dowels or self-tapping screws through. In the latter case - puttying the holes and covering with self-adhesive under the tree. After varnishing, it will be possible to distinguish from natural wood only by scratching.
Video: a simple table with an original element
Glass
Is it possible to make an all-glass coffee table yourself? Like the one in the picture? Or simpler, but completely made of glass?
Yes, you can, only it will cost a lot: you need mirror glass with a thickness of 12-14 mm. Cutting must be ordered on industrial equipment with edge grinding; at home with a glass cutter you cannot cut exactly in size with perpendicular edges. A master individual in a shed will not cut out either, and glass firms of this level are not found in all large cities.
Gluing is not difficult in one: aquarium silicone, and that's it. A failed joint can be separated with a safety razor blade; drips immediately, before drying, are removed with a rag moistened with table vinegar. Metal fittings (wheels, for example) are also firmly glued to the glass with aquarium silicone.
The surfaces to be bonded must be thoroughly degreased with isopropyl alcohol (the fumes are poisonous!) or with an optical cleaning compound, and then wiped to a squeak with a microfiber cloth for cleaning glasses. Then we look against the light almost along a sliding line: if stains are visible, the napkin is oily, you need to change it to a new one. Not washable.
Video: glass and plywood mobile tables
From the stump
A very original and sought-after piece of furniture - a table made of a thick stump, see fig. But how to cut a stump of something like that exactly from two ends? This is where it's time to talk about the pseudo-gauge. In fact, a thickness gauge is a special tool for marking any kind of rough edges; Widely used with self-made small shipbuilding and modeling. But we'll make it easier.
Need two stools; lower, preferably on loose wheels. Still need a flat smooth floor. If all this is available, we put the second stool on the first upside down. Together they are fastened with clamps. You probably already guessed about the future: a piece of rail or pipe, a pencil, a felt-tip pen or marker, adhesive tape.
We fasten the bar with the “drawing” at the right level to the legs of the upper stool and, moving the device, mark the plane. For a stump - first on the butt; don't forget to give some margin for root pruning!. Before marking under the roots, pre-cut in advance, we put wedges until the butt stands up as it should (by eye in aesthetics, not in plumb line).
Then we saw off from the butt according to the marking (better - with a chainsaw), turn it over and mark the plane on the ridge. If the ridge is on the floor, we remove the roots in the middle to make a notch, so the table will be more stable. It remains to make a countertop, attach it - and a completely unique exclusive is ready!
Even a novice master can make a table from improvised materials. But before assembling a coffee table with your own hands, it is better to view the drawings and diagrams in advance. This will allow you to decide on the shape of future furniture and cut off too complex options.
Do-it-yourself drawings and diagrams of coffee tables
It is comfortable, lightweight and versatile. For the rigidity of the frame, the underframe is assembled from legs and a drawer - a rectangle connecting the legs and supporting the tabletop. Otherwise, the legs will move apart and the table will lose its stability.
At the same time, the complexity of the assembly does not increase much, but now you can store books, notebooks or other trinkets in the coffee table.
A feature of this design is the absence of legs - they are replaced by four sidewalls, to which a ready-made folding mechanism is attached from the inside. To it, on a short pair of supports, a wide board is fixed - the underframe, and a double tabletop is attached to the high supports, which, in the unfolded version, rests on the underframe.
PVC pipe magazine table
The simplest and most economical, but very original version of a coffee table is to make it from plastic pipes. The shape and height depend only on the wild imagination. It can be a small round table that functions as a bedside table or a full-fledged coffee table with a glass top.
To create it you will need:
- pipes of two diameters - thicker for the legs and narrower for the underframe, for example, 16 and 9 mm;
- glue gun or a tube of transparent superglue;
- medium grit sandpaper;
- hacksaw for cutting plastic pipes (can be replaced with a saw for wood);
- acrylic paint to hide the printed markings on the pipes.
The process itself is simple to disgrace:
- Cylinders of the selected length are cut. 4 legs are made from a thick pipe - their length will be equal to the height of the future table (40-50 cm). 30 short cylinders are cut from a narrow pipe, on average 10-15 cm (depending on the shape of the table, the number can be changed).
- You need to start assembling the base from the center - so there will definitely not be large gaps between the cylinders. Glue is applied to the entire surface of the adjacent pipes. A little trick - to accurately glue the cylinders, liquid superglue is poured from the end of the pipes so that it stacks down the entire length of the joint. With a glue gun, the joints are simply processed from the outside - after painting they will become invisible.
- When the desired shape is reached, the legs are glued - you need to make sure that the diagonal distance between them is equal. Otherwise, the table will fall on one side.
- The final step is painting. The easiest way to do this is with an aerosol method, although you can also use a simple paint brush.
When laying a glass top on your table, you should choose tempered glass with a thickness of 10 mm. To prevent the removable tabletop from sliding on the base, use silicone shock absorbers for furniture.
If a non-removable countertop is planned, it is fixed with transparent silicone glue.
Assembling a wooden coffee table with your own hands
For admirers of the classic style, there is nothing better than a wooden table. For him, you need to stock up:
- planed bar 40x40 mm - for legs;
- planed board 50x20 mm - for the side;
- a finished worktop made of furniture board 800x400 mm (but MDF or plywood is also suitable);
- putty for wood - overwrite holes from self-tapping screws;
- sandpaper or a grinding nozzle on a drill - process wood;
- varnish or paint - for finishing the table.
Of the tools you will need a screwdriver (or screwdriver), a saw for wood and a drill. After cutting the bar into legs, and the boards into the drawer side, the assembly of the table itself begins:
- The underframe is assembled first. For convenience and ease of assembly, everything is done upside down. Sidewalls to the legs are attached obliquely with self-tapping screws through pre-drilled holes. But you can also use metal corners if aesthetics are not so important.
Wooden tables are not only made from planed wood. With minimal woodworking skills, you can create original furniture even from firewood. For example, choosing a wooden block of suitable height and a pair of Y-shaped thick branches, working a little with a grinding nozzle and varnishing everything, you get an excellent massive coffee table for a summer residence.
And if after the construction of the house there are several euro pallets left, there is no need to rush to dispose of them. It's almost a finished table!
It is enough to grind and stain the surface, put them one on top of the other and securely connect them together. And to make the table mobile, 4 wheels are screwed from below, 2 of which are with brakes.
Decorating a coffee table with epoxy resin
If there is a sawmill nearby and there you can get a sawn board with a lot of defects for a pittance - just great! It is from such materials that the most beautiful tables decorated with epoxy resin are obtained.
The process is time consuming but not overly complicated:
- The cut board is glued with wood glue into the countertop. Flat boards must be placed under the clamps - for uniform fixation.
- After the glue has completely dried, the tabletop is polished, all cracks and holes from knots are cleaned. Before applying epoxy, the surface must be cleaned of dust and small chips.
- To make the table glow effectively, use luminescent paint in powder. About 100 g of paint is needed for 2 liters of the finished resin solution. Resin and hardener are mixed 1:1, the dose should be measured accurately and so that the hand does not flinch. Too much hardener will cause the resin to crack, while a lack of hardener will delay the curing period.
Such a tabletop is suitable for a coffee table in the living room of a cottage, and in the bedroom of a city apartment.
If there are several meters of wooden bars left at home, you can even make a table out of them! The video shows in detail and clearly how to make unusual designer furniture from building debris:
Many things can be done by hand. It is difficult in most cases, only at first glance. The new review has collected examples of unique and amazing coffee tables that craftsmen have made with their own hands.
1. Old suitcase
Old suitcases are real finds for designers and out-of-the-box thinkers. Through simple manipulations, suitcases turn into unique furniture and decor items. For example, you can turn an unnecessary suitcase into an original coffee table by simply screwing the legs to it. Such a table will add charm to both a bachelor's apartment and a family living room decorated in a classic style.
2. Boards
Instead of going to the furniture store and buying a finished product, get creative and go to the hardware store for wooden blocks and metal legs. Next, you should connect the boards to each other and screw the boards to them. A handmade table is a unique and versatile thing, as wooden furniture fits perfectly into any interior.
3. Battery
Got new batteries? However, do not rush to throw away the old cast iron radiator. Buy a piece of glass and turn an old battery into an original coffee table that you definitely won't see in the store or your friends.
4. Framed window
An old framed window is a wonderful material for creating a charming living room coffee table. Screw the legs wrapped with coarse ropes to the frame and decorate the surface of the table with beads and shells.
5. Logs
A stunning low table can be made from small logs. First you need to assemble the base of the table from plywood, glue wooden bars around the perimeter, and close the middle with a plywood lid. Next, you need to glue thin wooden cuts on the plywood cover so that it seems as if the table is made entirely of logs, screw the legs and carefully cover all the cracks.
6. Wooden cuts
Large wooden saw cuts are an amazing material for creating a beautiful and original table that will become a real highlight of the living room and will last for many years. Making such a table is easy. It is necessary to carefully process the wood and fasten the two saw cuts together, glue a wide wooden leg bar in the center and open the surface with varnish.
7. Pallet
Wooden pallets are an excellent material for creating a wide variety of furniture: sofas, beds, chairs and of course tables. First, you should get a pallet, carefully clean it and paint it in the desired color. There is nothing left to do - screw the legs and put the glass tabletop on top.
8. Wire reel
A large wooden reel for wires is a practical ready-made coffee table. Of course, getting it is not so easy, but if you are lucky, you know what to do with it.
9. Tire
There are many ideas for creating original furniture from waste car tires. For example, you can make a charming table out of a tire, a piece of plywood, a few pieces of wood, and coarse rope.
10. Glass
A budget and very original table for a modern living room, to create which you will need square-shaped glass and low castor legs.
11. Glass and books
The original idea of recycling unwanted books. Of course, this is not about fiction and the works of the classics, but about old textbooks that are gathering dust on the shelves. In addition to books, you will also need a small piece of glass and a frame. Insert the glass into a pre-painted frame and attach the finished structure to the book columns.
12. Chest
Wooden table and bowl.
Sometimes, even a broken trough can do a good job. For example, it is useful for creating a coffee table. In addition to a metal bowl that acts as a leg, you will also need a round countertop made of chipboard or wood.
15. Old table
An old coffee table can be an excellent material for creating a new table. You just need to paint the legs and cover the table with a fabric of the desired color.
