DIY creation: My side table with industrial look

I love the industrial look that is trending, currently, in interior design. Many people have introduced this trend into their living room. For a while, I’d been noticing I could recreate the look with some leftover wood from my coffee / breakfast bar and some thin wooden bars. Unfortunately, it won’t have the metal bars, but by painting the wood black, I come pretty close to the trend.

This is only my second real DIY project. I’ve spend a lot of time thinking up a plan prior to working on it. Nevertheless, I managed to screw up a few things along the way. Mainly, I managed to not measure things well enough and I found out the hard way that the table needed more than glue to keep it together. However, once all those issues were solved, this is how it looked!

My Side Table fully functional

My side table fully functional

How To Create the Side Table

Jump directly to:

What you need
Preparations
Instructions to build

Details:

Materials Side Table

Materials Side Table

The total dimensions of my breakfast bar:

Width: 40 cm
Height: 40 cm
Depth: 20 cm

Materials:

1 wooden plank with the dimension of 26 cm x 40 cm x 2 cm (I’ve used a bit of wooden furniture panel)
2 x 2 cm pinewood bars, 6 with a length of 40 cm, 2 with a length of 16 cm (please read the preparation bit first though!)
Wood glue
Wood screws
Wood filler
Sand paper (optional)
Black paint (optional)

Tools:

Measuring tape
(Miter) saw
Drill (optional)
Drill bits for sunken screw holes (optional)
Clamps
Right measuring square angle shape ruler (L-shaped ruler)
Electric screwdriver
Paint brushes (optional)

Preparation

  • You’ll be using the pinewood bars and the (miter) saw
Preparation

Preparation

Make sure all the bars get to be the right size. I’ve chosen to use a miter saw for the 40 cm bars to make beautiful corners. And indeed, I was using a manual miter saw (which you can spot on the picture to the left). I’m just a beginner, so I’m fine using this for the corners where only two bars meet. But I didn’t dare to use this for the bottom corners where three bars are supposed to meet. So, I took the easy way out and kept the two bottom bars straight and just got them to the length of 16 cm.

Note! If you are going to make a beautiful corner with a miter saw, you’ll be needing a length of 20 cm.

Optionally, you could paint the bars at this stage. I’ve done the first layer of black paint before assembling the table and then the second layer when everything was done.

Steps To Build Side Table

Step 1) Create the frames for the side legs

  • You’ll be using: all the 40 cm pinewood bars, glue, clamps, rule

Create a rectangle by gluing 4 wooden bars with a length of 40 cm together. Use the right angle ruler to make sure you get a perfect corner. I’ve also used tape to help me keeping parts together while gluing.

Make sure you apply some clamps to create pressure on the areas you have glued. Let the whole thing dry. While you let it dry, create the second rectangle as you need two. One for each side.

Step 2) Finish the framework

  • You’ll be using: the short 16 cm pinewood bars, the frames from step 1, glue, clamps, ruler, drill, screws, screwdriver

Glue the 2 shorter bars onto one of the frames you’ve just made. Make sure you apply some clamps to create pressure on the areas you have glued. Let the whole thing dry. Then glue the second frame from step one to the other side of the short bars to create the bottom structure of the table.

My structure needed extra securing, so I drilled a hole with a sunken screw hole from the side straight through the frame from step one and into the short bar. I’ve screwed both ends together and repeated this on all 4 bottom corners.

Step 3) Add frame to top panel

  • You’ll be using: piece of wood, the framework, drill, screwdriver, screws, glue

Lay the piece of wood on your work bench. Glue the framework to it and make sure the open end of the frame surrounds the wood.

Once glued, drill three holes with sunken screw holes spread over the length of the frame. Screw the screws in place and let the whole thing dry.

Step 4) Paint it!

  • You’ll be using: wood filler, sand paper, brushes, paint

Use the wood filler to cover the screws. Sand the whole thing down and paint it. Enjoy!

Side Table Top View

Side Table Top View

If you are more experienced at DIY projects like these, leave a comment with your tips to improve this idea. I’m quite happy with the idea and will probably apply it to more old wood that I still have lying around.

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