Coffee Table Project

Last weekend my landlord helped me with a project of making my own table! I bought a coffee table from Ikea, and put it together. Then, I purchased wood planks and had them cut to size and a dark stain. I've never had a coffee table before, so this project was so exciting to me! Plus it only cost me about $45.

My landlord has every tool you could imagine, and he sanded all the boards for me with his electric sander. I tackled sanding the ends of the boards. Then, it was time to stain all sides of each board.

We stained each board and had them sitting elevated on nails on a table. Then, after sitting for 5-10 minutes we wiped all the excess stain off and repeated the process for the other sides.

Then we let the boards dry out in the bright, hot sun. In only a few hours they were totally dry. Behold, the power of the sun.

We brought them upstairs and glued them down on the table. A few of the boards were slightly warped (blast our humid weather!), so I set some stacks of books on those spots to even out the table top. I let it sit for a few days.

And now I have the most beautiful coffee table! Partly made by my hands. It's pretty amazing.