10 Clever and Creative DIY Coffee Tables (With Pictures)
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Kristin Hitchcock
- Last updated:
Coffee tables can get pricey, especially if you’re looking for one with a bit of style. Luckily, this is a pretty easy piece of furniture to make with some basic woodworking skills. In fact, it is one of the easier woodworking projects out there. You can have one built in only a few days with the right equipment and materials.
There are countless ways to build a coffee table, as well. We’ve collected some of our favorite plans to help you pick the right option for your home and skill level.
The 10 DIY Coffee Tables Ideas
1. Ana White Table
| Materials: | Various wood lengths, screws, sandpaper, stain (or paint), wood putty |
| Tools: | Paintbrush, measuring tape, speed square, pencil, hammer, drill, sander, something to cut the wood with |
| Difficulty: | Beginner |
This very simple table requires very basic woodworking skills. Therefore, we found it to be an excellent option for beginners. It does require several tools, but most of these should be lying around most woodworker studios. You probably won’t need to purchase anything special for this plan.
2. Factory Cart Coffee Table
| Materials: | Casters, lumber of several sizes, screws |
| Tools: | Pocket hole jig, drill, miter saw, tape measure, pencil, safety glasses, hearing protection |
| Difficulty: | Beginner |
For an exciting table, you may want to try this plan. It’s pretty popular and appears on several top blogs. Therefore, it may be a good option for your living room, as well. We love that this cart stands out from many others on this list. It would work great in an industrial or farmhouse-style home.
3. Rustic Coffee Table
| Materials: | Various wood lengths, pocket hole screws |
| Tools: | Tape measure, miter saw, speed square, pencil, Kreg jig, drill, brad nailer, sander, drill bit set |
| Difficulty: | Medium |
This plan is slightly more complex than the others. However, if you are feeling up to it, it does make a pretty lovely, rustic table. The best part is that the website has several other plants for matching furniture. Therefore, you could potentially build the whole set for relatively cheap.
4. Crate Storage Coffee Table
| Materials: | Four large crates, various wood sizes, plywood sheets, paint or stain, wood glue, hole screws, brad nails, swivel casters, cabinet pull, upholstery nails |
| Tools: | Drill, miter saw, hammer, measuring tape |
| Difficulty: | Easy |
This table is extremely easy and allows you to add some extra storage to your room, too. We highly recommend it for homes with children or smaller apartments. Plus, the plans are straightforward and easy to follow. You also won’t need any strange or unusual tools, and all of the lumber should be pretty inexpensive.
5. Mission-Style Table
| Materials: | White oak (preferably), various cuts of hardwood, plywood, nails |
| Tools: | Varies |
| Difficulty: | Hard |
This mission-style table is a great option for those who are interested in this type of furniture. However, the plan is a bit difficult to follow and assumes a lot of background knowledge. Therefore, we find it best for those that have quite a bit of experience working with wood. This plan isn’t easy by any means, but it does leave you with a nice table.
6. Rustic Cart Table
| Materials: | Reclaimed wood, various wood lengths, wood glue, wheels, screws and washers, jute rope, clear coat |
| Tools: | Nail gun, miter saw, sandpaper, paintbrush |
| Difficulty: | Hard |
This fairly interesting table is quite rustic compared to others. Therefore, it works well as a rustic home décor piece. This plan utilizes reclaimed wood, which is largely why the table looks so antique. If you don’t have reclaimed wood, you may have issues creating this plan, as shown. Therefore, this is one of the more difficult plans to put together, simply due to the necessary materials.
7. Display Table
| Materials: | Various plywood and poplar boards, pocket screws, wood glue |
| Tools: | Table saw, drill, sander, sanding block, Kreg jig |
| Difficulty: | Easy |
Lowe’s has an interesting plan for making a display table. It is labeled as advanced on their website, but we found it all to be pretty easy. The plans are well-written and come with many different photos to help you figure out exactly what to do.
8. Basic Coffee Table
| Materials: | Boards of different sizes, square dowels, posts |
| Tools: | Tape measure, miter saw, nail gun, drill, paddle bit |
| Difficulty: | Easy |
We love this plan largely because it is so well put together and easy to follow. This plan is pretty simple and hardly requires any time. No complicated tools are needed, and you’ll probably already own everything needed to build this plan.
9. Sawhorse Table
| Materials: | Lumber of various sizes, hole screws, wood screws |
| Tools: | Pocket hole jig, drill, miter saw, tape measure, pencil |
| Difficulty: | Easy |
This table is extremely inexpensive and perfect for a range of designs. It does look a bit rustic, but you can change this when building it. Therefore, it largely depends on the design you’re trying to emulate. The plan is pretty straightforward and easy to follow. Therefore, you should have no trouble building this table.
10. Rhyan Coffee Table
| Materials: | Several cuts of wood, plywood, several L-brackets, drawer pulls |
| Tools: | Saw, drill, screws, wood glue, wood filler |
| Difficulty: | Easy |
This table was designed after one found at Pottery Barn. However, this table was a bit too expensive for the plan’s designer, so she created her own table. However, she wrote the plan after she built the table. Therefore, there is always a possibility that the plans don’t work out as intended.
Conclusion
There are many coffee table plans, as just about every home has at least one. These plans range from basic, modern tables to rustic carts. You can use these plans as-is to create a cheaper coffee table than you could find elsewhere. Alternatively, you could edit the plan to make the table match exactly what you’re looking for.
You might also like: HOW MANY WATTS DOES A COFFEE MAKER USE? DO THEY CONSUME LOTS OF POWER?
Featured Image Credit: Francesca Tosolini, Unsplash
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