One of the first projects we finished for our new house was a DIY side table with hairpin legs to go behind our sofa. This was a quick and relatively easy project to do, the result being the beautiful table you see below which we use every day!
DIY Side Table: All important details
What did we use?
- Scaffolding plank: B&Q (L)2400mm x (W)225mm x (T)38mm, cut to size
- Sander: Mac Allister corded
- Saw: Mac Allister corded circular saw
- Sand paper: 80, 120, 160 & 600grit
- Danish Teak Oil: Colron Jacobean Oak
- Hairpin legs: Hairpin Leg Co 34”/86cm, 3 rod in ‘Clear Coat’
- Other tools: Ryobi cordless drill, hammer/wrench
How long did it take?
6 hours of graft (plus a bit of extra time to figure out what to do next):
- 1 hour of sanding x 3 levels of grit = 3 hours of sanding by machine
- 1/2 hour of applying stain x 2 = 1 hour of finishing
- 1/2 hour of wet sand x 2 = 1 hour of sanding by hand
- 1/2 hour of applying the final coat of stain
What did we learn?
- Apparently Danish teak oil can self combust so while waiting between coats, we left the microfibre cloth in a Tupperware box outside on the patio….just in case.
- Scaffolding planks are inexpensive and a great way to source sturdy wood
- Wet sanding produces a silky smooth finish!
- And finally, a side table behind your sofa is peak comfort living – highly recommend. A DIY side table is even better; nothing beats the satisfaction of using something every day that you made.
What we did
After we sanded the floors in our living room (a massive project – deserves its own blog quite frankly), we were keen to crack on with the next DIY project. Naturally, we wanted a fairly quick project to complete after the hard slog graft of the floorboards. Mike had had his eye on getting a side table to go behind the sofa so it seemed like the most obvious thing in the world to just make one.
Ah the side table, what a great invention. Out of sheer laziness, it seems easier to have something to rest your cup of tea on right behind you, than to reach over a couple of yards out of your seat to put your mug down on a coffee table. Because why expend energy when you can maximise comfort on a daily basis.
The irony of going to all the effort of making a side table when we could further maximise comfort and just buy one is not lost on us. But where’s the fun in that?!
Preparation
Firstly, Mike set to work finding the right piece of wood. This wasn’t too difficult. A scaffolding plank – sturdy enough, and with some interesting detailing if possible – would do. He found the right piece with the right measurements pretty easily from B&Q – see above for detail.
Next on the list was finding the right sander. We were just starting out on building our tool collection at the time and we weren’t sure how often it would get used. As a result, we felt a little apprehensive about spending so much money on a fancy sander. Got to think about these things. A cheerful B&Q own-brand corded orbital sander was fine for the job and was fairly inexpensive.
With the sander bought, we needed to decide on the wood effect we wanted. We had just sanded and oiled the living room floorboards and they had come out quite light. In order to provide a bit of contrast, a darker oil shade would be needed. Additionally, the living room walls (Farrow & Ball Hague Blue) are quite a dark, rich colour, so a deep stain would be required. And lastly, the shade needed to complement our classic-style sofa where it would be sitting. After a bit of research and some stain tests, we eventually went for Danish teak oil from B&Q.
And finally, those gorgeous hairpin legs that seem to have been having a moment for the past few years. These were the most expensive part of the project. For this we measured up the width of the plank of wood to get the right fit for the brackets. We then decided on the height we wanted – 34”/86cm to reach a height just above the back of the sofa. We ordered these from The Hairpin Leg Co and they cost approximately £65 for 4.
Steps to making the side table
- Sander in hand, the first step was fairly straightforward:
- An initial sand down of the scaffolding board with 80 grit paper. This took one hour for a piece 160cm in length
- A further sand down with 120 grit paper – again another hour
- Finally, a sand down with 160 grit paper – again another hour
- Next, after removing the metal bands at the end of the scaffold board and cutting to size, Mike attached the hairpin legs – it’s coming together!
- After attaching the legs, we started to apply the stain. This took a bit of getting used to as the oil needs to be applied with a microfibre cloth, followed by a wet sand which basically means just sanding down the wood by hand with a 600 grit sand paper before the Danish oil has time to dry. As a result, the wood felt incredibly silky smooth – like, really insanely smooth. So with two coats of the oil applied in this way – each time followed by wet sand – and a final coat of oil for good luck, the result was this!
Et voila – one lovely side table!
Conclusion
We love how this turned out, and how quick the project was to do. It was pretty simple to make and honestly, you just can’t beat the satisfaction of using something every day that was handmade by us (well…mostly Mike).
