What do you get when yo mix eleven kids, a trailer full of lumber, two sisters and 48 hours? A #shantyhousecrash 🙂 A few months ago, Whit and I went to visit our baby sister, and her family, in Houston. She and her hubby had four kids under, the age of 6, and they just moved into a new house. Of course, she hadn’t had time to decorate and she felt like her house wasn’t home yet. Whit and I decided to turn our visit into a Shanty House Crash and transformed two room for her and completed 6 projects!Today, I’m sharing the DIY Crate Coffee Table on Wheels that I built for her living room.

This is a very easy build. The only tools you need are:

a miter saw

a drill

a Kreg Jig

a nailer

The goal for this project was to give my sis a sturdy coffee table (she has 4 climbers), a lot of storage space (alllll the toys) and to make it beautiful – challenge accepted!

I’m going to take you through my build process but make sure to click HERE to print your free plans!

The first step is to cut and  build the four legs. Do this by attaching the 1×4 pieces to the 1×3 pieces with wood glue and 1 1/4″ brad nails.

Next, cut the pieces for the top and bottom frame and use our Kreg Jig to drill 3/4″ pocket holes into the short  pieces. You can find the Kreg Jig model that we love HERE on Amazon. Refer to the plans for the pocket hole placement.

Build the bottom frame by attaching the long side pieces to the short pieces with 1 1/4″ pocket hole screws and wood glue.

Once the bottom frame is assembled, you can measure the width of the frame and cut the planks to size. Attach them with 1 1/4″ brad nails and wood glue. The ends of the planks should be flush with the edges of the frame.

Tip: To make sure the planks are spaced evenly, attach the two end planks and then space the rest out accordingly. The end planks should be flush with the ends of the frame.

Here is the bottom frame with the planks attached.

Now it’s time to attach the legs. The bottom of each leg should be flush with the bottom of the bottom frame. Attach the leg to the frame with 1 1/4″ brad nails and wood glue. The 1×4 side of the legs should be on the long side of the coffee table.

Here is the table with all four legs attached.

Assemble the top frame, the same way as the bottom frame but add a support at the center. Refer to the plans for dimensions and placement.

Now, measure the length of the frame and cut the table top planks to size. Lay the table top planks on the floor, side-by-side. Make sure they are upside down, so that you are looking at the bad side. Lay the top frame over the planks and make sure that the edges are all flush. Now, run a line of wood glue under the frame and then attach it to the planks with 1 1/4″ brad nails.

Attach the top frame to the legs with 1 1/4″ brad nails and wood glue. The top of the legs should be flush with the top of the table top planks, so that the top of the legs are part of the table top.

Flip the table upside down and attach the scrap caster blocks to each corner with wood glue and 1 1/4″ brad nails.

Now, just attach the casters to each corner. I found the casters HERE on Amazon.

Flip the table back over and it’s ready for a finish! We mixed dark walnut with weathered gray at a 50:50 ratio. This creates the perfect brown gray but now, Varathane has a color that is just that – Briarsmoke! You can find the Varathane stain on Amazon HERE. If you can’t find Briarsmoke, we recommend the 50:50 mix that we have done for this table.

I used a Lamb’s Woold applicator to apply one coat of the stain to the table. Check our our How to Stain Wood video HERE!

I let the table dry (it took about an hour)

Then, I applied one coat of Triple Thick Polyurethane by Varathane to the entire table. You can find the Triple Thick Poly HERE on Amazon. Not sure how to apply the poly? Check out our  How to Stain Wood video HERE! 😉

Once the poly dried, we took a break 😉

We found the perfect baskets from AtHome!

Now for more room shots 🙂

We found all of the decor for this room at AtHome!

You can find the plans for everything else in this space at the links below:

Floating shelves with pulley: HERE

Window Trim: HERE

Console Table: HERE

Board and Batten Wall: HERE

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Ashley

 

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5 Comments

  1. I’m working on one now and had a thought. Would it work to attach the table top 1x6s using pocket holes on the underside to connect them together, then glue and nail the frame to the connected 1×6 top?

  2. Planning on building this for my daughters new apartment. Question… when you do the stain do you actually mix the 2 colors in a separate container or do you layer the stain?

  3. As usual, it’s lovely! I’m sure the time with your sister and kids was even lovlier! Another Shanty2Chic home made so inviting and comfortable.