Table Project

I bought this set of Ikea tables at a garage sale for 15 dollars.  It's a handy set of little side tables, but I never really liked the color of the bases, and the thickness of the tops.  I've been wanting to redo them for a while, so I thought maybe if I tackle one at a time I can get these done.  I don't really need them to match, so doing them at different times will give me the ability to think of different designs!

For the first one, I am redoing the middle table.  I have a bunch of yardsticks I inherited when I got my new job - because I also had about 2 dozen metal yardsticks, I decided these would be best liberated to work for my project.

The red one is actually a new one I got at Lowe's and tinted red with some acrylic paint.  I wanted a bit of color on this tabletop.  I started by taking the top off the table - turning it over, it was held on by 8 screws underneath.

 

After I took off the top, I removed the four plastic tips from the bottom of the legs, and used Krylon Satin spraypaint to paint it black.

 

I gave it several coats and let it dry all afternoon.  Meanwhile, I cut a piece of 3/4" plywood to fit the top.  The old one was flush with the sides, and that's what I wanted, so I measured and then subtracted the thickness of 2 yardsticks that I was going to use as a frame.

Then I cut my yardsticks on the chopsaw as I went.  I wanted a modified log cabin pattern, so I started in one corner and worked across.

While I was cutting the rulers, some of them were thicker than others, so I shimmed up the thinner ones with strips of the wooden blinds that I bought for the guest room.  Making the blinds fit to size, I had a lot of leftover wooden strips that I knew would come in handy for something - and they did!  When I got this part all done, I gave it two coats of spar varnish.

After it dried, I reattached the metal base to the wooden top, making sure it was centered correctly.  I cut strips of yardsticks to frame out the top, hiding all the cut edges.  And then I gave it two more coats of varnish.

Mercury approves!  He's wearing his harness, because I took him out on his leash this afternoon.

I'm thinking one the the other tops might look good with hammered metal from old tins.  I think I'll keep the bases all black, which will help make them work as a set.