First things first, I am not the best woodworking person in the world so you can say I don’t really know how to build a coffee table without coffee table plans.  Well I’m gonna tell you a short story about my experience: I had just moved into a new apartment. It would be my first apartment that was my very own and which I didn’t have to share with roommates. It took a while for me to find the perfect spot in my town but once I had I was excited to be able to finally furnish an apartment just the way I wanted. I moved in with a couch, a dresser, a bed, a entertainment stand, and some other items. Once I had them set up I realized that my new living room was missing a very important center piece – a coffee table!

I did not have any prior experience building a coffee table but I did have some basic tools and decided to take a shot at building a coffee table myself. I wanted to get started on the project right away so I searched the internet for some plans. Although I found some helpful information it wasn’t until I found Woodworking 4  Home that my project really came together. The founder of the site, John Metz, is a professional woodworker from Montana. The information that I gained from his Woodworking Plans and Designs was the secret behind building the coffee table of my dreams.

How To Build A Coffee Table

STEP ONE: The first thing you will need is a plan. As I mentioned above woodworking 4 home is where I found my plan. John Metz’s site gives access to 14,000 woodworking plans and projects so you will definitely be able to find a coffee table that will suit your needs.

STEP TWO: Next you will have to figure out what type of materials you need, where to purchase them, and how much of the materials you will need. After looking through my plan I was able to determine how much lumber I would need for my table. I used hardwood for my furniture. I bought some fancy wood that was not quite the most expensive. Even though I had to put some money into buying the lumber I knew that buying a pre-built coffee table made from similar materials would have been many times more expensive and completely out of my price range. I will say this, remember to buy a little extra. It was important in the end to ensure that I had enough to compensate for a little bit of waste. I also picked up other odds and ends for the project including nails, screws, and sandpaper. I was able to get all of my materials at a local hardware store.

STEP THREE: Now that you have the raw materials you have to prepare them. After I had gotten the wood home I cut it to the specifications in my plans. Even though I only had a small amount of experience with tools, getting all the pieces of the table cut and readied took a lot less time than I thought it would. I definitely credit the plans I was using with helping me through this step.

STEP FOUR: With your pieces prepped you are now ready to put your table together. I made sure to follow the plans exactly to ensure that my coffee table would come out right. It wasn’t hard at all! I ended up using some glue, screws, and nails that I had picked up at the hardware store to assemble my pieces. Once the pieces were together I was able to stand back and see my coffee table for the first time. I can not tell you how proud I was to see that I was able to create a table myself. Though the table was standing it was definitely not yet done. It still had a very raw look. Initially I started to make it look a bit more finished by sanding the wood. You will probably want to do this as well.

STEP FIVE: What you have now will definitely function as a coffee table but we want something that looks great too! After I was done sanding I coated the raw table in varnish. The varnish allowed the beautiful grains of the hardwood that I had purchased to show through. The sanding and varnish really took the coffee table from a raw piece of furniture and made it something that looked totally professional.

STEP SIX: You can now enjoy your new handmade coffee table! I positioned mine right in the middle of my new living room. It fit perfectly in regard to both size and aesthetics because I was the one who built it. Next I sat down on my couch, kicked back, and put my feet up on the table. To me one of the primary purposes of a coffee table is to be able to put your feet up on it. I had built this table and I was going to use it exactly how I wanted to!

Where To Find Woodworking And Coffee Table Plans

I know I’ve said it a few times already but woodworking 4 home is the reason I was able to successfully build a coffee table. I would suggest their plans to anyone. I was a beginner but a few of my friends who have quite a bit of experience with woodworking say they really loved the plans as well. I saved so much money because I was able to build this table myself that I definitely want to try more woodworking projects in the future. What’s great is that the woodworking 4 home book has at least 13,999 more plans for me to try!  Now I know how to build a coffee table the right way.