Well, it took us 3+ weeks, but our 12 foot long DIYed living room console table is officially finished!
Before I get into any more pics of the final piece in place, let me back up a bit and recap some of the most recent constructions steps that got us there (since the last time you saw our console table it was stained but still topless). As you know, we had to turn to Plan B for the top since the pallets didn’t play nice (more on that here) so after lots of driving around town in search or something reclaimed that we could use (where sadly nothing was the right width or available in enough bulk) Plan B ended up being “buy new wood and make it look old.” Hence this pile in my basement:
After trying out a few different combinations of boards on the floor of Home Depot, I discovered that I could achieve a near-perfect width by placing four 1 x 4″ boards (in plain whitewood) sandwiched between two 1 x 2″ boards (in poplar). This arrangement, by total accident, ended up looking great since the poplar 1 x 2″s around the perimeter inadvertently added a nice border that would match the 1 x 2″ poplar framing that I used on the front of the bookshelves. Score.
Since we wanted to lay the boards on top in a staggered almost brick-like pattern, I cut all of my 1 x 4″ boards into two-foot lengths to start.
The next step was to distress each of the boards to make them look more aged and less straight-from-Home-Depot. This process, as well as staining them, is a whole story in itself so we’re going to do a follow-up post with an avalanche of details (it’ll have some video, which I have yet to edit – so that’s why you’re getting this reveal post first). But here’s a glimpse of the whole distressing process to tide you over (it involved a variety of things from hammering dents and dropping a bag of screws to making line imprints and roughing things up with pointy objects).
Once I had distressed all 27 pieces of wood (yep, over two dozen) Sherry worked her stain magic on them. Again, we’ll get into this more in a follow up post full of details (yup, there’s some staining video to edit too) but it basically involved doing a variation of applications using Minwax’s Dark Walnut and Ebony stains (some light, some dark, some mixed, etc). We ended up with a bunch of boards that looked aged and kinda beat up, like they were collected from a few different sources – instead of just purchased at the home improvement store a week ago looking all shiny and new.
Then it was time to attach them together to create one big solid tabletop – well, actually three tabletop pieces (two long ends and one small “puzzle” piece that would cover our hidden storage compartment in the middle, which can be lifted out). After doing some math, we decided to stagger the boards by four inches so that when it came to the open part in the middle there would be a small lip on each edge for the puzzle piece to rest on when it’s closed so it all looks flush (I promise this will make more sense once you see the final pics at the bottom of the post). The point is, my first few cuts looked something like this.
To attach the boards, I again used my beloved Kreg Jig to screw holes that would tightly join each piece to the one beside it.
After joining the end boards, I drilled the rest of the holes and continued screwing them together, one-by-one. It probably took me about 40 minutes to create each of the two long sides of the wood countertop (and then about twenty to build the smaller “puzzle piece” cover for the storage space in the middle).
Here’s what one side looked like when it was mostly complete (it was still missing the 1 x 2″ poplar border around the edge). You can see how I tried to vary the color on adjacent boards so the change in tone looked intentional and added lots of nice texture and character.
Once the second side was done I double checked everything by placing the tabletops on the console bases – making sure that my measurements were still accurate and I didn’t need to make any adjustments before attaching the poplar 1 x 2″s around the perimeter. Luckily, all was good. Big phew.
Let’s fast forward (past attaching side borders and screwing four staggered boards together to create the middle puzzle piece) and show you our final step before putting the whole darn thing together: touch-up staining and poly-ing. We realized that it would help to stain some of the cut ends and part of the middle storage piece so that no raw wood would be seen. Once dried, Sherry applied a coat of Safecoat Acrlacq polyurethane over everything that was stained to seal it all in and protect our beloved console baby (and our beloved real baby since Safecoat is non-toxic and water-based so it doesn’t off gas like regular oil-based poly does (read more about staining and sealing the consoles here).
Oh and before I forget, do you see the white fabric around the middle console piece in the pic above? That was just an extra sheet that we had which Sherry stapled neatly around the entire wooden frame to create a nice little fabric compartment so nothing that we attempt to store can slyly slip behind the sofa. Then those two baskets that you see stacked on the chair (that we also already owned) can be contained inside the fabric “box” for storing everything from board games and books to remotes and other stuff that you might want to put on a coffee table (since we have an ottoman instead). More pics of that in a minute.
After that last bit of staining and sealing (and a few days of drying) everything was finally ready to come back into the living room. We brought things in one-by-one (bases first, then the tops) and after we had everything lined up the way we wanted it, I drilled a few screws up through the bottom of the two bases on the ends to secure the wood tops in place. And with that, our nearly 12 foot console (with a hidden middle storage compartment and some sweet bookcase-sides for even more stash space) was officially complete.
Maybe we’re biased because it’s our creation, but we’re both convinced that it came out even better than we had imagined. In fact, we think the DIY distressed wood top looks way better in the space than the grey-ish pallets would have (we’re the first to admit that the room has enough gray going on already). Hallelujah for happy accidents.
It also made us really happy that we opted for a rustic warm wood look with lots of imperfections and character (since the room was beginning to skew a little more modern than we had intended). It definitely brings some much needed balance to the overall vibe (especially once we add a heftier TV stand and some table lamps to finish things off).
Oh, but I can’t forget to show you how the hidden storage compartment turned out in the middle. It’s my favorite feature, probably because it makes me feel like James Bond. Can you spot the removable puzzle piece there in the pic below?
Clearly it’s not 100% disguised, but when you’re looking at the console as a whole it doesn’t scream at you (just scroll a few up a few photos to see what I mean) since it’s flush and the ends are still staggered instead of being cut into a big obvious removable rectangle. Once we’ve actually got some stuff on the table (lamps, a lacquer box or two, some books, etc) we think it’ll call even less attention to itself. We were just proud to get such a snug fit without making it difficult to remove (miraculously it slides right out and drops easily back in).
Speaking of which, I did end up drilling a small oblong hole (about 4 John fingers / 5 Sherry fingers wide) to make lifting it out as simple as possible. Three cheers for the sanding bits on my Dremel (Sherry got me a Dremel Trio for Father’s Day last year) which helped me make the hole even and smooth. I was nervous to puncture my took-three-weeks-to-make-it creation, but it all worked out in the end.
When lifted out completely, we gain access to those two storage baskets that I mentioned a while back (we’ll eventually fill them with more games, maybe some DVDs, not-often-used remotes, and who knows what else). Oh and you can see below what I meant by staggering the boards to leave a lip for the puzzle piece to rest on for a nice flush look:
We don’t expect to use that storage on a daily basis, so for the most part it’ll maintain its secret identity as one solid piece except once or twice a week when we dig in there for a movie or a game or something.
Of course we still have to put the darn thing to use – aka add some table lamps to the top, store some items on the shelves on each side, and generally load that baby up with function and a little form (maybe a ceramic animal for the wife). But to give you a sense of what it might look like, here are our two bedside lamps playing stand-in for a minute. It reminds us why the 16.5″ width is perfect for us – it’s wide enough to fit a chunky table lamp without having to worry about knocking our heads into them (since we’re both guilty of over-exaggerated laughing spells during particularly funny moments of Modern Family).
And no reveal post is complete without – say it with me – a budget breakdown. So here it is:
- Wood (white wood & poplar from Home Depot) – $98
- Screws & Tools – $0 (already owned everything)
- White sheet – $0 (already owned)
- 2 storage baskets for middle compartment – $0 (already owned)
- Minwax Ebony Stain – $4
- Minwax Dark Walnut Stain – $0 (already owned)
- Safecoat Acrylacq Sealant – $0 (already owned)
- Cheap paintbrushes for staining – $2
- TOTAL: $104
Clearly wood was our biggest budget hog, but for a nearly 12 foot piece of furniture made from solid wood, we can’t really complain about the just over $100 price tag. Especially since this extremely similar piece from West Elm goes for $379 – and we would’ve needed to buy THREE of them, to the tune of $1,137. Yowsa.
So another big thanks to Ana White for inspiring the design and giving me the confidence to tackle it myself (with the help of my stain slingin’ wifey). Did anyone else out there complete any builds this week? Who’s still in the basement/garage/shed/workroom finishing something up? Speaking of finishing up, I have some videos to edit and a big post to write about our wood distressing technique, so here’s hoping I can get that up in a day or two. In the meantime I’ll leave you with this shot of our new “old” boards before we screwed them all together to make the console top. Is it weird that it gets me all hot and bothered? Whatever, my wife likes leopard heels and I like distressed lumber.
Psst- Wanna see all the past steps that went into building this beast of a console table? Here’s the first post, the second one, and the third one.
UPDATE: CHECK OUT THE ACCESSORIZED CONSOLE TABLE HERE.
Wom-mom Ethne says
This is sweet. And you’ll love the hidden storage once Clara starts grabbing everything in sight. ~Ethne
Renee says
May have missed this, as I only started following this blog recently, but are you going to paint the desk chair’s legs?
YoungHouseLove says
That desk chair (along with a ton of other things in the room) aren’t going to stay for the long haul. We actually plan to put one of the eight parsons chairs that we got for the dining room there after we slipcover or upholster them (since we like how seven of them look around the dining table when we’re not entertaining a huge group so we thought that would be a good spot for the extra one).
xo,
s
Relevant Notes says
That looks so awesome! I love the colors in the distressed wood. You guys do the coolest things!
Kelley says
Oooo, turn out nice, y’all! I am especially fond of the secret storage compartment’s “lid” solution. That puzzle piece with the hole in it is fabulous.
Katie says
This is seriously amazing. John, you have made some pretty impressive things before, but I think you’ve definitely outdone yourself with this one. Impressive!
Ashley says
Wow. A thousand times. Wow.
Georgia Rowe says
Love the way burgers standing up against the door as if to say ‘and outside is the garden’ love him :)
Kiran @ KiranTarun.com says
You guys totally rocked it with this console. I love the distressed look of the woods and oh my, the grains! :D
Mikaela says
I love that the two things that get you “hot and bothered” are the same colors…black and brown. Maybe you should rethink your bedroom colors…
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, it’s true! Maybe we should go with leopard prints and weathered wood everywhere from here on out!
xo,
s
Emily says
For some reason in my head I thought that secret storage compartment in the middle would be hinged…so you could just lift up and toss in and then close. Maybe even with one of those no slam, close slowly hinge things (which I’m sure have a real name…). Did you consider that?
YoungHouseLove says
We didn’t want it to slam back into the wall (or slam back onto itself if it was hinged side-to-side) if we threw it open quickly. And we thought we would have more easy access to everything in the compartment if it lifted out entirely (so reaching deep into the console wouldn’t be obstructed by the hinged flap). Hinges definitely could have worked though, we just opted to skip ‘em.
xo,
s
Melissa Martin says
Love it!
Where do I find that green rug! I need it for our playroom!!!!
YoungHouseLove says
That’s from overstock.com. If you search “come to momma” in quotes in our search bar I think the post about ordering it will pop up. Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Linda G. says
Prior to your blog I wasn’t a blog reader. I may have glanced at an entry or two of a random blog once in a while, but I had some pretty negative opinions about blogs in general. Stumble pulled up your blog one day and it is the first one I found to be super fabu. Since then I’ve found a few others that I also appreciate very much. Thanks for being so great at what you do. This project is super inspiring to me.
Sarah says
Wow! I am so impressed. I love the top old wood look you have going on. I’m also truly impressed by the opening for storage in the center, how creative! You did a really awesome job with this.
Kevin M says
Great job, $100 and some hard work is a great investment for that size piece. Not to mention the bragging rights!
Teresa says
oh my goodness! I love this! so when you mixed the stains did you do it 50/50 or just willy nilly? Have I said that I love it yet??
YoungHouseLove says
We’re going to share a big detailed post just about the distressing and staining process (with pics and even a few videos)- hopefully sometime in the next few days if we can get them all edited and presentable!
xo,
s
Jennifer K says
Pure genius!! It looks amazing and the hidden storage is awesome!
Becky S. says
Wow!!! That looks absolutely incredible!!! I am so impressed. Have you guys ever built furniture before or was this your first time? Where do I send my tuition check to enroll my husband in The John Petersik School of Furniture Making?! haha You two constantly amaze me with how you do the things you do with such a small budget!
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, John is flattered that you’ve named a fictional school after him. As for building, John started slow by making shelves for Clara’s room. Then he built our two person desk (which is basically just a door that we had lying around with legs added to it). Then he tackled a little homemade cabinet/file table beneath the desk, and then he went for the gold with the console table build. It might sound odd to say, but he doesn’t really have much experience. It just took some time for him to figure things out, but there wasn’t any part of it was particularly hard (according to John- how would I know, he was down in the basement the whole time, haha).
xo,
s
Lisa says
It looks fantastic! Well done. This really makes me want to own a house and invest in a bunch of nifty tools.
Three cheers for Banangrams and Quiddler :).
Jess says
This might be my favorite thing you’ve ever done! John could have a future in carpentry if this whole blog thing goes awry! Though, with projects like this…I suspect that won’t happen!! :)
Joy says
The 4-5 finger lift cutout, clever. Useful, fits right in, colors blend. Thanks for the whole sequence.
– Joy
Ashley @ DesignBuildLove.co says
looks fantastic guys!!! And I LOVE that you guys still worked to get a “reclaimed” effect on the top even though the palettes didn’t work out. It turned out absolutely phenomenal!!! Time for a much-deserved pat-on-the-back!!!
Alison says
Gorgeous! Three weeks is not very long considering I have been thinking about doing one of Ana’s projects for at least a year now… maybe its time to start one finally :) Great work!!
Heidi says
Less expensive and MUCH prettier than the West Elm bookshelves. I love, love, love what you have created! It’s beautiful.
Allison says
Just following up on my earlier post about building a similar media console piece. See this crate and barrel piece for inspiration:
http://www.crateandbarrel.com/organizing-and-storage/media-centers-storage/seguro-68%22-media-console/s586237
Can’t wait to see what you end up with
YoungHouseLove says
Wow, that’s gorgeous!
xo,
s
Jenny says
Awesome! You probably saved about $1000 making that yourself! I can see how once you add a little blingy chandelier or something the whole room will really feel complete!
Liz says
It looks gorgeous! So impressed by your ingenuity.
Kim says
I loooooooove it! You make me want to re do my whole living room. Great job!! :)
Sarah M. says
I absolutely LOVE it!!
Marilyn says
I think this is going to be a favorite hiding place for Clara when she gets older.
Ayelet says
This piece is amazing, and amazingly economical! Kudos for creating such stylish and functional piece for your home. I guess this is answered by your stated preference for a brown piece over a grey piece in the room, but did you ever consider “aging” the wood with a baking soda solution? I’ve seen a featurette on the DIY network numerous times about doing this when you are repairing an exterior fence and need to get the new wood to match the existing wood. It seems like this would have been an easy way to get wood that looked like it came from a pallet, if that’s what you were looking for.
YoungHouseLove says
We have heard about that (and a vinegar technique) but we decided to play around with stain and we loved the effect. Maybe next time we’ll use some fun kitchen stuff though!
xo,
s
Stacy says
Awesome! Yours Totally kicks the butt of the one from West Elm that is nothing in comparison and for a third of the cost. Can’t beat that!
Funnelcloud Rachel says
Your most impressive project to date! Now how can I get you guys to come up here and build one for me???
YoungHouseLove says
Sadly the hubby is all booked up thanks to the demanding wife who keeps putting things on his to do list. Haha.
xo,
s
Carley says
I love, love, love this! I could not picture in my mind exactly what the top was going to look like, but it is so amazing. Looking at your link to the West Elm tables, they don’t even compare. What you’ve created is ten times better. I wouldn’t consider my style rustic at all, but I would love my husband to build a piece that looked like that for our home.
wow.
ashley c says
Love it!
Kelly says
Beautiful!!!! wow, you guys are so talented!
Elisa says
VERY IMPRESSED by the distressed wood! It looks nothing like it did at the store! Good job, as always.
Beth @ bethcooks says
Y’all have really outdone yourselves this time! It’s absolutely gorgeous! You should go into funriture making, John.
Ashley says
So, this may be a bit creepy but it will tell you how addicted I am to your blog…
No lie, had a dream the other night that I was helping you guys build this. In my dream, though, you were still sticking with the wood pallet idea. So my job was driving around town looking for and measuring pallets (to make sure the boards were the right width ofcourse!)I do have to say, the real life console turned out 100 times better than the dream console! In part because the dream console was stained bright pink (?!?!)
Anyway…Job well done, guys. I love it!
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, I love dreams with twists like that. Bright pink?! Awesome.
xo,
s
Amy P says
That is really, really impressive! I love the final result! Well done, guys.
Lyndsey says
Wow, it looks awesome! You could have a serious career in the furniture-making business if you could clone yourselves!! From the pictures, your console table really looks like it fills out the room nicely. Can’t wait to see your entertainment center pick (go big screen!). You guys are super-bloggers, honestly!
I just have to say, my house is like a shrine to your blog, I’ve copied so many of your ideas. Thanks for all the great inspiration!
Erin N. says
That is a-freakin-mazing.
L says
I’m not even a fan of the “distressed” wood look, but your console is gorgeous. The West Elm version just looks cheap by contrast.
Only downside I can see is that you really do need a heavier TV-holder to balance that side of the room, but you are for sure up to the challenge.
Way to go!
Jenae says
Beautful!! Love how it warms up the space! Did you ever consider doing a hinge on the center storage space?
YoungHouseLove says
We didn’t want it to slam back into the wall (or slam back onto itself if it was hinged side-to-side) if we threw it open quickly. And we thought we would have more easy access to everything in the compartment if it lifted out entirely (so reaching deep into the console wouldn’t be obstructed by the hinged flap). Hinges definitely could have worked though, we just opted to skip ‘em.
xo,
s
carolinaheartstrings says
Well done. Great design.
linda says
GORGEOUS! well done!
Andrea S. says
This rocks my socks. I want one. But I don’t have 12 ft to put it in. Maybe a small version for my entryway console table.
Joannie says
That is the ugliest console I have ever seen. Disappointed to say the least.
YoungHouseLove says
Good thing you don’t have to live here. Haha. We love it and it seems that many others do too. Remember stuff like this is subjective! To each his own.
xo,
s
Kristen says
This is probably the ugliest comment I have ever seen. I hope this console haunts your dreams.
Ames says
Oh my God, Kristen just made me choke on my dinner.
KathyG says
Way to go John! You guys should have done this FIRST! It is awesome!
Lauren says
It is beautiful….but I’m even more excited that you have Quiddler and Bananagrams!
Debbie says
Wow- you guys never cease to amaze. I was already in awe of your talent, but this project takes it to another level.
That last photo in the post of the distressed wood up close would make a really nice addition to your frame wall…I can see it really fitting in nicely with a white mat and frame and it would be an artsy eminder of this very impressive project you did together.