Anne Sloan Paint | House of 34

Part of my entryway update was making a new entryway table. Yes, I could have bought one quite easily, but what fun is that? I had a piece of wood I picked up at Lowes, probably six months ago. This past Monday, I went antiquing with my parents and picked up 7 spindly legs for $20.00. Not too bad! It was just what I was looking for. So I went to work.

Before I begin, I just want to reiterate that I’m not an expert at wood working or building things. I just want to do it, so I do. I don’t follow rules (except wear safety glasses at all times and keep your hands away from sharp spinning blades!!!). Maybe it’s not that I DON’T follow rules, I just believe there ARE NO rules when it comes to creativity. If you think you can, you can!

1 ft x 4 ft knotty, butcher block looking wood from Lowes.

The first thing I did was stain the board. I used MinWax Wood Finish in Expresso. I stained the wood before I really knew what I was going to do with it. It may be better to wait until you have your project assembled before you stain.

I picked up inexpensive base moulding at Lowes to use as trim around the raw edges of the table top. Take a look at all the trims and mouldings home improvement stores have. Just because the sign says this is a chair rail or this is a base board doesn’t mean that’s what they are ONLY for. The possibilities are endless!

Look at that edge! Love it when cuts work out the first time. 😀 I used a miter saw but a miter box will work as well. I glued the trim to the edges of the table, using blue tape to hold it in place. Once the glue was almost dry, I hammered in small brad nails for added support.

Here’s the tools and products I used.

If you are going to drill inside your house, I suggest putting a piece of scrap wood under the wood you are going to drill through. You don’t want to have to explain why there is a hole in your floor. 😉

Ok, So the rest of the construction happened in my entryway. The garage was too hot. While I love working with wood and tools, I don’t necessarily think one should have to sweat to create. Just don’t tell my Hubby I used our front entryway as my workshop. 😉

For the size of the legs I was using, I measured 3/4 inch from the edge of the table to find the center where I needed to drill for the leg hole.

I drilled deep enough to just go through to the other side of the table top with the point of the circle drill bit. Then I flipped the table top over and used a countersink drill bit to drill a hole for the screw that would attach the leg to the table.

I drilled a hole in the bottom of the table legs. The legs have a notch that fit into the holes I drilled under the table. I added glue to the hole, placed the leg in and then used a flat head screw in the countersunk (is that a word?) hole to attach the leg to the table. Sorry I don’t have a picture of that.

The table is so lightweight that I didn’t need to add any extra support for the legs. The glue and screws were all the legs needed to be sturdy. But please don’t come over and sit on it. I can not guarantee your bottom will remain on the table and not end up on the floor. 😉 Wood putty was used to fill the holes on the top of the table and once that was dry, I swiped a little stain over the holes. I stained the trim around the table in the same finish as the top and the legs are painted with Anne Sloan paint. The legs were sanded lightly for a worn look.