How to Stain a Table
After I bought my couch for my back porch, I knew I wanted to add a coffee table since my goal was to turn my back porch into an outdoor living room. I really did not want to buy a coffee table (I was trying to decorate my porch on the cheap), so I decided to do a quick alley run one evening to see if I could find something to use as a coffee table. No joke, within minutes, I found a wooden crate that was the perfect size for my porch! This wasn’t just any old crate, it was almost like it was meant to be a coffee table (who knows, that’s what it may have actually been!). The bottom planks of the crate were missing, which is what gave me the idea to use it as a coffee table. So, into my Jeep it went.
I knew my crate needed some love and my initial thought was to paint it. I wanted to paint it white, but quickly realized that would not be the best choice since the likelihood of shoes being on it meant the bright white color would quickly fade. Instead of painting my crate, I decided to stain it. I went with a dark ebony colored stain. Before I started staining my crate, I ran my sander over the top to smooth out any rough areas.
After I stained all sides of my crate (including the inside), I thought it could use a little lift to make it a tad bit higher. I originally thought I would add caster wheels to the bottom, but soon found out that the wheel size I needed for my crate did not come with locks. The last thing I wanted was a coffee table that moved all over my porch!
I was at the craft store and ended up in the woodworking aisle looking for an alternative to caster wheels. I saw these wooden shapes that looked like cones. They were actually called “Doll Bodies”, but to me they looked like Mid-Century Modern legs…perfect for my coffee table! After I bought the doll bodies (so weird), I added some stain to them so they would match my table. After the stain was dry, I glued the legs to the bottom of my crate.
Total cost of my outdoor coffee table: $6
Crate – Free
Doll Bodies: $2
