DIY: Distressed Wood Top Coffee Table -

Hey everyone! Thanks for stopping by the cottage today. I hope you all are having a terrific week. Today I want to share with you all an easy DIY that turned out GREAT…

So this was the coffee table in my Living Room

(I picked it up on Craigslist for $50, but don’t tell anyone!!)

I painted it a pretty creamy white, and we have been enjoying it, but…

things were getting a little too “vanilla” in that room- even for me!! So I decided to shake things up a bit by making a rustic plank wood top for the table to add some character and interest.

Here’s what I did:

First, I measured the table and bought some simple whitewood planks from Home Depot. They were terrific and even cut them to the size I needed…I just LOVE those Home Depot guys!!

Next, I got out my hand electric sander and rounded the corners and edges, and smoothed the planks down a bit.

The board on the left is unsanded, the one on the right is sanded…much better, don’t you think?

Then, I brushed on 2 coats of Minwax Stain- I chose Special Walnut, because it’s my favorite finish! I wiped off excess stain after applying each coat. Then, I let the boards dry for several hours.

After the stain was dry, I brought them inside, along with my wood glue.

I applied wood glue to the top of my coffee table and placed the boards on top- making sure they were lined up squarely on the top.

This was the fun part because you could actually see the new tabletop starting to come together!

At this point, I carefully added a “bunch of heavy stuff” (a very technical term) to the top, so the boards would dry and lay flat- some of the boards are more curved than others.

After the glue had dried, I added 6 paneling nails to each board- 2 on each end and 2 in the middle. Adding the nails really helped secure the boards to the table AND keep them flat.

I absolutely LOVE how the table turned out…it has so much more character and patina to it! (On a side note, my husband, who rarely comments on ANY of my decor projects came home and was RAVING about how much he liked it!)