Just like in a bedroom without a bed, and in almost any other room, be it a living room, kitchen or even a hallway, you cannot do without a table. Actually, it won’t be superfluous in the bedroom either. It’s better to have several of them at once - for different purposes. So that there is somewhere to put a night lamp, where to lay out notes and books, install a laptop, or even just have a snack or even do something more piquant.
It’s not difficult to buy a “desk”, there is a wide choice now, but making it yourself is a matter of special sophistication. Such a homemade item of apartment “wardrobe” will be valued much more highly by both the owner and guests, and it will be more pleasant to use.
This is not an easy task, but it is also not difficult, requiring, however, a certain aesthetic taste and carpentry skills. But don’t be scared and retreat right away. It is quite possible to cope with this task, the main thing is to imagine what you want.
Pros and cons
A homemade product has both its advantages and disadvantages. Among the advantages:
- Variability. You can do what you really need with your own hands. In all aspects. This includes complete freedom in choosing shape, material, texture, size, and design.
- Saving. Buying furniture in stores will cost significantly more. In fact, for the same or even worse quality you will sometimes have to pay many times more money.
- Uniqueness. What you do with your own hands, no one else can do. This will allow you to create a stylish and original, and most importantly, unique interior almost anywhere - in the country, in an apartment, in your own home.
- Improving skills. Working on a table is an opportunity to practice your metalworking and carpentry skills and learn a whole range of new things. These skills will also be useful when repairing ready-made store products in the future.
Having better understood the design of tables, it will be possible to take a more professional approach to the selection of such products in retail outlets, or even even discover a source of additional income. And in general, you can always help your loved ones and friends fix something, bring a fresh idea to the design.
However, making tables yourself is fraught with certain difficulties. Among them:
- Time-consuming. Be prepared to spend one or more days, or even a week for a large item. The maximum, as the masters admit, is 10 days spent on a large table. In fact, you can spend your entire vacation toiling with the material and achieving very meager results. Therefore it is better to have psychological readiness to difficulties during the first experience.
- Injury hazard. Working, especially with wood, is fraught with splinters. When working with old material (beams, fence boards), you need to remain extremely careful. But in some cases, even work gloves may not save you from small cuts. Too delicate hands should not do such things.
- Manufacturing defects. A house is still not a workshop, and some calculations can be difficult to make—hence the roughness and unevenness on a seemingly finished product, verified to the smallest detail. It’s fine if the table is made for a summer house, but in a standardized room the result can become the subject of offensive jokes and just look out of place. To make an improvised “bureau” or other structures that are more complex than a regular table, you still need skills and certain experience. There would be time to work it out.
- Need a tool. If you don’t have it, everything is simple – you’ll have to buy it and master it. Time is already money, but there are also additional costs at the first stage. However, in long term such an approach will lead to savings - the next table will be made for almost nothing, especially if there are supplies of material at the dacha.
- Not suitable for all styles. You need to be careful when experimenting with homemade products in modern interiors, for example, high-tech, where metal and high-tech materials rule the roost. They are difficult to work with, and wooden products can disrupt the harmony of the room.
A little advice. If you decide to make a table, and this is your first experience, try to find a good adviser who will psychologically and with the help of his skills support the endeavor. You can take the first steps together, and then set off on a free “flight”.
Assembly Features
There are many types of tables. The most common are desk, computer, toilet (with or without a mirror). Desktops vary depending on whether they are designed for a laptop or made for desktop computer. In the latter case, you will need a special space for the system unit - it can be installed both under your feet and at eye level.
Each option has its own advantages that affect the design of the table. In the first case, the system unit will not get in the way, but it will not be very convenient to connect USB ports to it from behind. When designing, you should leave a significant open space behind the table, and do not place it near the wall. If the system unit is located on top, the bureau should be as stable as possible, and the table top should be made of durable, reliable material.
If there is a goal to design a desktop for a schoolchild, including a collapsible structure, it is reasonable to build into it drawers for notebooks, textbooks and CDs. An alternative is a separate shelf above the structure. The drawers can be either retractable or an open shelf. Backlighting is also relevant.
Tables can also be corner or transformable; height-adjustable, collapsible, on wheels.
All these are not frills, but practical design elements. Among the more complex options, popular ones include, for example, river tables with a beautiful, often transparent material built into the middle part. Their production will take more time and require higher metalworking skills, but will allow you not only to improve your working “skills”, but also to make a real interior artifact. Each type of table has its own assembly features and specifics. Let's consider several of the most popular, simple and affordable options for creating a table that do not require the heights of technical training, but allow you to create high-quality and interesting products that do not look awkward or poor even in a modest interior.
Tools
But before you start carpentry, you need to decide what and with what you plan to work. You need to get down to business in full “instrumental” readiness. Don’t be afraid, you won’t need anything rare or particularly complicated - just the usual working arsenal, which a real man always has at hand. So, let's list the main things. You can’t do without the “classics of the genre” - nails, screws, a screwdriver, a plane, a hammer, glue (instant glue will come in handy), a knife. In some cases, you can use a saw (in nature). Don't forget about work gloves and disinfectants. Be sure to have iodine and cotton swabs with you, unless, of course, the goal is to make a table and not get sick with tetanus.
The fact is that wood, when sanded (with sandpaper or another device), can turn out to be very “unfriendly” and simply become a pile. When working with metal, you also need metalworking tools. And in any case, it is better to acquire eye protection - a special work mask. For subsequent processing of the material and its cleaning, a brush and disinfectants, including against insects, are also useful, especially when using old wood. You can also clean the table with sandpaper.
And, of course, you need varnish or paint for final processing. You may have to treat the tabletop with varnish several times (after the first one, lint will simply appear), which means it is better to buy it with a reserve.
Popular materials
One tool is obviously not enough. There is something, but nothing to work on yet. The main thing is, of course, the material. Theoretically, a table can be made from anything, but there are some subtleties. The most popular is wood, but it must be dry! If it is not dry, dry it; This will take time, but it is better not to rush anywhere for the sake of the quality of the product.
A table made of dry wood, logs, timber is a wonderful and reliable element of the interior. Beautiful, functional and inexpensive. With this option, you can save a lot if you have inexpensive bars or logs on hand - stored, for example, in the country. In stores, good wooden tables are definitely not among the cheapest.
Wood is in trend now. This is the main eco-material. You can’t do without it in interiors tailored to a natural style. In fact, it is wood in one form or another that is used in all classical interior styles, including colonial or modern.
You can also make a bureau from chipboard. The material is composite and quite affordable. But it has a lot of disadvantages. Chipboard is afraid of moisture - no longer an option for the kitchen. It doesn't hold nails and screws well - adding extra complications to the job. And in general it is not very environmentally safe - there are too many products from Chipboard is better don't hold. However, such a table can be placed, for example, in a house or on the veranda at the dacha - as an inexpensive, temporary option - for the season, for receiving guests. Inexpensive, simple and moderately aesthetically pleasing, and most importantly – functional.
Let us clarify that laminated chipboard is also available on sale - also wood and shavings, only laminated in a special way - with a polymer film with high temperatures, or even a special varnish that provides increased water resistance. Laminated chipboard is more expensive, but such boards are practically devoid of all the disadvantages of chipboard.
However, using plywood will be no less practical. There are many types of it - there are also moisture resistant ones. This means the range of applications is wider. In Russia, this material is gaining popularity and is also being exported en masse, which indirectly speaks of its quality. Plywood is quite easy to process and not too expensive. The downsides are its facelessness, dull texture and the accompanying feeling of unnaturalness. In addition, when working with plywood, you must be very careful in the preparatory stage. You can’t do without a sketch or drawing. You can use it as already ready-made projects, so do it yourself.
The easiest way is to make a table from a furniture panel, say ash. This is a little more expensive, but at the same time it will ensure the reliability of the main part of the table - the table top. Less hassle with polishing, but at the same time somewhat less naturalness and texture.
An extreme alternative is to use natural wood: stumps (they, by the way, can be used on their own, but this is designer chic) or saw cuts. With them everything is exactly the opposite. You will have to sand it and varnish it yourself several times, but in the end you will get a completely unique unique product that all lovers of “natural” design will be able to appreciate, if, of course, after the get-togethers they leave without a few splinters in various places.
Often, glass or special optical glue, plexiglass adhesive, which replaces it, is used in table decoration. You can also buy just impact-resistant glass - although it will be more expensive. It's stylish, impressive and safe. This material is optimal for small oval coffee tables, but recently it has been increasingly used by designers in models with right angles.
We also add that the legs and base can be metal. You should not be afraid of the combination of wood and metal - with proper design it can be not only harmonious, but also very interesting. In modern interiors, lofts and high-tech, sometimes you can’t do without it. In addition, metal combines effectively with glass or its analogues.
Kitchen table
This is an absolutely necessary element of the interior. It should be convenient, comfortable and stable. The surface of the tabletop is often of no fundamental importance - it is usually covered with a tablecloth or oilcloth. When making it yourself, it is important to pay attention to the lower parts of the structure so that you can sit at the table without any problems and always have the opportunity to comfortably place your legs.
You can make a good dining table with your own hands in just a few days. According to home “masters”, even very beautiful large models took them no more than 7-10 days. You can use any material - the easiest ones to work with are chipboard, plywood and wood. The main thing is that the beams and boards are smooth and well polished.
Carefully study their dimensions and, if necessary, bring them up to standard - it is hardly advisable to make a kitchen table more than 80 cm in height. The shape and size of the countertop will depend on the interior and the availability of free space in the kitchen.
The table, though main element interior in such a room should not take up all the space. Therefore, especially in small kitchens, it is practical to make it square - you can approach from all sides, and more four people It’s unlikely to fit behind him anyway. In large dining rooms, on the contrary, it is better to stick to the classic rectangular format.
An oval or round tabletop will also look interesting, especially if you choose beautiful curly legs for it - this, however, will require good carpentry skills.
When working on a standard wood model, secure beams or boards with strips at the bottom below the tabletop. A practical option with plywood. It is better not to use chipboard - there is always high humidity in the kitchen, and something is accidentally spilled on a regular basis, and this material, as is known, does not withstand the influence of the water elements well.
An interesting idea would be to create an extendable table. In this case, the fastenings must be flexible. But you can do it easier. Still, making an extendable table with your own hands in the format of one design is a non-trivial task.
Therefore, make two small rectangular products of the same dimensions. During the day, they can be moved to different parts of the kitchen or even apartment, and before eating together, they can be moved, thereby forming a large table. A very practical option for small kitchens. When making, pay attention to the lower parts - partitions and beams should not interfere with each other when connecting tables.
If the kitchen is very small, you can also make a folding table. Assemble the tabletop and attach a special bracket to the wall. Such a “bureau”, as a rule, has only two legs, which means they should be placed so that at least three people. Another option is to build a small cabinet for storing dishes and food instead of one of the legs. This is an ideal way to save space.
When designing a table with a sink, it is better to seek the help of a professional. It will not be difficult to make sketches and the main elements of the structure, but the main thing is that they do not interfere with the pipes being laid under it. So you can’t do without a locksmith and a plumber.
At the final stage, it is better to process any table. How to cover it and how to decorate it is a matter of taste. You can varnish and cover it with a tablecloth, or even decorate it with special tiles or even stone. The field for experiments is large.
Many color palettes, including bright ones, will fit into the kitchen interior. Don’t be afraid to make the table red, yellow or green - it’s fashionable, pleasant and aesthetically pleasing, and will create a good mood when preparing, eating and communicating with family members and guests.
And one more tip on kitchen tables. If you want to design a product with a drawer, make the design of the latter as reliable and airtight as possible so that moisture does not get in there. Assemble it from several boards or slats and securely fasten them with special glue or nails. When using plywood, it should ideally not be thicker than 20mm.
High-quality grinding and processing, including against insects, is important. Remember that the kitchen, as a place for storing food and preparing food, is a favorite environment not only for cockroaches, but also for various arboreal and moisture-loving species of insects, especially in hot climates.
For computer
A computer table should be compact and functional. It's always better to design it with reserve. There are two main concepts:
- Desk for a desktop computer. If the equipment is powerful, say, gaming, you will have to make the table long and wide enough. The monitor will take up a lot of space on it. A diagonal of 20 inches and a wide range of screen rotation capabilities imply user mobility at the table, which means there should always be a place to put your hands. A separate measurement should be made taking into account the size of the keyboard.
The table should also accommodate other devices - a mouse, joysticks, gamepads, or even a gaming role. The system unit will also take up part of the space. It can be installed at the bottom of the table - for this you will have to make special ceilings so as not to place the equipment on the floor. The table should not be closed - high-quality cooling is very important for a powerful computer, and open space will provide the necessary air circulation.
At the same time, the design of the table is not of fundamental importance - in any case it will be filled with equipment. The main thing is to use high-quality varnish and paint so that the surface is smooth, easy to wipe and does not accumulate a lot of dust, which is dangerous for equipment.
- For laptop. When measuring, keep in mind that it must fit both the computer itself and the hands of the person working or playing at it. Often a full-fledged keyboard is also connected separately to laptop computers, so it is better to use spare material. Leave room for the mouse too.
Let us add that the shape of a computer desk can be made to almost any shape. Previously, there was an opinion that it should be rectangular, but practical experience has shown that oval tables, in particular for laptops, are a very interesting solution. If you attach wheels to them, turning them into an analogue of a coffee table, you can easily move with your computer throughout the room - show videos to friends from convenient angles or, conversely, if necessary, quickly and efficiently immerse yourself in work or correspondence away from prying eyes.
However, a table with right angles has some specific advantages. It is easier to equip it with drawers and shelves for storing books and discs. Do not forget about the reliability of fastening these structures, since the weight of a music or game collection can reach 7-10 kg.
Night table
It is better to make the night table extremely compact. Size is not his strong point, the main thing is convenience of shape. First of all, adjust the dimensions of the materials to the height of the bed. It’s better to make it level with the level of the mattress, but it’s okay if it’s lower. A high bedside table is not too impractical, although it is seen as an example in some design schools. If aesthetic qualities are more important to you, it is reasonable to experiment in this direction. In this case, you can choose any shape - from oval to rectangular and square.
The design concept should be included in the composition of the bedroom interior. For classic styles The best material to choose is wood. Moreover, in the case of retro and historical styles, the more authentic it is, the better. If you have skills in artistic carving, then in this case it’s time to use them. In modern interiors, a wooden product will also be relevant - the texture, if necessary, will be hidden under varnish, paint or tablecloth. The color scheme depends on the color of the room. The color should be in harmony with the bed, bedding, and ideally with the floor and ceiling. Radical contrasts are inappropriate here.
Special attention When working on a nightstand, you need to pay attention to its stability. The leg can be made big. If there are several of them, they should turn out absolutely identical. Please note that not only do you place an alarm clock or reference book, but sometimes they lean with their hands - it should withstand such loads without problems. The table can also be equipped with several drawers, or, if the level of technical skill or specific material does not allow, with an open shelf.
coffee table
In many houses and apartments, the habit of laying out newspapers and magazines on the coffee table has already become a thing of the past. They have been replaced by new means of communication - various gadgets - from iPhone to laptop. But they also need to be placed somewhere, even if you just put them on charge. Before making such an interior item, it is better to immediately determine its functionality.
The main thing is to understand one simple truth: no one works behind magazine “bureaus” - in best case scenario works part-time, so they should be low, aesthetic and comfortable for a relaxing pastime. And it is aesthetics that comes first. Your guests will remember, first of all, the design and material of the table. Another point is functionality. It would be good if such a table had space under the tabletop where you could put something.
So, it is better to take chipboard or boards as materials. They should be assembled on dowels with extreme, maximum precision - so that the joints of the elements are not visible.
An additional cross member will make the table more stable and reliable. If the structure contains metal (legs), a welding machine will be required. A rectangular metal element can be placed in the base. Don't forget to reinforce the sides in the same way. A very common option is glass (or transparent glue). Such tables are often found in offices, waiting rooms and other “guest” facilities. However, as the experience of many designers shows, it fits well into home interiors.
When making it, it is important to pay attention to the wooden or metal base - it will be visible under the glass! Cross-shaped shapes work well. Don't forget that glass can also be used simply as an additional component. For example, cover part of a classic wooden table with it. It is advisable to equip the resulting already light interior object with wheels. Such a “mini-transport” will be especially relevant in a large living room, as well as in an apartment where there are always a lot of children (then, however, you should not experiment with glass again). This is a good and useful item for fun and relaxation.
But the mobile table should be light. Massive - it is better not to equip it with this “bonus”, but to make it from durable, heavy dimensional boards. It will ground the interior and make it more collected.
There is also an option with a transforming table. It is practical, but not always aesthetic. However, if you make a double (in height) base, then it can even be used as a conditional easel. Let us add that coffee tables, as a rule, are still small and are usually designed for one, maximum, four people. The selection of sizes is purely individual. The only thing that matters is the height - it can be varied from 40 to 60-80 cm. Do not forget also that in some situations the product can also be used as a bookshelf– for this you will need to make shelves and compartments that meet your needs.
In terms of color, contrast between the tabletop and legs is acceptable. The combination of metal and wood looks good. You can apply a design to the surface or make an unusual ornament, but it’s easier to just cover it with something - you don’t have to repaint the products every time your mood and taste change. And one more thing about the form. Magazine furniture It can be either round or rectangular-square - a matter of taste. Round products are used somewhat more often because they are safer and more affordable.
King Arthur's knights, after all, also sat behind round table, therefore, in the living room, a place for receiving and gathering guests, each of whom often wants to show their individuality and initiative, it is better to do without places at the head of the table and other patriarchal delights, and it is safer for children - they will not hit again.
Garden furniture
A holiday in nature is a wonderful pastime, however, in order to really have a good rest and sit in company, you need high-quality and comfortable table. This type of furniture is very specific. On the one hand, it must withstand high humidity - if it is standing outdoors in the rain, on the other - it is very unpretentious in terms of aesthetic qualities and always gravitates towards naturalness. In nature, a glass table or an expensive metal product would be inappropriate.
So, before you start making such furniture, you need to decide important point: where it will stand and how mobile it should be. There are essentially two options:
- Fixed outdoor table. Typically, such structures are placed near the garden house or at a distance from it in comfortable places for relaxation - under an apple tree or other fruit tree. The main thing is that such an exterior item should be durable and reliable, standing on its “legs” as firmly as possible. In some cases, it is reasonable to even dig the legs into the ground. The surface can be any, but preferably wood.
The main thing is to remove lint and shavings from it, as they can lead to unpleasant and deep injuries or just splinters. Please note that the surface must be moisture resistant - the table will regularly get wet in the rain. In cases of heavy rainfall or simply a long absence from the dacha, it is better to cover it with something, say, oilcloth. This will not save you from high humidity, but will protect you from direct contact with water.
- Movable table in a country house. As a rule, this is a more compact option. It can be used indoors, taken out to the veranda or outdoors. When making it yourself, it is better to focus on using lightweight materials so that it can be carried.
Wheels are unlikely to help much (the landscape at the dacha is not always level), although they can also be attached, but this will make the structure less stable. A good bonus will be the ability to extend or assemble the table. For the winter season, such a table can be completely folded and stored in the attic so that it does not deteriorate.
What is the best material to make a garden table from? Pallets, boards, old logs, say, from an already unnecessary or dilapidated fence, partitions from boxes, an old tire, or whatever may come in handy. It is better not to use glass and not to abuse metal. The latter tends to rust: this is not so terrible, but aesthetically it can ruin the entire natural harmony, unless, of course, there is a desire to create a post-apocalyptic ambience.
It is better to fasten boards for tabletops in the countryside from below using planks. There is another option with gluing - this is a more time-consuming technology; after processing, you will need to pull the boards together and keep them in this state for about a day. If the material is old, it is better to arrange it according to color, align it stylistically according to color.
Light - to light, dark - to dark, with interweaving color contrasts closer to the center. Don't strive for perfection with constant alignments - naturalness should not be symmetrical. The next step is to sand the surface. It is better to do this with sandpaper.
When working with legs, the main thing is to make them the same length - otherwise eating at such a table will not be pleasant. It is important that their surfaces are not beveled, but smooth. However, if you dig your legs into the ground and don’t have a saw at hand, you can always compensate for a couple of centimeters, but only as a last resort.
Then, after designing the structure, the tabletop needs to be varnished. After the first time, lint will probably stand up, so we process it twice. For reliability, an additional support-mount can be made in the lower part at the final stage. It will make the structure more stable and allow you to position your legs comfortably.
To continue the work, you can also attach benches to the table - making them part of a single structure. It is better to connect the bench with the table using special wooden planks using nails or long pins. For reliability, you will also need washers and nuts. The seats themselves are made according to a similar principle, only their height, naturally, is lower than the table, and the fastenings should be even more reliable - it is better to make cross-shaped ones.
The final stage is painting. Gray, brown, and natural tones look good. Bright colors look too eclectic, unless you have a modern country house design, and instead of trees there is artificial vegetation.
And a few more words about sizes. As a rule, country tables are long, but not too wide - this makes it easier and more convenient to approach them. Do not install them too close to bushes, especially thorny ones, gooseberries or cherries; approaching them will be painful.
The distance from the fruit trees must also be reasonable, otherwise Newton’s experiment can be repeated, but it will fail. Height country tables, as a rule, is made medium, since both adults and children usually sit at them. So, with built-in seats, it is better not to over-inflate the design.
How to organize lighting
This question is relevant both for small night tables and for work products on which a computer is installed. You can put a small floor lamp on the night “bureau”; it would be reasonable to extend the wire with the switch to the bed, so that every time you don’t reach for the table and drop the lamp in the dark. On the desktop, it also makes sense to use a table lamp, but as we experiment with homemade designs, other more interesting possibilities arise.
If you make a small “superstructure” over the table from several panels - plywood and chipboard, and securely attach them with nails, then under them you can install a regular light bulb, or better yet, an LED. It will be more effective to use two or three small point LEDs. They will provide high-quality and uniform lighting.
A child who studies at the table, and an adult while working, will be able to read at any time without any problems. To work at a computer (so that the light does not shade the screen), it will be possible to turn on only one point of lighting, which can reasonably be placed a little to the side - it will become a source of dim light.
Among modern design concepts, there are also options for lighting tables from below, through the tabletop structure, however, it will be problematic to independently cope with such a complex “technical specification” without a qualified electrician, and the practical benefits of such designs leave much to be desired.
The choice of light temperature for almost any table design is purely individual and depends rather on the place of use. In classic small bedrooms, warm color combinations will be relevant.
On the contrary, cool shades will fit more harmoniously into the kitchen interior. A lot depends on the style. High-tech, for example, is often designed specifically for cool colors. Accents in classics, colonial style and some loft variations, on the contrary, are better placed on the warm segment.
Forms
The table can be made absolutely anything, completely carved, but the design has already developed several classic and practical shape ideas. Among them:
- Rectangular. It was these tables that were popular in almost all historical eras. In Russia, boyars gathered behind them, they served as a place for peasants to eat in huts and the basis of tavern life.
In Soviet times, they were slightly replaced by other forms - square, designed to minimize the living space as such. Now rectangular tables are no longer associated with the ideas of dominance and patriarchy, but have retained their immanent massiveness and hardness. More often used in large rooms. Suitable for a cottage, living room, spacious kitchen.
- Square. Products of this shape allow you to perfectly organize space. Their use is reasonable and economical. In addition, there is always the opportunity to move such tables. Often there are folding models that turn from square to rectangular.
Making such a product yourself is not easy. However, you can simply make two identical tables. Let us clarify that in terms of the homemade approach, it is square and rectangular tables that are suitable for “testing the pen” of novice craftsmen. And it’s easy to make, and the field for experimentation is wide.
- Rounded. A round or oval piece of furniture is suitable as a coffee table or night table. This is an ideal shape for apartments where families with children live, as it avoids unpleasant collisions with sharp corners. Technically, making them is more difficult, but the most unexpected objects can always come to the rescue, for example, car tires.
- Designer forms. The edges of tables do not have to be smooth. Sometimes they are made curved. Products can be rounded on one side, having right angles on the other. Triangular models are becoming increasingly common.
For example, in the kitchen a table that is rectangular in relation to the seating and rounded towards the sink and cabinets will look advantageous. Guests will be able to sit comfortably, and the hostess or host, while treating them, will not constantly bump into corners. Naturally, the production of such models will require higher technical skills. The main difficulty will be how to cut suitable form. This also imposes some restrictions on the materials used - beams, boards and logs are technically inapplicable in many such structures.
How to make from scrap materials
Sometimes it’s hard to contain your imagination, and then very interesting options for improvised “offices” are born, which can be used both outdoors and in modern high-tech interiors and not only - even at work. It is not difficult, for example, to make a table from a car wheel, or rather a tire. Attach chipboard to it on one side - slightly smaller than the radius, and on the other - legs. Can be decorated side surfaces and a lid of your choice.
If you pull the table with fibers or ropes, you will also get an ottoman - two in one. To create more effective fastenings, stock up on liquid nails. The lid of such furniture can be made removable and subsequently stored in the “wheel” whatever your heart desires. With the right approach, such a hiding place will even become a mini-safe, where it will be possible to protect things at least from children, and not every unlucky thief who breaks into your home will guess such a little trick.
Nobody bothers you to assemble old boxes into a useful structure: you will get a kind of interesting labyrinth table. However, you need to be very careful here - many craftsmen who posted their creations from boxes on the Internet ended up with something more reminiscent of an urn. To avoid this, do not leave too much free space in the center of the structure.
Another, perhaps even more extreme option is to design a table based on an old suitcase. Such Soviet colossuses are waiting for the hour of their disposal on many balconies of the country, and perhaps now their finest hour has come. Just don’t literally rely on exceptional Soviet quality - it’s better to strengthen the product with sheets of, say, plywood. You will also need legs and wheels.
Disinfect the product before starting work. At the final stage, it can be varnished, painted or covered with fabric. This option is suitable for colonial and various retro styles, and in general it will look at least original in any room. Old frames can also be used usefully when working on a table - the main thing is to strengthen them well. With adequate design, you can achieve all the benefits of the pop art style effect.
A table made of pallets in a loft style will decorate almost any interior of a modern living room. You can also make an interior object from pallets, from an old window sill or countertop (with an antique effect), from ceramic tiles, or corrugated pipes. A table made from a profile or water pipe is actually a fashionable idea. And in general, almost anything is suitable for creating creative furniture: from old chests and barrels to mirrors, rolls of wallpaper and batteries - the main thing is to trust your imagination, sense of style and technical skills in working with materials and tools.
Beautiful interior placement ideas
And finally, let's look at some interesting examples of homemade tables in various interiors. Let's start with the dacha. A large table made of varnished boards will fit well at a distance of several meters from the plantings. A light or dark brown color will harmonize perfectly with greenery. We divide the tabletop into five parts along the narrow part (according to the number of boards). By fastening them from below, we will maintain the effect of naturalness and naturalness.
The table will also be secured at the bottom by two floors, on which it will be convenient to place your feet. The benches are also attached to the table (consisting of three boards each). The advantageous design is emphasized by additional neat carvings on the sides. As a result, we have before us almost an example of the pre-revolutionary tsarist Russian style of the mid-19th century, or even modernism (depending on how you look at it).
It was in this setting that connoisseurs of rural idyll greeted guests at the beginning of the 20th century, organized creative meetings, exhibitions and even theatrical performances. This table does not look old-fashioned; it seems to continue the interior of the classic country house, where there is at least glass and metal.
Another example. River table for the living room. The easiest way to make a transformer with your own hands is to make an imitation of it, that is, do not use a plug-in structure in your work, but paint the product accordingly. In essence, this is a classic wooden table with a textured surface that will sit well next to a sofa or armchairs.
It is better to choose the color depending on the style of the room. Light wood will harmonize with light light colors and vice versa. The painted part (blue or its shades) should be in harmony with the chandelier or ceiling. Low vases with flowers or herbs will look beautiful on such a table. How simpler design such a table, the better - it can be used both as a coffee table and as a dining table.
The next idea - for a corner computer table - is also quite realistic for doing it yourself. We will make the corner parts rectangular, and the one protruding towards us will be of an arbitrary, but wide and comfortable shape, so that you can put your hands on it and place the keyboard. The materials we use are plywood or chipboard.
Ordinary wood will also work, as will old countertops, but working with the form in this case will be somewhat more difficult. If you still choose a “difficult” material, pay attention to varnishing and painting; it is better to pay special attention to these stages of work.
We use uniform color schemes, without overusing light shades. In our example, the table will be brown. However, for perfection design idea The color of the table should be harmonized with the color of the monitor, keyboard and system unit.
Among night tables, a two-level option would be practical and easy to manufacture. It’s easier to make it rectangular, but if your skills allow, it’s better to make it round. The lower overlap is placed at a level of 10-15 cm from the floor, the upper - at the height of the mattress.
For a bedroom decorated in dark colors, a soft dark texture is suitable. The table can even be painted black. It will thus become a focal point of color in the room, giving additional contrast to the bed and floor. Nice visual effect appears if you place a decanter of water and a glass on it.
And the last example is a compact small night bureau with two drawers. In this case we will select dark colors. The wood will need to be well processed and varnished. The design of the drawers is as simple as possible.
Do you love designer items, but sigh in frustration when you look at the price tags that adorn them in stores? Try becoming a designer yourself. Do you think it's difficult? Nothing of the kind! By following the instructions, you can easily create with your own hands original interior item from scrap materials. And we suggest starting with coffee table- such a simple, but very important subject furniture. Believe me, at such a table you will be happy to serve tea to your guests, who will admire your skills. In addition, by creating a coffee table with your own hands, you will literally fill your house warmth and put a piece of your soul into it. So it's definitely worth a try.
DIY coffee table in a marine style
Idea in the style of "romantic". All year round, while sipping your favorite drink at this table, you will remember the warm sea, gentle surf and moonlit path. " Nautical"The table is tenderness, sophistication and originality in the very heart of your home.
How to do it?
1. Take the old window frame and clean it of dust and dirt. If the previous glass cracked, insert a new one, then get rid of the old layer paints and sand the surface. Next you should remove the metal corners, which additionally secure the parts. frames.
Ready! Enjoy your creation and bring joy to your guests!
Suitcase table for travel lovers
A very original solution for an old favorite suitcase that has seen other lands with you and that you don’t want to throw away because of the memories.
How to do it?
First, go to the store where you will need to purchase furniture legs (wooden or metal). If you want to make a mobile table, then you need to take wheels. You will also need plywood, screws and a screwdriver.
Now we make markings on the bottom of the suitcase for future legs and drill holes. Since it will not be possible to attach the legs to the fabric, we put plywood inside the suitcase, make markings on it through the holes and also drill them. Now we attach the mount to the bottom of the suitcase and attach the legs. Using hot glue, glue the felt inside the suitcase.
To give the table an original appearance, reminiscent of distant travels, you can decorate it with stickers made in the form of stamps, or decorate it at your discretion.
That's all - the unusual coffee table is ready! By the way, there are a huge number of options for turning suitcases into tables: by choosing the legs to your liking, you can make a table into style retro or classical. You don’t have to attach the legs at all if you have a massive suitcase - it will look truly incredible: such a table will bring a sense of adventure and adventure, the spirit of travel and unexplored distant lands into the interior.
Table made of logs for nature lovers
Let's take it wooden beams(in this case birch) same height and width, 32 pieces in total. You also need to take a base for the table, legs (4 pieces), putty to match the wood, a screwdriver and glue intended for wooden surfaces.
First you need to assemble the base for the table, then glue wooden beams around the perimeter, and sew up the middle with cardboard. Then we screw the legs to the bottom. Next, we glue thin wooden dies to the inner surface - this will make it seem like the table is completely wooden. Now we take the putty and carefully fill in all the voids, after which we rub it in until we create a completely flat surface. Voila! Now you are the owner of an extraordinary table that will become the highlight of your interior.
If you like the idea, you can create other tables using this scheme, using, for example, branches instead of bars. To create such a table you need to take a plywood box, painted black paint, the size of which is 40x40x60 cm (or any other size at your discretion).
To paste the frame, we take branches from which we first remove the loose bark (we do this with sandpaper). What is the order of gluing: first we glue the branches on the long side of the table, and then we select wooden dies and, as mosaic, lay them out on the ends. The thickness of the dies should be approximately 1 cm; they can be cut with a parquet or circular saw. And finally, install the glass that will serve as the tabletop. If desired, you can make it mobile by screwing the wheel supports to the table.
Using the same technology, you can create many more unusual pieces of furniture. You can lay out the branches horizontally and then you will get such a wonderful table. Such furniture looks not only very original, but also incredibly stylish.
Original table made from pallets
An idea that came to the mind of someone truly brilliant. It would seem that one can come up with pallets, which are probably lying around at every dacha? And you can make them into a very convenient and functional element of the interior.
How to do it?
First, collect all the tools necessary for your idea: the pallet itself, drill, clamps, hammer, screws, nail puller, wood glue, wheels, soap, primer, screwdriver. In addition, take paint brushes, a flap brush with abrasive bristles for a drill, varnish and a clear primer.
First of all, you should take a drill with an attachment designed for wood processing, and clean the surface of the boards from dirt. Now carefully disassemble the sanded pallet into pieces. Lightly tap out the rusty nails with a large hammer and carefully pull them out with a nail puller. Glue the broken pieces of boards with wood glue. At this stage you will need clamps. They need to carefully clamp the boards and wait until they dry.
Now the parts prepared for the tabletop need to be nailed and glued on the back side, then clamped with clamps and wait until they dry.
Then coat the table with a colorless primer, and then varnish. Next, on the back of the table, mark places for screws to attach the wheels. Drill holes for the fasteners with a drill. To ensure that the screws fit into the wood easily, lubricate them with soap. Using a ratchet wrench, you can quickly and conveniently tighten hex head screws.
A stylish, compact and quite functional table is ready!
Table made of drawers
One more original idea captivates with its simplicity and unexpectedness - who would even think of building a table from boxes? But it has come, and now you can create one like this at home unusual item interior Surely you yourself will be delighted, and your guests will appreciate the originality of this idea.
How to do it?
Take 4 wooden boxes, sandpaper, water-based varnish, roller and brush, dowels, 10 mm plywood sheet, PVA glue, 4 wheels and self-tapping screws.
First you need to sand the drawers and coat them with varnish. Then, using a drill with a stop, make holes at the ends of the drawers. Using wood glue, you need to fix the dowels at the fastening points and connect the ends of the boxes to each other. Attach wheels to a sheet of plywood, and then attach the sheet to the boxes with self-tapping screws. The table is ready!
Such extraordinary things can be created from quite ordinary materials. Having imagination and a desire for originality and comfort in your home, you can easily create miracles. Look around: maybe old window frame has every chance of becoming an interesting element of the interior?
Or maybe a huge wooden reel of industrial cable that can become an elegant piece of furniture?
A table is the second item after a stool that a beginning amateur furniture maker should take on. The design of a simple table is no more complicated than that of a stool; an unpretentious, comfortable table for the country house or for a picnic can be built in half a day using a hacksaw, hammer and drill. But a table made using the same technology and slightly refined can look great at home, on the left in the figure, instead of an expensive one. However, the table also gives greater freedom of creative expression; it can be a significant and even key element of interior design; it is not for nothing that artisanal furniture makers are called carpenters, and not sofa makers, cabinet makers or nightstand makers. Having become proficient in carpentry, it will be possible over time to take on exclusive tables, the rest of the poses. right there.
This article discusses how to make tables from wood. Wood is an environmentally friendly, affordable and easily processed material with remarkable aesthetic advantages. In utilitarian products, it forgives beginners quite serious mistakes, but delicate woodwork requires high skill. Having learned how to make wooden things, it will be much easier to master glass, metal and plastic.
Tool and workshop
To make a table with your own hands, you need a separate living rooms production area: woodworking is notoriously dusty. In addition, such good means tinting and protecting wood, like stains, emit harmful fumes during the staining process; nitro varnishes too, although to a lesser extent. Therefore, home carpentry should be well ventilated, or better yet, with forced ventilation. You can use the garage, but there will be a lot of sawdust, and it will not be good for the car. Better to work in a barn; if it doesn’t exist yet, then you can build it, and it will be useful for a lot of things on the farm.
An ordinary carpenter's tool, on the left in the figure, will be enough for a start. But the work will go much faster, and the result will be better, if you attract help from modern achievements, on the right there:
- Rotary miter box, pos. 1, allows you to make cuts exactly to size and angle in 2 planes. It is advisable to take it with a complete bow saw, so everything together will be cheaper and the work will be more accurate. A miter box is a universal device, it will always come in handy and it is better to buy it.
- Also universal is a manual jigsaw with a tilting shoe, pos. 2, which allows you to cut at an angle to the vertical plane.
- Disc grinder, pos. 3 and 4, gives a beginner the opportunity in 5-15 minutes to obtain the surface of a wooden surface, which would take an experienced carpenter with sandpaper in hand at least an hour to achieve, and a tape one, pos. 5, also process ends quickly and efficiently; There are also belt sanders for grooves and recesses with a protruding working body. These are already specialized tools, unsuitable for other work, and quite expensive, so it’s better to rent them first. True, craftsmen still successfully brush with grinders, i.e. They artificially age the wood, but this is delicate work.
- It is also preferable at first to rent a manual wood router, pos. 6, with a set of cutters. They process shaped edges and select holes and grooves.
In general, a universal household woodworking machine (UBDS) of various modifications is very useful on the farm. It is compact, fits on the table, power supply – 220 V 50/60 Hz 380-500 W. UBDS combines a circular saw, a jointer, a wood lathe and a set of cutters. True, you can’t just turn the table legs on it; the reach of the tailstock caliper is too small. But the caliper itself is just steel round pipe, it is not difficult to lengthen it. The cutter stop remains standard, it is movable, the leg and the long support are sharpened in one setting.
How to choose a tree?
A wooden table can be made from any wood of average resistance to decay, except for the softest species: poplar, aspen, alder, willow, ailanthus. Domestic ones include:
The breeds are listed in order of availability. For example, timber harvesting of horse chestnut, plane tree and juniper is not carried out at all: the former are too valuable for landscaping in the southern regions, and juniper is endangered and is protected. Industrial harvests of elm are almost entirely used for shoe lasts, weaving shuttles, etc., and mountain ash - for weapon stocks; There is no full-fledged plastic replacement for them yet. Stone birch grows very slowly, in limited places, and does not renew itself well, so its harvesting is strictly regulated, and its wood is expensive.
Note: Walnut is especially valuable for furniture - its wood combines high hardness with excellent toughness; the most delicate carvings on walnut do not chip. And walnut wood from burls - large growths on the trunk - is not inferior in texture to Karelian birch.
At the beginning of a carpentry career, it is better to limit yourself to pine, birch, oak, acacia and boxwood. The countertop will be pine or oak; birch - on the legs of a pine table; in the countertop it warps a lot from spills. Acacia and boxwood make excellent dowels, see below.
For a pine tabletop made of boards, you can and even should use low-grade cheap boards - knotty, twisted ones. But, of course, without falling knots, cracks, wormholes and traces of rot in the form of spots of unnatural color: black, gray, blue, green, in general, not similar to this tree. For example, traces of rot on black (ebony) wood may be whitish or yellowish.
Why is there substandard quality on the countertop? Perhaps also unedged, which needs to be finished using a circular saw and jointer? And after skillful processing, the resulting layers are of remarkable beauty, on the left in Fig. Manufacturers do not like this kind of wood: the production cycle is delayed and waste increases. But for yourself, doing it yourself is not so scary compared to the result.
Wooden pot
Commercial pine has a clearly defined wood zonation in the form of annual growth rings; other conifers and many deciduous species also have it. On the cut of the board, the rings form the so-called. hump in the form of thin concentric arcs. If the top of the tree is directed across the face of the board, as in Fig. in the center, then when joining the shield for the tabletop (see below), the boards are oriented with their humps alternately up and down, from below in Fig. If the humps are directed towards the end of the board (on the right in the figure), then the boards are placed in the shield with their humps in one direction. These subtleties are necessary so that during operation the tabletop does not crack or warp.
Varnishes, paints, impregnation, glue
A free way to protect wood from rotting is used motor oil, but for what you eat, this is not the best option. Impregnation with water-polymer emulsion (WPE) twice, with a break of 3-5 days, would be optimal; it will provide protection to the table for the entire duration of its life. Even birch plywood impregnated with EPE is suitable for furniture front panels: coated with varnish on top, it does not delaminate.
Old furniture nitrocellulose varnishes NTs-218 and NTs-2144 with solvent No. 647 are gradually going out of use: they are superior in all respects to water-based acrylic varnishes; In addition, they are safe to use. Also, glues, bone carpentry and BF-2 with alcohol are inferior to PVA; True, to obtain a high-quality seam, the latter requires applying glue to both surfaces, keeping them until they are tack-free before joining and keeping them under pressure for 1-3 days, but in home production this is acceptable for yourself.
Wood for furniture can be tinted in advance and protected with stain, which allows you to make beautiful typesetting parts; an example will be given below. To tint the assembled units, you can use paints based on the same varnish and artistic (not painting!) dyes: oil in tubes for NC varnishes and acrylic water-based for the same varnish.
First, prepare the “painting”: take 30-50 ml of varnish and squeeze 1-1.5 cm of paint into it while continuously stirring thoroughly with a painting brush. The paint is stored in a tightly closed bottle and added to the varnish to the desired tone; A test for it is made on a piece of wood, the tone is determined by the complete drying of the varnish. Colored varnishes based on NC and oil paints can be mixed according to the mixing rules oil paints for painting; acrylic - no restrictions.
First steps
The country table is the first of the homemade ones. If there are 1-2 brick pallets left from the construction site, then a table made from pallets will be the first of the first. Not only because it is extremely simple, but also because it is very useful on the farm.
From one pallet, sanded, impregnated and varnished, you get a garden table like a coffee table, on the left in Fig. If you have a couple available, you can make a wall-mounted work desk-rack from them in just half an hour, in the center and on the right. You can also weave chains for it yourself from soft wire, covered with a PVC tube or, better, heat-shrinkable. To fully raise the tabletop, small tools are placed on the shelf of a wall pallet.
With a little more work, a prefabricated cutting table for the dacha is made from one pallet, allowing you to move the summer-autumn harvesting campaign outside without littering with husks and without trampling on stalks. For the winter, this table is assembled into a compact package. The design is clear from Fig; Place a bucket under the hatch in the countertop.
The next in order of complexity is the well-known country trestle table, in common parlance a goat. Its structure of 40 mm boards is shown on the left in the figure, and in addition to it is a bench of the same device. And on the right is a country folding table based on the same principle. It has articulated joints (M8-M12 bolts, washers and nuts with locknuts); in the place marked in green, a stop boss is placed on nails between the crossbars of the table top. When folded, this table fits in the trunk of a car, so it’s also suitable for going on a picnic. If this is not expected, or the trunk is larger, the tabletop can be made longer.
Finally, a gazebo table also does not require any special tools or skills, see fig. below. The material is the same magpie board and some inexpensive fasteners.
One step closer to art...
To advance in table building, you now need to learn some of the basics of carpentry. A table, in general, consists of a tabletop, its supporting frame, possibly with niches and/or mechanisms, or simply a plate - a base - legs, and the nodes that hold everything together. Let's go through them starting with the connections along with the legs, because... their fastening is the weakest point of the table.
Connections and legs
At first, we need to master the connection on dowels - round wooden bosses, see fig. Dowel joints are assembled using quick-drying glue that does not require curing: wood glue, BF-2, acrylic. Sometimes, instead of dowels, nails with bitten off heads are used to connect thin boards, pos. 4, but this is bad: the wood dries out, but the metal does not, and over time the connection becomes loose.
For dowels, use thin-layered wood that is stronger than both parts being connected, i.e. the hardest rocks. A pine table on birch legs can be connected with oak or beech dowels. There are ready-made round sticks for cutting dowels on sale; Before use, the edges of the dowels are chamfered. Plastic dowels are also sold, but they are intended exclusively for detachable connections, eg. inserts in sliding tables.
The legs are attached to industrial tables with detachable drawers, see fig. right. The item marked in yellow is the simplest, cheapest and worst. Buyers of Shiroptrebov Soviet furniture are well aware of its shortcomings and complete lack of advantages, let it remain there. Reliable, holds well, except for the legs, and the boards of the underframe, drawers with mortise jibs, “green” pos. They also require the least cost, but are quite labor-intensive, so they are rarely used in industry, but just right for an amateur. The drawbar with a shaped steel jib, at the top right in the figure, is even stronger; In this way, you can attach legs with a round head and any legs in general, but you need purchased shaped parts made of high-quality steel.
Note: The legs are attached to the round table as shown below in Fig.
Detachable legs are needed not only for ease of storage and transportation. IN small apartment With narrow corridor a table with legs is often simply impossible to fit into the living room, no matter how you turn it. Modern apartments more spacious, and in 1-story private houses the table can be brought in/out through the window, so in such cases the strength and durability of a table with tightly fixed legs comes to the fore.
For tables on a rectangular base, the heads of the legs for blind fastening must also be rectangular, pos. 1 in Fig. By the way, the drawers can also be one-piece: then the legs have dowels that pass through a mortise wooden jib. From the inside, the dowels are cut flush and wedged with dogwood or boxwood wedges inserted across the grain of the jib wood. Assembled with glue, such a connection is so strong and durable that you can fight with these 200-year-old tables by grabbing the leg.
Sufficiently high-quality tables with turned legs are simply assembled on dowels, pos. 2. For simpler tables, the legs are made of timber and fastened with self-tapping screws after attaching the tabletop to the tabletop, pos. 3. Even simpler and lighter are the legs from a pair of boards each, pos. 4 and 5. To prevent them from clinging to the floor, you need to put thrust bearings on them below or put the table on wheels.
Tabletop
The easiest, but not the cheapest, option is to order a countertop made of laminated chipboard (chipboard, laminate). Laminated chipboard for countertops is available in the form of so-called. postforming - slabs 3.6x1.2 m thick 20-60 mm with decorative coating. The upper edge of the postforming plate is rounded, the lower edge has a drip tray, see fig. Modern furniture laminate is completely environmentally friendly, no matter what those who don’t want to forget the furniture, which stank of phenol for months, gossip about.
Postforming sells well to small furniture companies. They always have his waste; They will gladly cut your tabletop to size for you at an affordable price if the company has a jig cutting machine. Perhaps such an order will be accepted by a single individual entrepreneur if he is sitting idle. The finished slab will be edged, i.e. cover the end of the PVC with edging (edge). If you do the edging yourself (sometimes they ask for an absurd extra payment for edging), then keep in mind:
- The upper and lower flanges of the edging have different profiles, see on the left in Fig. Mix it up and there will always be a dirt edging on the table.
- The edging must be taken exactly according to the thickness of the slab. You can put a 24 mm edging on a 25 mm slab, but it will soon slide off.
- The groove for the edging ridge must be selected using a manual disk cutter; No one seems to have done it properly with a saw yet.
- Before installing the edging, a thin layer is applied to the surface of the end silicone sealant and the “sausage” is squeezed into the groove; in this case, the silicone will also act as a lubricant, without which the edge ridge may simply crumple.
- The comb is inserted into the groove with light blows of the mallet, gradually moving along the contour. The tabletop should lie face up on the support; squeezed out excess silicone is immediately wiped off with a clean rag lightly moistened with table vinegar.
Plank tabletops are held together in plank frames with wedges and spacers - wedges. It’s quite possible to make the vamps yourself; You need 3-4 per tabletop. The boards (cheeks) of the weim are wrapped in polyethylene so that the shield does not stick to them. In Fig. for example, the process of making a round tabletop; The rectangular one is put together in the same way, only cutting it to size is easier. The shield is attached to the tabletop using glue and dowels (see below); if the boards are tongue-and-groove, dowels are not needed. When rafting on PVA, the next plot is kept until the applied glue comes off before installing it in the clamp.
Often, countertops are assembled without bands on a plaza - a flat surface covered with plastic film. It will not be possible to assemble a good board panel on the plaza: either it will come out cracked, or the boards will stand on end when assembling it. But in the right hands, stacked tabletops made from fragments are simply wonderful. For example, at pos. 1-3 fig. – tabletop made from sawing waste, tinted with stain. And at pos. 4-5 The base of the tabletop was the platform itself, made of thick plywood. The tile and its chips are glued with tile adhesive, then the depressions are filled with grout, the surface is varnished and the outline is outlined with a wooden strip edge.
Note: These examples do not illustrate all the possibilities of making inlaid artistic tabletops with your own hands.
Underframe
Table base with fixed legs - simple wooden frame, left in Fig. Niches and parts of mechanisms are not involved in the power circuit. If the table is longer than 1.2 m, or the tabletop is removable/extendable, or large operating loads are expected (for example, a work table), the underframe is reinforced with stiffening ribs in the center. If the legs are attached with drawers, then the underframe is made integral with the tabletop to create a single power circuit, on the right in Fig.
Without frame
Tables without an underframe are also known, in which the tabletop and legs work in a single supporting system. Very durable, e.g. plywood table on the left in the figure; its connections are dowel. Unfortunately, this is not an economical design for an amateur: the sidewalls cannot be assembled from pieces, they must be solid. In mass production, the waste is not very large, but a sheet of plywood with a thickness of 24 mm or more will be used in one piece for large sidewalls, and another 1 piece for smaller ones. The table on the right is quite possible to make with your own hands: the load-bearing frame is prefabricated; connections - in a tenon with a tightening bolt and half a tree. However, the tabletop in this case should be round or square, with rounded or right corners.
... and we find ourselves in the kitchen
That's right. The kitchen table is the next in order of complexity after the simplest country tables. It should already meet the requirements of apartment ergonomics, dimensions - 75 cm in height for people of average size; the width of the place for 1 eater/rider is 60-80 cm depending on its corpulence, the width of the tabletop is at least 70 cm. Aesthetic appearance very desirable, but not decisive: suddenly you messed up the decoration, that’s why the tablecloth. The countertop should be easy to clean, durable, and resistant to spilled heat from hot dishes.
All these requirements will be satisfied by a table made of laminated chipboard on metal legs; They are also sold separately in sets of 4 pieces, with fasteners, on the left in Fig. Factory-made table legs are usually equipped with height-adjustable heels. A table, the manufacture of which will be reduced to screwing the leg sockets with confirmatory screws, will cost 30-50% less than a completely purchased one, and in appearance it will not be inferior to it, on the right in Fig.
If you are not too lazy to put your hands to it, you can make steel legs with your own hands. This is not only a cheaper, but also a more durable option: the sockets of the branded legs are cast from rather fragile silumin, the fastenings weaken over time and need to be tightened. You can cut out the nests yourself from good steel, and weld the very legs into them.
In a larger kitchen, there may be room for a larger table. In such a case, follow up. rice. Rustic style kitchen table plans. This table is “rustic” not only in appearance: it does not have a single nail or metal fasteners at all. Just wood and glue. A connoisseur, seeing this, nods his head in understanding and approval, and the design is simple and accessible to a beginner. True, in addition to the tabletop, you will also have to assemble the panels for the sidewalls, but in this case the extra work is worth it.
Kruglyashi
A table with a round top is appropriate in any room, if it fits there. But a tabletop made of boards in this case is not the best option: due to the presence of sharp corners, without a frame, which is very complex and labor-intensive, it is susceptible to splitting. Composite countertops made from small fragments, like the one described above from waste, are free from this drawback; Unlike laminate roundels, they are decorative, stylish, unique and practically free.
There are even more sharp corners in a finely-set countertop, but here the “broom law” comes into play. Not the American Senator Venik, who loves democracy in Russia to the point of complete oblivion about it at home, but that broom that is used to sweep away trash. As you know, it is impossible to break it (the broom, not the senator) tied up, but even a child will break it twig by twig. So here, thanks to the ease of distributing loads between small fragments, a table top assembled from them works like a solid slab, and after assembly you can cut it even “Zu”.
Note: The idea of the senator-broom, sorry, broom, was brought to mind by the statement of his compatriot Samuel Clemens, world famous as Mark Twain: “I assert, and I undertake to prove it, that Mr. Cooper has no more imagination than a bull. But not the bull that moos in the pasture, but the one that supports the bridge.”
How to make a semi-folding round table is shown in the figure; On the right there are the tabletop dimensions and assembly order. And in Fig. above right - small round table for the hallway, according to the old classification - business card. Its feature is the minimum number of connections; assembly with glue. Any round piece will fit on the tabletop, from a cut tree stump to a cardboard one, made according to the method of making cardboard shelves, but the underframe must be durable, made of wood (two-hundred-piece board) or laminated chipboard.
Let's go further: to the living room
The table in the main room of the house should suit the whole house. At the same time, with the modern desire for laconic design (which also saves costs on living space), the table should, for the time being, not be conspicuous and occupy smaller place. Therefore, one of the most popular pieces of furniture these days has become a transforming table.
The simplest transformable table, which, despite all its transformations, remains a table and does not turn into a closet or bed - a table-bedside table; It is quite possible to make it yourself “from scratch”. There are 2 options that are most common here. On the left in Fig. – the table is unfoldable, it has a record ratio of occupied space in expanded and collapsed form. These are most often placed in studio apartments perpendicular to the wall on the border of the kitchen and living areas. With the tabletop wings lowered, it will serve as a bar. By lifting the wings one at a time, you can get a kitchen or everyday dining table, and when fully deployed (in the center), it will provide space for a fairly crowded banquet.
For a bachelor living in a small apartment, a folding table-bedside table, on the right in Fig. These are essentially 2 small round folding tables described above, connected by a rectangular insert. You can have lunch with one folded one, because, unlike the previous option, there is somewhere to put your legs. And when you turn it around, spend a romantic evening with a beautiful stranger or intimate gatherings with friends.
All the above qualities are combined in transforming coffee and dining tables with a mechanism. The variety of transformation mechanisms is great, but for tables, which are always tables, they mainly come down to 2 types: elevator (pantograph) and book. How they both work, see the video:
Theoretically, a book is more stable than an elevator, although much depends on the quality of execution. Book lovers are more popular because the book mechanism can still be made independently, and the elevator is outside production conditions unlikely.
How the book-table unfolds is shown step by step in Fig. right. To make it yourself, you need to know that the key unit is the damping-balancing elastic link. Quite expensive branded designs use very softly operating gas dampers (gas lifts), but an amateur would be better off choosing a spring damper, and not because gas lift is much more expensive.
The fact is that the gas lift must be coordinated within fairly narrow limits with the kinematics of the lever system, the weight of the tabletop, underframe and the dead weight of the levers. If the balance of the entire system does not fit into its characteristics, the mechanism simply will not work. And the spring can always be tightened/loosened; as a last resort, replace it. In general, an unsuccessful homemade transforming table with gas lifts can rarely be brought to fruition, but a spring table can almost always be brought to fruition. If you still decide to suffer with a homemade acrobat table, in Fig. – drawings of the spring transformation mechanism.
Without the presence of drilling, turning and metal milling machines or access to them, most parts of the transformation mechanism will have to be ordered. Then its production will cost a little about $40, and you can buy a good ready-made one for $50-$60. A factory-made transforming coffee table rarely costs less than $200, so even in this situation the savings are significant.
The transforming table is made to fit the mechanism. One of the most popular are Mazetti transformation mechanisms, thanks to good quality at a moderate price for this class of products. In addition, Mazetti mechanisms are produced in a supporting frame (inset in the center in the figure), which greatly simplifies installation. Other pos. in Fig. show the structure and dimensions of the table for this mechanism.
For a strong feast
Whatever you say, a normal family with children, friends and relatives cannot do without crowded gatherings at the table, and here a transforming table will not always help out. However, we will leave more or less full banquet tables for the living room, as they say, for later: these are products of a higher order of complexity; primarily due to the sliding mechanism.
By the way, the good old “sliders” with wooden guides and wooden sliders of the tabletop halves (item 1 in the figure) are quite convenient and reliable when properly executed; in addition, you can make them yourself, but such a process requires a special detailed description. Modern sliding mechanisms with telescopic guides for full extension, pos. 2, allow you to use not 1, but up to 3-5 inserts, which increases the table capacity by 6-10 people, respectively, but they are quite expensive, and their installation requires a description no less voluminous.
There are banquet tables with folding inserts, pos. 3. In elite models, when moving the tabletop halves apart, the inserts are lifted, unfolded and put into place or put back into the underframe by a very complex mechanism, but its manual versions are available for making at home.
As for banquet tables with retractable individual tables, arranged like a keyboard stand in computer desk, then they cannot be called popular: by leaning forward (and how can this be avoided if the house has no servants?), we will get the board back into the table, and our portion of the treat will be used for festive clothes.
But let's not talk about sad things. Let us remember that the table is not always moved apart, and you can use an extension, but a solid table is in any case more reliable. Therefore, in the series of pictures below there is a way to make a very durable and inexpensive dining table, and see how it looks “alive” on the left in the picture. at the beginning.
In addition
You often want to paint a table, or any furniture, in more than just stripes or paint it artistically. To protect the design from external influences and to ensure the possibility of refinishing the varnish if necessary, the paint should not be applied, but rather rubbed into the wood before varnishing. The technique of painting by rubbing paint in layers is called glazing. So in conclusion, we offer a master class on glazing wood.
Video: master class on wood glazing
A coffee table is not an essential item in the home, but without it, the interior is devoid of comfort. Such a small detail significantly changes the atmosphere in the room.
A table made from wood with your own hands adds a touch of home warmth. Therefore, it is better to make a coffee table yourself than to purchase it in a store.
Before you start working on preparing materials, you need to decide which model will fit into the interior of the room. What are your preferences for shape? color scheme, height, etc. If a person has a sense of taste, he can create a coffee table project himself. Or modify it yourself suitable option, found both on the Internet and in specialized magazines. 
Modern design solutions suggest models of this piece of furniture that are so varied in shape that you can get lost in this abundance. Recent years More and more often, not only standard geometric shapes of tables, but also bold exclusive solutions appear in interiors.
- square tables. A coffee table option quite familiar to the average person. Traditional form countertops are acceptable in a room with a similar set of furniture that is all designed in the same style. This form is quite functional if you equip the table with additional shelves and drawers. The dimensions of the tabletop may vary, depending on the location and wishes of the owner. But usually used in sizes 80 by 80 centimeters;
- rectangular tables. This shape requires more space in the room, so it is not recommended to place rectangular coffee tables in small rooms. The width of such a standard table is usually 60 cm, the length is arbitrary, but not more than 160 cm. A small company can sit at such tables;
- round and oval tabletop shapes. Most often, this form of coffee table can be found in a house where there are small children or old people. The rounded edges of the tabletop will prevent injury and injury to its owners. It’s nice to have evening tea at an oval or round table;
- non-standard forms. It is very fashionable now to have furniture with non-standard solutions. Couples in love buy heart-shaped tables. The triangular table looks fantastic, as if it were a gift from alien creatures. A coffee table in the shape of a curved snake gives the room uniqueness and extravagance.
Height
The height of the coffee table is of great importance, if not the main thing. The standards applicable to this type of table indicate that their height must be at least 40 centimeters and not exceed 50 centimeters.
These standards allow you to use it comfortably while sitting on an armchair or sofa.
But these recommendations are relative. The height of sofas and ottomans today is arbitrary. There are models that have high pillow placement. And there are models in which a person sits practically on the floor. Therefore, low table models are quite in demand today. They are reminiscent of Eastern customs, where it is customary to sit on the floor during meals.
Width
The main criterion in choosing the width of the tabletop is the area of the room where the coffee table will be located. A small apartment requires compact furniture. And in spacious room It is appropriate to place a large table.
Important! Standards for coffee tables say that the width should be about 60 centimeters and the length should be 120 centimeters.
In many ways, the shape of the table depends on the functionality assigned to it. The presence of attached wheels at the bottom is suitable for frequent moving from place to place. You should also consider whether the wheels will cause damage floor covering. A large number of shelves is necessary for those who like to keep all sorts of little things at hand or want to use a table for creativity with their child.
What can it be made from?
The most common material for making a table is natural tree. This is an environmentally friendly material that makes beautiful furniture.
But over time, the tree can dry out and fade, change its structure and shape. Therefore, it is undesirable to place pieces of furniture made from it near heating appliances.
In addition, types of wood such as wenge have high price, which gives rise to the idea of making only the tabletop from wood.
MDF, laminated chipboard, special furniture boards coated with plastic are cheaper options from which you can make a table. This also includes laminated wood panels, which are made from less valuable types of wood, allowing significant savings, but at the same time they will look like a solid board of expensive wood. When making the bases of the table from these materials, they are covered with veneer.
It is very fashionable to have a table with transparent glass in your interior. glass tabletop. This table gives the room a luxurious and expensive look. But there is one significant drawback to such tables.
Important! Glass surface very easily soiled, any traces from fingers or cups remain immediately visible. That's why glass tables require increased care in use.
In addition to wood, MDF and glass, you can use non-traditional materials: cork, stone, ceramics, metal, plastic and other materials that can be found in hardware stores.
Tools and materials
Before you make a coffee table with your own hands, you need to collect materials and tools:
- Glue (preferably PVA),
- Glue brush,
- Blank for table top,
- Blank for table legs,
- Wheels (if necessary),
- Tongues,
- Hacksaw,
- Jigsaw,
- Roulette,
- Square,
- Marker or pencil
- Drill,
- Grinding attachment for drill,
- Self-tapping screws,
- Screwdriver,
- Clamps,
- Plane,
- Chisel,
- Bit,
- Mallet.
How to make it yourself?
How to cut elements from wood yourself?
The main elements of a coffee table are table top, slats And legs. To make a tabletop, you can take materials such as MDF sheets, boards, glass, plywood, etc., but tradition dictates that you make your own first table from wood.
The main rule when preparing table elements is to make the markings correctly. The proverb “measure twice, cut once” fits perfectly in this case.
Using a jigsaw, we cut out the tabletop according to the intended markings. This tool will allow you to make an even cut and give the table any shape, from simple rectangular to curly. The legs (4 pieces) can be cut off with a hacksaw and then given any shape using a jigsaw. The planks (4 pieces) are also cut with a hacksaw. Then we make holes in the legs and tenons in the slats. In the future, it is necessary to sand all the blanks of the future table.
Assembly
We pre-assemble the table, followed by adjustment of all parts. The connections should fit tightly into each other with little force by hand. If the coffee table turns out the way you envisioned, then you can move on to gluing the parts.
Important! To increase durability, you should disassemble the structure again and coat all the spikes with PVA glue for final assembly. Secure the table parts with clamps and let the glue dry for 24 hours.
The next day, we clean the legs with the slats from any remaining glue. Then we attach the tabletop to the planks using self-tapping screws and glue. Self-tapping screws should not go right through the tabletop.. After drying, clean all seams again from any remaining glue.
Processing
When the coffee table has dried well, you can begin work that will protect the wood from moisture, rotting, fungi and mold. And also for decorating a home interior element created by yourself.
Protection is carried out with antiseptic agents that will protect the table from moisture and exposure to sunlight.
The most popular and affordable product for wooden products is stain. It prevents the material from deformation, mildew and mold.
The stain is a water-repellent agent of deep penetration. Exists large selection color shades of this product, similar to different types of wood. After the stain has dried, a colorless varnish is applied, which adds shine and gloss.
Yacht varnish protects the tree from swelling, drying out and rotting. This varnish forms a film after a single application. Repeated treatment must be carried out after two years.
Important! Yacht varnish does not have decorative properties; its main function is to protect the wood.
Polyurethane varnish repels moisture and prevents deformation, drying out and wear of the material. This varnish comes in two types - matte and glossy.
Acrylic varnish Helps protect the surface wooden table from the influence of external natural factors. This varnish is best used to treat furniture in a summer cottage. It protects the wooden product from moisture. The main component of acrylic varnish is a water dispersion of resins. It imparts decorative properties to the finished product.
All these products can be easily applied with a roller or brush. To work with them you do not need to be a great specialist in paint and varnish. The main thing is to arm yourself with personal protective equipment (mask, respirator).
Photo
Useful video
Conclusion
A coffee table in the interior of a room is always a winning option. And something made with your own hands is doubly pleasant than something purchased in a store. All guests of the house will appreciate the pride and satisfaction from contemplating their skills and the abilities of the master.
You can always purchase or order any furniture in the salon, but you can fully realize your dreams and wishes only if you do everything yourself. Moreover, this way you can guarantee the exclusivity of the product. Such a product will preserve the owner’s aura and attract the warmth and comfort of home into the house.
A coffee table is, at first glance, not the most necessary furniture. Therefore, its acquisition is endlessly postponed.
But it is precisely such items that make the interior truly cozy and comfortable. Therefore, we are sharing ideas that will tell you how to make a stylish coffee table with your own hands and not go broke.
1. Democratic and accessible
Table made of boards and boxes.
To make such a table you will need a couple of metal or plastic boxes and two large boards. Don't forget to fasten the structure securely.
2. For the smartest
Elegant mini table.
Books with beautiful covers and small glass for the table top are all the materials for such a coffee table. The books must be glued together, and the glass can be fixed to them using silicone glue, which becomes transparent after drying.
3. Ordered chaos
Original do-it-yourself coffee table.
A coffee table made of flat elements fastened together in a chaotic manner is an idea that is easy to implement. Wooden cuts, parts of boards, and large books are suitable. 
Table made of wooden cuts.
4. Industrial style
An industrial cable reel can become a table.
A reel for industrial cables is a thing that cannot be found on every corner. But if you are lucky enough to become the owner of this item, it can be used to make an excellent coffee table. 
Functional coffee table.
5. Table for car enthusiasts
Reliable tire table.
A coffee table made from a car tire will last for many years. But it is advisable to use the tire without damage. All that remains is to paint it, secure the tabletop and legs.
6. Wooden table is almost free
You can make a coffee table with your own hands from pallets.
Ordinary pallets, which can be purchased for pennies, are an excellent material for making furniture. A little imagination, and the wooden coffee table is ready.
7. Second life for old boxes
Large drawers are the basis for a coffee table.
Another way to become the owner of a coffee table from natural wood- this is to use old boxes as material for its manufacture. Four large drawers fastened together form a stylish desk.
8. Extravagant chic
Asymmetrical coffee table.
A coffee table with asymmetrical legs looks especially original, but at the same time luxurious. The tabletop is made of a thick board or a wooden cut.
9. From the dacha to the living room
Barrel table.
Big wooden barrel Easily converts into a coffee table. It must be cut into two parts, and then the table top and legs must be attached to one of them.
10. Spacious and functional table out of the box
Functional table out of the box.
A utility box made of plastic or wood can also be used as a coffee table. To make the table mobile, you can attach small wheels to its bottom.
11. Warm table
Furniture made of metal radiator.
An old heating radiator is a reliable basis that will help you make a coffee table with your own hands. You just need to paint it in desired color, attach the wheels and place thick glass on top.
12. From the interior door
An old door can also come in handy.
An interior door that has served its purpose becomes a material for making a coffee table with your own hands. It must be cut into several parts and fastened together.
13. If it’s a pity to quit and it’s hard to carry
Coffee table from a suitcase.
An old suitcase can become an original tabletop for a coffee table. You just need to attach the legs to it.
14. Brutal elegance
Original legs made of pipes.
An affordable option for making legs for a coffee table is ordinary plastic or metal pipes, connected to each other by fittings. This furniture will fit perfectly into a loft-style interior.
15. From ordinary wooden beams
Wooden table made of timber.
A wooden beam, folded in a checkerboard pattern, will become a tabletop for a homemade coffee table. The legs can be made from thick metal wire.
