Friday I finished the sofa table!
One thing that you may not know about me is that I have a thing for sofa tables … I love how they ground the sofa, create a division of space, and draw interest to an otherwise boring space.
I’ve wanted one for a long time and after searching in stores, Craigslist and Goodwill for months with no luck we decided to make our own.
After developing a tentative plan, we were off to Home Depot and purchased …
6′ 1×12 (x2)
8′ 1×6 (x2)
8′ 1×4
decking baluster (x4)
8′ 1×3
(we used some leftover 3/8 plywood for the drawers)
The decking baluster was a great cost saver at $2.49, a comparable parson’s leg is around $10 … I love finding cheaper options that are practically the same thing!
The total for all the wood was around $50
I originally wanted to build something a little simpler, but David really wanted to add drawers and make it a little more complicated … so I let him have at it! I will do my best to explain, but a lot of it he decided on the fly (feel free to ask if I miss anything!)
First a 1×6 was cut to length and the drawers were drawn with a pencil and cut out with a jigsaw. Since we had to start cutting from the middle, a hole was drilled for the saw blade to fit into.
The frame for the top was constructed
Legs were attached on the corners – a small strip of wood was cut and attached for the bottom shelf to sit on – notches were cut out of the bottom shelf for the legs to fit into and then the shelf was attached
Drawers were constructed out of 1x4s and plywood
Finally the top was secured from underneath with screws
— Update: Below is a drawing to hopefully make how we constructed the main body a little more clear.
Knots were filled with wood filler and sanded once dry. Holes were drilled for hardware (and later filled with wood filler and re drilled when I changed my mind 🙂
I started with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint – Versailles … but decided that it was a little dull so I added a little BM Citron paint that I had left over to give it a little more saturation.
I opted for a simple ring pull for the hardware … with none in local stores, I decided to try a diy version. When I sent David a text that I was going to Ace hardware to find something to make them … lets just say that he was doubtful (I can always tell that he questions something will work when he doesn’t respond … I guess not wanting to hurt my feelings?)
Eager to prove him wrong, off to Ace I went – after trying a few pieces, I found a great, simple solution
1. 1″ brass ring, brass cotter pin, brass washer with bevel front, simple washer for inside
2. push the cotter pin over the ring (I used a thin ruler to open up the pin, and to get it all the way I pushed it against a hard surface)
3. slide the brass washer (with bevel front) over the cotter pin
4. push the pin through the hole, put the other washer on, bend the ends (I used a large flat screwdriver to get the ends bent and then hammered the rest of the way)
These take about 1 minute to make and a little more to push the ends up, and costing under $2 each, they’re a steal!
Prior to installing, I used a little rub n’ buff in antique gold to soften the brass
I am loving our custom sofa table and that it is all DIY!
The rug won’t be staying, but I do have another planned that is better suited for the space
The bottom shelf will hold office and DIY supplies …
I picked up the bamboo tray and wire baskets at Target
Love Tulips! They are such happy flowers!
The drawers were lined with a green damask drawer liner
Annabelle in her favorite sleeping spot 🙂
I redid the lamps about a year ago. They were a translucent black (which was removed with paint stripper) and the shade was covered in a trellis fabric in the same method as this post
I am loving the extra storage and how the table grounds the sofa!
—
Over the weekend we started hanging frames on the long wall in the office / living room (wall in the above photo) and a custom tv stand!
Want to see what I am working on between posts? You can find me at sarahmdorseydesigns on instagram 🙂
Saw your pulls featured on BOTB over at Centsational Girl. Congrats on your feature and on this brilliant project! The table is just awesome!
Thanks Suzy!! and thanks for stopping by! I love how the table turned out 🙂
Whoa! Awesome! You built that yourself??? Can I borrow your hubs for the weekend to make one for me too? (Of course, you can come too 😉
Thanks Anja! Yes we did make it ourselves 🙂 David is very good at figuring out how to build things and then actually building them!
Looks great! I love those lamps too. I can't wait to move into my new apartment so I can try some of your projects! (though probably not building my own sofa table 🙂 ).
Thanks Katy! Let me know if you try anything, I'd love to see!
I LOVE the pulls! How sturdy are they to use?
Thank you! So far they seem very sturdy, granted they are are small drawer. I would expect that they would hold up well to a larger drawer too (maybe a longer cotter pin would be best). Also, if the cotter pin would break, it costs about .30 and takes about a minute or two, so not bad! Hope that helps!
What are the dimentions of your table?
They are 4'10" L x 2'1"H x 11.25" D
Love the table, but really really love the rug!! Where's it from, if you don't mind my asking?
Thanks! The rug is from TJ Maxx, I believe the brand is Zayla Rugs 🙂
I loved your idea for the ring pulls, it was exactly what I was looking for. I recreated it on my dresser and nightstands but got silvery/steel pieces sprayed with ORB and they look amazing! I made 24 pulls spent 25 dollars. Thank you so much!
So glad that it worked well for you! 🙂
This table is awesome! I want to build my own. Question – how did you attach the legs to the top frame? Did you have to cut into the top frame or the cut into the leg to get them to attach flush?
Thanks!
Hi Nicole! Thank you so much! I just added a drawing to the post that will hopefully make the construction of the main section a little more clear. Please let me know if you have any questions. Thanks!
Thanks! I appreciate the diagram!
would u be able to email me the insyructions on how to make the sofa table . it is perfect my email is nanwarren03@hotmail.com my printer is not printing it and a picture would be great
this is amazing! You are so clever and talented!
I love those brass ring pulls! I just repainted an old dresser and wanted those pulls, but I can't find brass fasteners anywhere where I live so I'm ordering some off of amazon. I'm unsure about size – the description says 1/16 x 3/4; do you know if that would work? Ps, love your blog and style!!
Thanks so much! My pulls are a 1" ring so yours should be very close 🙂 xo sarah
wow, just find your site! ffantastic! LOVE this table and so much more! I am finding that there is no picture when I try to pin any of your posts. Any suggestions? Thank you!
Oh, and 1 more thing….I don't see an option to subscribe to your blog via email. Please let me know, I would love to follow along!
Hi Mary, Thanks so much for stopping by! Here is a link to my rss feed, you can choose your reader from there: http://feeds.feedburner.com/SarahMDorseyDesigns
and I'm not sure why there is no picture when you try to pin. You can hover over the picture for the pin it button or I also have the pin it button installed on my toolbar, which works.
Hope this helps! 🙂
You are such a creative couple! and handy too 🙂
I love this table design – it's beautiful, and sofa tables are so hard to find. I think I can make it myself, thanks so much for posting easy to follow instructions. Nicely done
Thanks so much! 🙂 Agreed! I looked for a long time and couldn't find a sofa table, so we decided to build our own! I love being able to customize the size too!
Hi Sarah, this is great!! I can't wait to get started What tool was used to cut out the small pieces of wood in which the bottom shelf sit in?
Thank you!
Nathaly C.
Hi Nathaly,
We used a jigsaw to cut the notches for the bottom shelf
Thank you for the awesome tutorial on DIY ring pulls! Here in Canada I was having a hard time finding them in a specific colour. I used your method and created exactly what I was looking for! http://www.thecookiewriter.com/2013/12/50-year-old-dresser-and-end-table.html
I'm about to make these pulls and am wondering what is the intended purpose for these rings (so I can find them in the hardware store)…
Hi Carly! I'm not exactly sure .. I found at ace hardware near the industrial hardware and across from the metal chain.
How did you do the drawers? Did you use drawer sliders? Or add a bottom to the top frame so it wouldn't fall down? I'm confused on how to make that part work. Thanks 🙂