This easy-to-make rustic side table is made of a wooden crate turned upside down and simple wooden legs that are attached inside the crate. I had fun decorating it with a red, white, and blue theme in honor of the Fourth of July holiday here in the States. Decorated to your liking, it could be a lovely side table for use in a child’s bedroom, in a nook by the recliner, or even as a plant stand next to a sunny window.
This is an easy DIY furniture project that can be made in less than a day, and that includes paint and glue dry times! Here we go.
The Easy DIY Patriotic Crate Side Table project has four parts:
This DIY bistro table is just the right size for one or two people and would work great for a small dining space or to create a cozy nook in a wide open patio, deck, or yard. The pedestal base is made of an industrial galvanized steel plumbing pipe and a wooden serving bowl, turned upside down and weighted with concrete for stability. The table top is a store-bought pine panel.
This is the first dining table that I have made, and I’m happy with how it turned out. The table is standard height, 30 inches high, and the table top is 24 inches diameter. The bowl that I used for the bottom of the base has a diameter of 12 inches. When I was “designing” the table, I scoured the internet for information on how wide the base should be relative to the table top diameter to reduce the possibility of the table tipping over. What I found out is there are no hard rules on the ratio of the base to the table top. But, generally, the base diameter (what sits on the floor) should be at least half the diameter of the table top. Variables that affect the ratio, while I don’t understand it all, include the weight of the base, the weight of the table top, and the height of the table top off the floor.
Why am I telling you all this? The bowl that you use will probably be different from mine, with different dimensions and may hold more or less weight in the form of concrete. My table seems very stable, so you will probably be okay if you stick with the dimensions that I used. But if you want a larger-diameter bistro table (for instance 30 inches diameter) or you want a bar height table (36 inches), I suggest getting a bigger wood bowl to use in the pedestal or install a “foot” underneath your bowl to increase the base diameter.
The Rustic Modern Pedestal Bistro Table project has six main parts:
Preparing the wooden bowl for adding concrete
Weighting the wooden bowl with concrete and finishing the bowl
Painting the plumbing pipe and flanges
Cutting flattening cleats and attaching them to the table top
I’m starting another category, this one called “How To.” If you missed it, I also have an “Easy” category which includes projects that are exceedingly easy. The “How To” category will include stand-alone skills and tasks that are useful in furniture-making, repair, makeover, upcycle, redo, decor-making, and the like. In this post, I show how I fixed our very saggy sofa by rehabilitating the springs.
When I was contemplating starting this blog, I knew I would be making some furniture. I also had another theme in mind, which is–Learn to love what you have. Or maybe better stated–Make what you have something you love. So what about this sofa? I liked it well enough, but it was in rough shape. We had this sofa for several years, and over time I noticed it was getting “soft.” Finally it got so soft, I had to do something about it because it was starting to feel like I was sitting on the floor while sitting on the sofa. Being not one iota curious about why the sofa was sagging, my solution was to cut a piece of pegboard and put it under the seat cushions. This was good enough for a few years.
