DIY Reclaimed Wood Kitchen Table with Pipe Legs
Our new apartment kitchen needed a table, but we could't just pick up any old table - we needed it to be an extension of our countertop. The table had to be counter height, and fit four stools completely underneath. Obviously this was the perfect opportunity for a little DIY project. Originally we were going to source a countertop from Ikea, but we ended up finding The Wood Shop who supplies reclaimed wood for DIYers, but they also do commissioned projects. We met with the Wood Shop to see what our options were and we settled on a piece of reclaimed fir.
Since we don't have much space and limited tools, we hired Chris Nichols (so close to Chris Nicholas! LOL) from the Wood Shop to get the tabletop to a place where we could just stain it. He planed down the pieces, glued them together, rounded the edges, and sanded it down then handed it off to us. You can see the full process on how it was made below.
Materials
3/4" Galvanized Metal Pipes measured to the size you need (we used: four 12" pipes, one 48" pipe, four 3" pipes, and four 30" pipes)
6 x T junctions
4 x end caps
4 x flanges
24 wood crews
We had our tabletop built to 54" x 30", so the legs had to be just a bit smaller to make sure the flanges weren't sticking out. We used rough dimensions of 47"w x 26.2"d x 34.5"h for the legs. We were lucky enough to find that Lowe's carried a variety of sizes in these pipes,;I thought I would be spending a full day at the hardware store while they cut and threaded our pipes to size, but we were able to build our table with standard prefab sizes off the shelf.
STEP 1 - Clean
Once you have all your pieces, give them a little wash in some warm soapy water. My pipes had a layer of greasy dirt on them and a bit of adhesive from some tape. I used a bit of nail polish remover to take off access tack that the hot water couldn't get off. Make sure to throughly dry your pipes.
STEP 2 - Fit
Dry fit your base together making sure it's the right size. If you are happy with it, make sure they are screwed together as tightly as possible, feel free to use some lock tight or other adhesive to ensure a strong, permanent bond. We skipped this step since we are moving back to NL in a few months and it will be easier to take it apart to ship/store.
STEP 3 - Paint
Using a metal spray paint, give the legs three coats of paint or until covered. Let it dry according to the instructions on the can.
STEP 4 - Install
Attach your wood top with screws just slightly shorter than the thickness of the table. Use stick on felt pads on the feet so the paint doesn't rub off on your floor.
What do you think? Would you try this out in your house? Let us know in the comments below!