Side Table with Two Reclaimed Wood Shelves

Dimensions: Length 36.5 inches, Width 12 inches, Height 26.5 inches, Weight 18 pounds. This piece could work well in a living room, entryway, den, dining room or other places. The black paint on the legs and rails provides a nice contrast with the natural warm browns, golds and tans in the shelf pieces, but also ties into the natural dark color that develops around some nail holes when pallets are exposed to the elements for a considerable time. The variability in the width and tone of refinished wood pieces lends this table a lot of visual interest. And the presence or absence of original nails and nail holes, along with the minor differences in thickness and the slight curves of some pieces, provide what we in the upcycling business call “rustic charm.” I hope you agree. $200.

The Story

I found an ugly old table near a dumpster for a large apartment complex in my Glover Park neighborhood of D.C. It looked like someone had considered painting over the detailed designs but quickly gave up. I removed the original top. To upcycle the remaining frame, I used a chemical stripper on the paint; disassembled it in order to really clean and smooth all the pieces with a belt sander and hand sanding; reassembled it with many new screws (and whereas originally it had many exposed screw heads, I countersunk them all and puttied over the holes for a more polished look) and by slightly changing the structure and location of the lower rails; and finally I applied two coats of black matte paint. To create two new shelves, I selected a variety of pieces from my stock of pallet wood. I used a belt sander and hand sanding and cut them into 12-inch lengths for the top shelf and 11-inch lengths for the bottom shelf—several more than I would actually need. This enabled me to select an assortment that provided lots of tonal variety and would perfectly cover the two spans. Using many short lengths of wood in this direction, instead of just a couple pieces in the other direction, involved a lot more work but allows for far more visual variability. I finished them with a couple of coats of Minwax water-based clear satin Polycrylic and attached them to the rails with nails and glue.

Related Items: “Camouflage” Side Table with Reclaimed Wood Top.