I am obsessed and I mean obsessed with the show Fixer Upper on HGTV. We recently replaced our deck with a screened porch and we both wanted to replace our existing table with something smaller.
As you can see, this round table takes up wayyyyy too much space. I knew I wanted to make a table out of a door and found one when visiting in Vermont this past summer. My challenge? What to use for a base.
Fixer Upper saved the day! I was watching one of the episodes and they showed a custom table with legs made from galvanized pipe.
I immediately texted a screenshot from the TV to Mark (who was on a fishing trip of course) and said ‘THIS IS WHAT I WANT!’. He did a LOT of research. There were two tutorials, in particular, that he found helpful – this one from Designer Trapped in a Lawyer’s Body and this one from 4Men1Lady.
There were a few things I insisted on – I didn’t want the cross piece to be at the bottom of the table (so we’d have room to stretch our legs and, of course, room for dogs that always lay under the table) and I wanted to be able to seat eight comfortably at the table.
We spotted the chairs we wanted to use outside a thrift shop. We scored all four for $40. The reason I mention this, is because if you decide you want to use chairs that are shorter – or taller – than normal, you will need to keep the height of the chairs in mind to determine the height of the table. Trust me, it will make sense once you start to get your materials.
We got everything at Lowe’s. They will cut, and thread, all your pieces for FREE! The pipe cost us $140 total. The door was $40 and the four chars were $40. So, maybe not the cheapest project BUT it’s custom and fits our space perfectly.
We used 3/4″ pipe. Here’s a basic idea of how Mark put the pieces together.
It took him less than a half hour to build. I couldn’t be happier with the end result.
I’ve also decided not to add a piece of glass to the top. Plates sit just right, perfectly level.
See what I mean?
The raised panels are the same height as the sides and center of the door. Plates fit perfectly!
I can’t decide if I should paint the table legs black or leave them silver? What do you think?