With our new tiny house add-on taking shape, it’s time to start thinking about outdoor furniture. We need an outdoor table for our deck and, of course, we want to build it ourselves.
Building an outdoor table
We want to use salvaged timber for our new outdoor table. So we’re using solid timber beams which we found at the tip shop the other day for the table legs. For the tabletop, we’re using the leftover cypress floorboards from our tiny house build. So let’s get into it.
Frame and legs
Before we start, we have to decide on the dimensions and height of our new table. Because we’re both tall, we prefer our furniture to be slightly taller than the average selection at a store. There’s nothing worse than getting a sore neck or back from working at a low kitchen bench or office space. That’s the beauty of building things ourselves everything can be totally custom to suit our needs.
Once we knew the dimensions of our table, Paul cut the timber for the frame and legs to length. He cut out the corners for the table legs and uses screws to hold the frame and legs in place. Now it’s time to varnish the frame to protect them from moisture and weather. I gave the frame three coats of outdoor varnish.
We’re pretty happy with the result. I personally love the bulky and mismatched legs. They give the table a rustic look which fits in nicely with our tiny house deck.
Tabletop
For the top, we’re using leftover cypress floorboards which are still sitting under the house. I’m very happy that we’re finally putting them to good use because the timber looks amazing.
Our floorboards are tongue and groove, so they’re really easy to assemble and form an even surface. In order to ensure that the boards stay in place, Paul screwed a wooden board across the width of the top. He used a scrap piece for this because the board is sitting on the bottom side of the tabletop and is therefore invisible. Finally, Paul routed out the edges of the tabletop and sanded the surface to give it a nice finish.
Once the tabletop and the frame are done, it’s time to screw them together and to varnish the top. Make sure to wait until the varnish has dried properly before using the table.
We are very happy with how our new outdoor table turned out. This DIY project was easy enough and only cost us a little bit of our time because we already had most of the materials here.
