The Textured Coffee Table DIY That Gives Luxury Vibes On A Budget

Many coffee table designs are square or rectangular. So when something like the Meadowview round coffee table at Pottery Barn comes along, it's hard to ignore it. However, for many home decorators, the $1,199 price tag is enough to leave the table in the realm of Just-Wishful-Thinking. Crafty Instagrammer @lizpacini put herself in that category, too, but rather than accepting the "someday" aspect of owning the table, she decided to take matters into her own hands and make a DIY version of the table.

If you think a round coffee table might be the perfect coffee table for your home and want to recreate it, then start this project by taking a trek to the local Home Depot or Lowe's to find some 36-inch round boards. These 1-inch thick boards are the top and the bottom of the finished coffee table. You'll make the sides of the coffee table from 250 ½-inch dowels, give or take. A few two-by-fours create some hidden internal supports for the coffee table. Some Varathane Premium Fast Dry Wood Stain adds color to the piece, while Varathane Premium Fast Dry Antique White Wood Stain gives the piece that certain je ne sais quoi. Some sponge brushes ensure that the piece is well-coated with these two tints. A matte topcoat seals the deal.

You'll also need wood glue, pre-stain conditioner, 220-grit sandpaper, a drill and some screws, and a sander, plus a few L-brackets. Because you'll be gluing the 250 dowels onto the piece, you'll use a lot of it. In light of that, you may want to get more than one bottle to guarantee that you won't run out mid-project.

The dowels alone are not enough to hold up the top of the round coffee table. You'll need to form the two-by-fours into two perfect squares to create supports for the tabletop. Putting those together first makes the most sense, since they'll hold the table up, and you'll treat the wood with stain after the table's built. Additionally, this project does have a few labor workarounds you may want to utilize. For example, buying the pre-cut round boards for this DIY prevents you from having to use a jigsaw to create round pieces of boards (if that skill's not in your wheelhouse). That said, if you'd like to repurpose some old wood, this is a good project for it, particularly if they're odd-shaped and not suited for other more traditional square projects.

The table's original design includes veneers that wrap completely around the outside of the table, a look you'll replicate with the dowels. If you'd like some variety, you can alter how many dowels you glue around the table. For example, you can fill in most of the outside of the table with dowels, but leave two or three larger stretches open – say 6 to 12 inches each. This leaves the interior of the table open and allows you to stash items, like books, in the table's center. If you go this route, you'll want to stain the support two-by-fours and both sides of the rounds before you construct the table since you'll be able to see the under belly of the piece, so to speak.

The Pottery Barn table is constructed of curved wood veneers. These are solid pieces that have no "holes" between the ridged edges of the coffee table's exterior. In the DIY version, the sides of the table appear solid once enough wooden dowels are glued into place. If the DIY is done correctly, it has the curved appearance of the original. However, due to its construction, it has small open spaces between each dowel, even if they're difficult to see.

The original also has more of a base than the dupe does. The latter uses two equal-sized round pieces of board to create the top and the bottom of the coffee table. If you do want your version of the table to have a base to make it look more polished, you can add some short 2-inch couch legs from the AORYVIC Store on Amazon. Adding taller 8-inch WEICHUAN Round Solid Wood Furniture Legs to it would give the piece a decidedly Mid-Century Modern design that won't go out of style.

Finally, the cost for the original versus the DIY version of the table is the biggest difference. The original comes in at nearly $1200. The dupe version is going to cost several hundred at the most, with most of the expense being in the store-bought rounds that run under $100 a piece at Home Depot. You'll find half-inch dowels in a 10-pack from ALBO for less than $30. Despite the labor intensiveness of the DIY, the cost is certainly more budget-friendly for many home decorators than the original will be, making this labor of love worth the cost.