Foyer Table

I have been posting my repurposed creations on my facebook, www.facebook.com/ambodesworkshop, and on my personal facebook page, for awhile now. In doing so, I have gained a reputation for taking things that have been discarded and reusing thing. So, when some friends of mine were taking apart a china cabinet to take to the dump, they thought of me. Yes! Of course I'll take it! And the idea for this foyer table was born.

In addition to the cornice from the china cabinet, this project also used wood from all parts of many pallets, and a piece from a table leaf that came with the garage when I moved into my home.

Step 1: The Cornice/table Top

The first thing I noticed was the cornice. I thought it would make an awesome top. It's short height (about 5 inches before added the bottom) made it perfect for a foyer top: able to hold a few things but not deep enough to become an abyss for key and other things to get lost in.

The first thing to do is to make a back for the cornice. I checked around my shop and found my longest boards that were the same height as the edges of the cornice. I didn't have any that were long enough, so, using the table saw, I overlapped the edges of two boards. (Set the saw blade about half the height of the board. Then, start by making grooves from about 2" or 3" from the end. Soon, these groves become gaps and then finally you have a lip. Doing that on the end of both boards, when you flip one board atop the other, they mesh perfectly. Glue and clamp to dry)

Step 2: Top Bottom & Drawer Dividers

Next, make supports for the bottom of the top. And since I wanted 3 sections, I put in cross supports where I wanted the dividers to go. I only used 1x1's here, since that would be sufficient for the overlap of the bottom boards. If this had been larger, esp., or more weight-bearing, I would have used wider wood. And, even though everything is glued and pinned, I also screwed the wood supports in place.

Step 3: The Dividers

Using the tablesaw, cut 2x4's into slats, and run them through the planner so that they are of equal thickness. The dividers are also these slats. Now, I placed the dividers in place as I laid out the slats for the bottom. Once I had the slats snuggly in place, I removed them to glue them to the supports. And using the pinner, secured them to the supports. Once all the the table top bottom was in place, I glued and pinned the dividers in place.

Step 4: The Tops!

Finally! I was ready to start the tops. First, I made frames for each drawer top. Again, this is pallet wood that I cut into 1/2" square dowels. Next, I started laying out my slats. Some of these slats are sliced 2x4's (pine), some are white oak and some are red oak. It is amazing the variety of wood you can get from pallets! I tried various designs before I settled on the angle/straight/angle pattern. I laid the frame out over top my laid out slats to trace the cuts I would need to make.

I glued the edge of each slat together within the frame and pinned the slat to the frame and let dry. Once the top panels were dry, I flipped the tops over and started laying out a second set of slats. These slats all went vertical, so to offer support to the decorative topside.

This time, I glued the bottom slats to the underside of the tops ones and to each other. In addition to pinning these under slats to the frame, I pinned them to the top slats. And then I let them dry.

Step 5: Bottom Shelf

Using the same method as the tops, I assembled slats, again in a pattern, for the bottom shelf. Once I had the slats in cut and in place, I glued the edges of the slats to each other and let dry overnight. Without any supports, this needed to dry completely in order to flip it upside down so that I could attach support to the bottom side.

So, after it was completely dried, I was able to flip it over, attach 1x1 cross supports, and a 1x1 edge on the back side.

Step 6: Legs and Assembly

Next, I used 2x4's for the legs. I attached a 1x1 to the 2x4's on each side for the shelf to rest upon. Once the legs were in place, and the shelf was in place, I was able to use the strip fro the table leaf (which turned out to be poplar) to not only create a finished look on the front of the shelf, but help secure the shelf to the legs. I 'wrapped around' this poplar strip to in between the 2x4 legs.

The poplar strip is glued in place to the front of the shelf, and also screwed into the shelves' supports. The side wrap around piece is screwed, but not glued, to the bar the connects the 2x4's and to the shelf's edge support.

Step 7: Finishing Touches

Once everything was in place, fit, worked, and was level, I disassembled the bottom half to finish the pieces. I used linseed oil on the shelf, just like on the top piece and painted the 2x4's. Once the

Step 8: Re-assembly & Finished!

Once the linseed oil was cured and the paint was dry, I reassemble everything. There are 2 hinges for each shelf. And viola! A perfect sized foyer table with 3 shallow drawers for storage.