Side Table: From Inspiration to Creation

Remember in my last post I mentioned a few side tables that I found online and loved. Well, my search continued and I found this one:

found here

Again, I love the metal/wood combination. This shop on esty has some amazing pieces. This baby rings in at $695.00. Wow-way too pricey for our budget. But I had an idea: I could make this. Picture a little cartoon with a light bulb in the thought bubble.

After a few e-mails and conversations with my dad, it was decided we were going to use the photo above as inspiration to recreate our own side table on a cheaper (way cheaper) budget.  

So, I headed home early for the holiday weekend to get my build on. 

Here's what we did:

• Stained the wood (thanks to dad the wood was already cut and glued when I got home) 
• Stained the wood again. I didn't like the first color because it was too light. 
• Lacquered the wood
• Spray painted the hardware (we used 8 metal pipes and 16 brackets)
• Assembled

I didn't take pictures of each step so here are a few random photos from the process.

I actually had to complete the last step back in Maryland because we ran out of brackets for the feet. Here's the final product.

 I just bought the lamp so that's why the shade is still wrapped in plastic. I'm still deciding if I like it. Any thoughts? Should I keep it? Is it worth $50?

Now for the cost... 

This table would have been around $135.00 which is not too bad considering the one I liked was close to $700.00. Those round brackets were around $7 a piece. Who knew metal brackets would be so much? However, thanks to my oh-so-generous parents this was f-r-e-e. That was not my intention, but I'm grateful for their kindness. 

I had a blast building this end table and if you ever decide to make anything--my only advice would be to make sure you work with someone like my dad. He knows just the right technique for applying stain, how to quickly apply lacquer to avoid drips, and how to work just about every power tool. Thanks dad!

One last look for comparison: