For my very first DIY project of 2022, I decided to give the entryway to our townhouse a well-deserved refresh! Our townhouse is four levels, and our entryway is very narrow with the entrance to the garage immediately to the left when you walk in, and coat closet and stairs straight ahead. Needless to say, this high-traffic area needed a little facelift as it’s never felt quite right since we moved in. The builder put in flat paint throughout our home, so the walls have been super difficult to keep clean (magic erasers, etc. cannot be used on flat paint!), and there’s a really awkwardly placed emergency access to the plumbing system that’s in a super obvious spot in the entryway as well. All this to say, our entryway (stairway included) needed some fresh paint, in addition to some appropriately sized furniture that fits the small space and helps cleverly conceal the plumbing access. Links to all the supplies needed for this project can be found here!
To kick things off, I painted the entryway / stairwell a dreamy warm white very fittingly called ‘Whipped’ by Clare Paint. Choosing paint colors stresses. Me. Out. Especially choosing a white paint color! I feel like there are literally a bazillion choices and I literally looked at paint samples for months. Months! Paint sample after paint sample from Home Depot, Lowes, you name it – and I still could not decide. If I chose something too bright, I feared the color would feel harsh or like something you see in a hospital. Something too warm and I feared it would look yellow. After what felt like eternity, I went back to my favorite – Clare Paint. And I’m so glad I did! I could not be happier with the color.
Next, I knew I wanted to build a console table. We’ve lived in our townhouse for right at two years now, and for about that amount of time I have actively been on the hunt for the perfect console table for this space. Everything I like is either too big or just way too expensive. I couldn’t find anything under $500 that I liked, and honestly, most on the lower end of that price range just did not seem like the best quality or they were way too big for the narrow entryway. Since I’ve really never built anything like this from scratch, I first did a ton of research, and I ultimately decided that a modern waterfall console table would be a great fit!
I decided I wanted to make the console table to be 30″ tall, 40″ wide, and 11″ deep. This size seemed appropriate for the space! If you’re unsure about the scale of a piece, try the painter’s tape trick and tape out an outline of what you have in mind! This really helps you visualize the piece. I purchased 3 sheets of 2’x4′ (each 3/4″ thick) birch plywood from Lowes (you can get the larger single piece instead as well), along with 1 1/2″ edge banding from Amazon. In terms of tools, for this project I used my circular saw, Kreg Rip Cut tool, miter saw, orbital sander, biscuit joiner with #10 biscuits, and drill. I also used Elmer’s’ Wood Glue, clamps, and an iron.
Using my circular saw and Kreg Rip Cut tool (a table saw would be easier, if you have one!) to cut the pieces down to size. Since you are going to glue two identical pieces together for the top as well as each leg, take this into account cutting your pieces. When cutting each piece, it’s a good idea to leave several inches extra on each leg so that you can cut the bottom of each to ensure the legs are the exact length that you want them and that the bottom is nice and clean.
After each piece is cut, liberally apply wood glue to one piece, then adhere it to it’s correlating piece so that you now have a single thicker piece that’s 1 1/2″ thick. Make sure all of your edges / corners are perfectly aligned, then clamp then in place. I only have 4 clamps (it’s on my list to buy more soon!) so I used one in each corner, but if you have more I definitely recommend using those as well. Allow the glue to cure with the clamps on according to the instructions, then remove the clamps and repeat this process with the remaining pieces. If you are lucky enough to own at least 13 clamps, you could do all of your glueing at one time!
After I let all of the glued pieces set overnight, I proceeded with my making my miter cuts. The top piece need to be mitered on both sides, but the legs are only mitered at the top (the bottom needs to be flat, of course). To ensure I did not mix up my angles (which I’ve been know to do from time to time), I used my speed square and a pencil to appropriately mark the pieces. From there, I used my miter saw to make the cuts!
I then lightly sanded all pieces since I figured it would be easier to do this prior to assembling. I did a really light sand using my orbital sander and beginning with 80 grit, then I moved up to 120 grit, then 220. Always remember, the lower the number the coarser the sandpaper is, and the higher the finer / smoother the grit! Be care to use only light to medium pressure, and don’t over-sand.
Next up came the part I was the most nervous about – the biscuit joints! I chose this method of joinery because it allows you to join pieces of wood without using nails or screws, allowing you to have a super clean piece without nail / screw holes! How amazing is that?! Well, as excited as I was about learning this new method of joinery, I was super nervous that I would totally ruin the table attempting to do this haha! After making lots of practice cuts on some scrap wood, I finally got the hang of it and summoned up the courage to give it a try! There is a certain way you have to do this when making the cuts on a mitered edge, so make sure to read (and re-read!) the instructions that come with your biscuit joiner, if you’re also new to using this tool. Then lots of practice! I made sure to very carefully and precisely mark the center points on all of my pieces to ensure I made the cuts in the right places – then I just went for it! I made cuts to account for three #10 biscuits on each side, one in the center and the others about three inches apart. Now, did I do this totally right? No idea! But it seems to have worked 😉 Remember, I’m learning as I go sometimes haha!
The pieces seemed to fit pretty well together (not perfectly, but hey that’s okay!) so I grabbed my wood glue and applied some to each end of the top as well as the top part of each leg. Make sure some of the glue makes it into each hole where the biscuit joints will go! I placed my table top upside down on my sawhorses, inserted the biscuits into one side, then attached the leg. The biscuit joints hold it in place! Repeat these steps on the other side as well. Then, to ensure that the legs are square as the glue dries, take some scrap pieces of wood to create a brace. First, screw the piece of wood into the base of one leg (no need to go in very far with the screw!) then screw it into the opposite leg once each is square. Repeat this once more with another scrap piece of wood so that you have two pieces parallel to one another running from table leg to leg. And finally, to ensure there is no room for shifting, adding another running at a diagonal from the bottom / side of a leg to the opposite corner of the top piece. Take a look at the photo below to see how I went about this! I then let the glue cure for about 24 hours to ensure it was fully dried – don’t move the table until fully cured!
After removing the brace pieces, I used a small amount of wood filler to fill in any little gaps around the mitered corners and allowed that to dry for several hours. After lightly sanding the wood filler, I placed the table on its side then proceeded with applying the edge banding. After cutting the banding to size, I used an iron to attach it to the table. Wow – what a difference that made!
I still need to stain the table, but I plan to tackle that within the next week or two. Stay tuned for an update what the table has been stained and sealed!
Thanks for following along!
