Upcycled Side Tables

Upcycled Side Tables

Here's a new use for old wooden boxes, create upcycled side tables. I saw a couple on the internet and decided to give it a try. I love how they turned out. I've been stacking the boxes and using them for shelves and storage, all the standard uses for boxes. It's a clever idea to turn them over and attach legs. The legs are upcycled banister spindles.

I've been an upcycling fool lately, it's so much fun. The creating process pumps me up and it's even more exciting seeing the results.

My granddaughter Skylar just called me, "grandma, I've been you the last half hour, you know, creating and artistic." She was making a birthday present for her dad, she was pumped up and excited about the results. She has discovered duct tape and instructional YouTube videos on how to make wallets, flip flops, belts, purses, she is in duct tape heaven.

When the boxes are turned upside down, so is the writing and labels, therefore, the bottom has to be removed and placed on the top of the box. Most old crate boxes have flimsy bottoms, I replaced mine with thicker heavier wood. We went shopping for scrap wood at the salvage yard, I wanted to maintain the old box character.

The harmony club box has a thin metal trim around the edges. It was easy to remove and replace once the new wood top was on the box. The tables make great night stands or handy for any place a side table is needed. The fruit boxes are 25" high and the harmony box is 24" inches high.

Materials Used;

• Vintage Wood Boxes
• Table Legs
• Scrap Wood
• 1 5/8" All Purpose Wood Screws
• 1" Wood Nails
• Rough Grit Sand Paper
• Steel Wool
• Acrylic Apple Red Paint
• Acrylic Yellow Ochre Paint
• Acrylic Burnt Umber Paint
• Matte Mod Podge
• Linseed Oil
• Hammer
• Saw
• drill

How to Make:

I could give you measurements but, chances are you won't find the same boxes or spindles that we used to upcycle.

Remove bottoms of box. If there is any type of trim around the edges of the box remove it fist. Measure and cut wood for the top of the box, the wood slats do not have to be perfect, remember these are old vintage boxes. We cut the scrap wood length and the width of a couple pieces to fit the box.

Nail the wood to the top of the box so the labels and writing are right side up. Replace any trim that may have been removed using nails. Clean the box with soap and water. Paint or stain the cut edges of the wood to match the box. Polish the box with linseed oil.

The fruit boxes have old labels that have peeled over time. To prevent further peeling, I painted over the labels with three coats of matte mod podge.

Measure and cut the table legs to desired length. You don't want a wobbly table so take your time and think it though. Pre drill screw holes into each leg. We drilled 3 holes on one side and two holes on the other side of each leg to secure them on two sides of the box. The screws we used were the right size for drilling into the legs through the sides of the box, but not poke through on the front side.

Before attaching the legs I painted them. They were already painted white, I used rough grit sand paper to dull the finish. Painted with burnt umber paint. Let dry, use steel wool to remove some of the burnt umber paint and dull the finish. The legs for the fruit boxes were finished by rubbing yellow ochre paint onto the wood. The same technique was used for the harmony box using apple red paint.

I like the bright colored legs on the upcycled side tables.

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