student for the day – building a diy midcentury console table – phase 1

A few weeks ago I shared I was playing student in the sculpture studio at Ray’s university. Playing with major power tools is scary, but fun at the same time. Ever since we upgraded the family room sofas, I knew we needed to get a console table for the back of the sofa. We had a little c-table I made forever ago to hold a lamp and my glass of wine, but once we had the L-shaped sofa moved into the space, the table is useless for the person who sits in the coveted corner of the L. Tell me we are not the only ones who fight for “the spot” on the sofa 😉 In comes the decision to build a DIY midcentury console table. This is not the reveal yet, but some steps on how we are getting there.

We bought some sapele at our local lumber yard. Sapele is a hardwood found in Central and South America and conveniently found in South Florida apparently. We picked out the wood because it had a beautiful color and grain to it. We bought a 13″ piece of wood, measured out the table length and sides, and then cut them down to size.  

Ray and I went back and forth on how the table was going to be assembled. I was adamant about using a 45 degree angle edge to attach the pieces. He fought me tooth and nail, but finally agreed that I was right 😉 How sexy does that edge look?

We had to learn some new tools to make sure we attached these pieces together correctly and securely. We used a biscuit/plate joiner for the first time.

It is a pretty cool tool. It makes the perfect little groove to insert a biscuit into for a strong joint.

To make sure we had a seamless edge, we made three grooves in each piece – both ends and top and bottom.

And that is all for now. We actually started to assemble the table last weekend, but you need to wait until next week once we finish sanding, staining/sealing, and assembling before you can see it! Lemur was judging us for taking so long. Whatever cat, we are busy!

I’m so excited to finish this midcentury console table. It will be the perfect place for a lamp, some books, and my drink while we are lounging on the sofa.

Hope you have a productive weekend! Anything major planned? I have Ray home all weekend instead of in the studio so I’m hoping we tackle some of the items in our family room renovation.