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A coffee table is the centerpiece in a living room, literally. Which is why it is such an important focal piece.
We have been looking for a new coffee table for quite a while but didn’t want to spend a fortune on one since we change up the look of our living room fairly often. I had come across a DIY Rustic Industrial Pipe Coffee Table plan on The Locker blog and thought I would take a swing at making something like this for my man cave, but it turned out so well that Alicia has kept it in our main living room.
It involves minimal effort and maximum results! Sounds like a perfect plan to me, and in the end it cost less than $100! Bonus!
We also have a plan for a simple matching side table to pair with this coffee table, that I built a short time later for Alicia.
I made some slight modifications to the size and bottom feet, but all I can say is that this was one of the easiest projects I’ve ever tackled, and it turned out spectacular. Everyone who comes over asks us where we got the table and some have even built their own because they liked it so much.
This project takes literally 20 minutes to assemble, with some additional time dedicated to staining and sealing the wood top.
If you’d rather purchase a similar, ready made coffee table, we’ve rounded up some similar ones.
I found all of the parts required at The Home Depot. There were two types of piping available, galvanized and black. I used the black since galvanized is hazardous to pets and people if you lick it…you never know with pets and young kids.
The black piping was greasy so I had to wash it down. However, it created some surface rust as it dried but I managed to remove it easily with a fine wire brush. There may be a better way to clean it.
DIY Rustic Industrial Pipe Coffee Table
SHOPPING LIST:
- 2 – 2″ x 8″ x 8′ wood planks cut to 4-foot lengths (I used spruce framing boards but you can use pine, cedar, etc.)
- 4 – 3/4″ diameter flanges
- 4 – 3/4″ diameter end caps
- 8 – 3/4″ diameter 6″ length pipe – These are the vertical leg pipes
- 4 – 3/4″ diameter T-shaped connectors
- 4 – 3/4″ diameter 2″ threaded pipe connectors
- 4 – 3/4″ to 1/2″ pipe reducers
- 4 – 1/2″ diameter 6″ length pipe – These are the horizontal pipes between the legs
- 2 – 1/2″ T connectors
- 1 – 1/2″ diameter custom cut 36″ long pipe
- 6 – 7/8″ x 8″ steel brackets
- 1 1/2″ screws
- Wood Stain in your choice of color
- Satin Polyurethane spray
- Using Figure A above, attach the metal parts of the end frames together. You will need to do this diagram x2 since there are two ends.
- Attach the 36″ 1/2″ pipe from one end frame to the other via the 1/2″ T connector in the middle of each end frame. Level everything out by adjusting the tightness of each pipe connection.
- Lay the wood planks on a flat surface and attach together using the 8″ steel brackets or pocket hole screws between each board using a Kreg Jig. Be sure to leave room at each corner where the flanges on the legs will attach.
- Place frame upside down on wood planks and attach to the metal flanges.
- Once you have the frame attached to the wood top, flip the table over. Feel free to distress the top for a more rustic look using a hammer, crowbar, golf club…whatever you have in your garage that will make a mark!
- Sand top and all edges.
- Stain in any color you choose and seal with polyurethane for protection from liquids.
Some of the tools we used and love…
Simple as that, you have a beautiful new rustic coffee table in no time at all! Take a look at how we styled our coffee table throughout the seasons…and don’t forget, if you need matching side table plans, we have them here!
Anonymous says
Thanks so much for sharing this tutorial! I'm going to go off of your plans to make my own square coffee table. Thinking og using a cross fitting in th middle of the four legs for an x instead of I cross bar.
Alicia says
That's a great idea! Please let us know how it turns out!
Sara says
I know this was a long time ago, but do you have the plans/measurements for your square cross bar design?
Nick says
Hi Sara,
The only other plan we have is for a matching end table to this coffee table. Click here to go to that post!
Hope this helps!
Stacey / Effortlessly Eclectic says
Excellent Post! I may have to give this a try!
Alicia says
Please share your pics with us if you do!
Anonymous says
Beautiful. I'm dying to do this. However, it's a little to wide for my space. I'm bad at maths. How do I figure out the pipe measurements if I only want 3 planks?
Nick says
Glad you like this! I would maybe try and decrease the 1/2" x 6" pipes to 2" pipes. The good thing about this is that it all just fits together and comes apart just as easy, so it's open to trial and error! Good luck and please let us know how it turns out!
Anonymous says
@Nick, I found your tutorial (after hours of research) by far the most helpful. I'm currently in the process of building my own, all thanks to you guys! I'm dying to know: how did you achieve that color for the wood (brand, color, etc.)? I've never stained wood before, and yours looks fantastic.
Anyways, for the 3/4" x 6" pipes, I decided to go with 8". The total height (wood included) is going to end up being 20 1/2" tall. If you're 6 ft. tall or over, I recommend going with this, especially during the evening when you want to put your feet up ;). Though I kept the same length of the table as your tutorial's (4 ft.), I adjusted the width of the table by using 5 planks instead, giving it a total width of 28". So far so good.
I too hope to avoid the rust from cleaning the grease off the black pipes. I used brillo pads, rinsed, and dried as quickly as possible, so we'll see if and or when rust will develop. I'm not worried, however, as there are plenty of rust preventatives out there.
Currently, I'm contemplating how to customize the table and make it more "industrial." Carriage bolts would be a sexy addition, but I'm still working out how exactly to add them. Do you have any suggestions? I'm thinking of returning the brackets you mentioned and getting one or a couple very long ones to put on the topside of the table rather than the bottom, and getting some carriage bolts (or something else with a large, industrial-esque head) to fit in the holes. Or, perhaps I could run carriage bolts vertically straight along the middle topside by using a ~27" piece of wood to act as one large underside bracket. I've never used bolts before, so any ideas would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks again for your tutorial!
Nick says
Glad to hear you found our tutorial helpful! I used Minwax Wood Finish Oil based stain in Red Mahogany. I just used a sponge applicator brush and then wiped off the excess. I used a matte polyurethane spray to seal the top once the stain was completely dry.
I'm glad you adjusted it to your height! Our couches are on the lower end so it works out perfect for us.
The rust will show up immediately and only on the ends, so if its been more than a day and the rust hasn't showed up you should be fine! As long as it's not put in water from now on it will not rust.
I haven't worked with carriage bolts on furniture, but you could either use a wood piece as you mentioned or look at Home Depot in the bolt/screw/bracket aisle for a longer bracket and use the bolts through the top and through the bracket similar to this pic link below. You could also have a look at the deck and fencing hardware to see if there is something that might work. The brackets should be fairly sturdy as I sat on my table for a second and one of the brackets bent ever so slightly.
http://tabletopics.biz/Table_Images/9/Full/mm23a.png
Please let us know how the final project turns out and send us a pic!
Thanks again!
Naomi says
On our very first date my fiancee took me to a restaurant and we sat at table #49. When he recreated that night for our first anniversary, we sat at that very same table. Later that year the restaurant underwent renovations and was getting rid of our table so my fiancee asked if he could buy it before it went to auction. After telling everyone his story, they happily gave him the table for free. He kept the surprise a secret by storing it for months until the night that we moved into our first apartment together, and he once again surprised me with table #49. Since then, it has been a restaurant table, a bar top, and even a dog food holder (we had to do something with the base). Unfortunately, when we moved into our current place, the bar top did not work with the layout and I had no idea what to do! But thanks to your instructions I was able to give this memory a makeover that turned out BEAUTIFULLY! I don't know what I would have done without your awesome instructions!
I modified the middle post to make it smaller since the table is not as long, and the only challenge I incurred was making all of the legs the same height because they were all different tightnesses.
But once again, thank you! I'm not sure how to post pics here but I'll be sending you some of them to see how wonderful your project is!
Alicia says
Hi Naomi,
Thank you so much for sharing this beautiful story with us. I love that you were able to take something with such wonderful memories for you and turn it into something you get to utilize every day. I absolutely adore the idea of creating a meaningful home, and for me that means decorating with things close to your heart.
Thank you again!
Anonymous says
Love this tutorial… I'm hoping I can recreate this coffee table, I have friends who have ottomans with wood trays on top in place of a coffee table but are looking for end table ideas as am I too. I hope someday you need some end tables for your man cave and will re-create this as one. Thanks for sharing.
Alicia says
I'm so happy to hear you enjoyed this tutorial. It's been one of our most popular posts to date. And I have some good news for you. Nick has built a similar end table for our living room. We are currently working on a dining room/living room makeover, and we will be sharing the tutorial once we share the room reveal within the next few months. So make sure you stay tuned! 🙂
Adam says
Can you provide at least a ballpark figure of how much all the pipe materials cost? Rather than spend an hour at Home Depot before knowing the project cost?
Thanks!
Nick says
If I remember correctly, it came out just under $100 including the wood for the top.
Matthew says
Tip: I’ve found that denatured alcohol strips the grease right off without ever bringing water in to the mix. Keeps the rust away!
Alicia says
That is a great tip, thank you for sharing with us Matthew!
Madison says
I was going to try the denatured alcohol as well. It’s highly flammable, so I decided against it. I live in an apartment and didn’t want to store it in the apartment!
Nick says
Good call on that one! Safety first!
Jenn says
I made this and it was gorgeous! Thank you.
Alicia says
That is wonderful to hear Jenn! We are so glad you have one of your own now! 🙂
Julie says
What a lovely coffee table! This is exactly what I am looking for! Thank you so much for posting. May I ask what the exact dimensions are for this table?
Nick says
Hi Julie! The finished dimensions of our coffee table is 28 1/4″ x 44″. Let us know how it turns out and send us some photos of the finished product! Good luck!
Tyler says
Hi Nick- I am making this table, just a little longer. I was curious, how far from the ends do you suggest keeping the legs from the table? From the pictures it looks like 2-3 inches. Just wanting to make sure that I’m not mounting the legs too far/close from the edge of the table. Thanks!
Nick says
Hey Tyler,
Yes, the leg is about 3″ away from the ends of the tabletop. The flange edge (the piece that attaches to the wood top) is about 1″ from the edge of the table. If you have any further questions let me know, and we’d love it if you’d send us a picture of your finished table!
Nick
Madison says
Hi Guys,, I wish I read this post before I put in my mending strips (steel brackets)! I was so excited to get started on this project that I put the mending strips in without measuring the distance from the edge of the table. When I got the base together, I realized I’d have to move the mending strips–they were underneath the table legs. (Note to self-read instructions thoroughly before beginning a project!).
Nick says
Hey Madison,
I made a note of that on the post in the previous step to make sure people take that into consideration when attaching the mending strips.
Send us a pic of your finished table!!
Stacey says
I bought my materials today however I am having a difficult time getting the same finish for the 36″ pipe. When I ask for black, I get a pipe coated in a thick black paint coating with white lettering. I was going to try to make it work but when I went to clean the pipe, huge sections of the black paint came off but I was unable to remove all of it! Any suggestions?? Does that sound like the same pipe you used??
Nick says
Hi Stacey,
Sorry for the delayed response. Some hardware stores will have different types of piping available. I would check with some other stores in your area, or even talk to a local plumbing supply company to see if they can get you what you need. If all else fails, you can spray paint the 36″ piece to make it look similar to the others.
Hope this helps! And please send us a photo of your finished table!
Arru says
hello nick, can i ask you, how thick the pipe you use?
i find 3/4 with 1.5mm thickness
well the case i want make work table, so the height will be around 80cm,
and the wood i have seems heavy
should i use the more thickness, or bigger size pipe like 1 or 1 1/2inch size
Nick says
Hello Arru,
I’m not sure what the thickness is of the piping I used. If you are making an 80cm high table I would suggest using a thicker pipe. We used 3/4″ for a coffee table, but I would suggest 1 1/2″ for your table. It will make it much more stable! Please send us pictures of your finished table. We would love to see it when it is done!
alex says
hi i would like to know the height of the table i really wanna try this!!
Alicia says
Hi Alex, the height of our table is 16 inches. Good luck with the project, we would love to hear how it turns out! 🙂
Kris says
What color stain did you use? I really like the color in your photos. I am new to this and have a hard time picking colors off the little brochure swatches. Thx.
Nick says
Hi Kris,
We used red mahogany by Minwax! It’s a nice color. Another popular one is provincial, or dark walnut.
Nick
david gibson says
i like this design – the configuration of the pipe base is nothing new, and using old planks is nothing new, but you put it all together very well here for the new DIY person – well done!
i am taking it a step further using some large natural edge mesquite i actually harvested and milled in 1980 – re purposing some old tables to fit this base,.my question is where did you get the pipes? “black pipe” at Home Depot/etc is painted and stamped with product code – looks crappy and not at all “industrial”, i guess maybe i can strip this off somehow? i have had a lot of GREAT success using Jax Chemical products for aging bolts and nuts, but have not tried Galv pipe.
i want it to look old black, and do NOT want the paint method Loews suggests. thoughts???
Nick says
Hey David,
That’s going to look awesome with the live edge! I had cleaned the pipes before assembling, just to get some of the residue off. That left them looking more of a dark grey than completely black. I don’t recall any product codes stamped on the pieces (there was a product sticker though). I would check any local plumbing supply stores as well to see if they carry the “black” pipes. If you were to go the painting route, I would choose either a very dark grey or flat black color. I have painted the plain galvanized piping for other projects in the past and they turned out very well, very industrial looking. If you have any other questions, let me know! I will try to help if I can! Send us a pic when your table is complete, we’d love to see the final product!
Shawn says
HI I was wondering what the total dimensions are of the table? I was thinking of using 4 2×6 planks. Do you think it will be to slim?
Nick says
Hey Shawn,
The actual width of the 2×8 boards I used are 7.25″. So my total overall finished width of the top is 29″. If you use 2×6 boards, you will be at 22″, which I think will be too small. My flanges (the top part of the base that attaches to the top) comes pretty close to the edge, so I’m sure it would fall just short on yours. You might be able to get away with using 5 2×6’s though.
Hope this helps!
Nick
Alyssa says
What do you think the average cost is for justa the base?
Nick says
Hi Alyssa,
If I remember correctly, it was around $70 for the base, but it was a few years ago so my memory might be a bit foggy!
Sherry Cohen says
This is exactly what I want for our family room! Thank you for sharing it.
Alicia says
So glad it’s a project you want to try out! We’d love to see it once you’ve finished! 🙂
Cassie Stevenson says
Started building this awesome table last night and I have constructed my base so far. I feel like some of my connections are a little loose but have a difficult time tightening them without loosening other things. Any suggestions? Next comes the wooden top. I am considering splitting the 36″ pipe with a t-connector, 6″ pipe, and an additional flange to add some support to the center of the table. Do you think this is necessary? How sturdy is the coffee table top without this additional center support? Very excited for this finished project. Thank you very much for posting these instructions. It was very easy to find all of the parts I needed at the store.
Alicia says
Hi Cassie,
I used two wrenches to tighten them up well. It’s not necessary to split the 36″ pipe as it is more than sturdy enough to support it. We had the table for years and we even sat on it and it never wavered on us…not once! We’d love to see pics when you’re finished building it!
Nick
Wayne R Homsher says
Thanks for the plans. I am almost finished with my table and it looks great! I had great success cleaning the black pipe with Zep industrial hand cleaner with pumice. De-greases and polishes at the same time. Also, Home depot now carries 36″ black pipe. No need to custom cut pipe. I made the mistake of having them cut and thread the pipe..their threading die was so worn I couldn’t use the pipe and on the third trip back the salesperson said “oh, we have this pipe in 36″ lengths”!!! Thanks again.
Nick says
That’s awesome Wayne! I’m glad it worked out for you! If you have pics of the finished table, send them our way or post it to instagram and tag @aburstofbeautiful and @thediyhubs. We’d love to see it!
Nick
Rhonda says
Do you have any idea how much weight this beauty of a coffee table supports? I have some hefty men and no matter how many times I tell them not to sit on the table…they will sit on the table. Thank you for your time.
Nick says
Hi Rhonda,
If you use pocket holes to attach the boards for the table-top, it will support a good amount of weight. I can tell you that it should at least support 175lbs, but I can’t guarantee it! 🙂
kulina says
Thank you so much for sharing informative blog. Hope you continue to share more of your ideas. I will definitely love to read. Keep up the good work!