How to Make a Coffee Table With a TV Tray

Coffee tables in your design style can be both expensive and difficult to find. If you want a new, stylish coffee table but can't settle on one you love, try making your own. TV food trays may be a bit outdated, but you can update them easily into an original furniture piece. Does this Spark an idea?

Instructions

1

Open up both TV trays to a standing position. Mark how tall you want your coffee table to be on the longer arm of your carpenter's square. Hold this mark against the lower edge of one of your TV trays.

2

Draw straight lines across the TV tray's legs where the shorter, horizontal arm lies. Repeat on both sides of both trays.

3

Cut the legs of your trays along your pencil lines with an electric hand saw. Each set of cut pieces should have a horizontal support between them; cut away these supports and screw them into place between the newly cut legs on your TV trays.

4

Cut a piece of fabric for the top of each TV tray about 2 inches longer and wider than the tables themselves. For instance, if your trays measure 12 inches by 10 inches, cut two pieces of fabric 14 inches by 12 inches.

5

Paint the top of each tray with craft glazing glue. Smooth the fabric onto the trays, tucking the edges tightly under the tray tops. Coat the fabric with a second layer of glazing glue and let the trays dry for 24 hours.

6

Peel the adhesive backing from eight non-skid rubber dots. Place one in each corner of each TV tray. Open the trays and place them about a foot apart, parallel to each other. Top them with a glass rectangle. You can get such rectangles from your local hardware store.