How to Make a Cool Coffee Table

A simple idea for a cool coffee table is to recycle broken dishes, tiles, vintage jewelry and other objects you can find at yard sales and flea markets into a mosaic piece for your living room. You can easily construct a coffee table with a few building supplies, then cover the top with bits and pieces to create an eclectic and functioning work of art. Your friends will be amazed when you tell them you made it yourself. Does this Spark an idea?

Instructions

1

Purchase the building materials for this project from your local home improvement store. Persons at the home improvement store will cut the tabletop to size for you at no additional charge. Gather old plates, glasses, tiles and other items from yard sales, thrift stores and flea markets.

2

Lay the wood panel on a flat surface, and apply a coat of combination stain and polyurethane on it. Apply the same product to the decorative table legs. Let the stain dry and apply one more coat. Let it dry.

3

Drill pilot holes for the table legs on the corners of the stained surface. Attach the table legs to the wood panel with screws. Stand upright.

4

Place the ceramic and glass items in a plastic bag and seal the bag. Cover the bag with a towel and hit the bag with a hammer until the breakables are in pieces. Be careful not to crush the material; you need pieces, not dust. The towel helps the plastic stay intact; the plastic keeps the pieces all together.

5

Spread a thin layer of thinset on the top of your table. Work in small sections so you can apply your mosaic tiles before the mortar sets. Press pieces of the broken material into the thinset in any configuration that pleases you. Completely cover the tabletop and an the edges of the table. Let the thinset dry according to the manufacturer's directions.

6

Apply the grout to the mosaic surface with the grout float, making sure to spread the grout in all of the crevices. Clean the grout from the surface of the mosaic pieces with a wet sponge before it dries.

7

Apply grout sealer to protect the grout from moisture and stains. Enjoy your cool coffee table.