Ideas for a Coffee Table Base

A coffee table can be a conversation piece when you make it yourself using an unusual base. Use recycled objects to create a functional art piece, or build your design from the ground up using materials you can find in building supply shops, salvage from construction demolition and collect from nature. Start with a cool idea for the base then find a top to match, or vice versa; just be certain to attach the elements securely to ensure that your table is durable. Does this Spark an idea?

Ottomans

Coffee tables with ottoman bases can double as footrests and extra party seating. Find stylish ottomans in shapes ranging from large low squares to cylindrical poufs upholstered in leather, wool or velvet. Top them with decorative trays to enlist them into table service. Make your own ottoman out of recycled foam from a couch you want to discard. Attach the foam to a plywood base, upholster the cushion and add feet from an old dresser. Build a tray from worn floorboards, attaching salvaged decorative molding for the rim.

Found Objects

Assemble a mod coffee table base from objects you find on the curb, at thrift stores and in your attic. Think creatively about beautiful discarded objects to discover their potential as coffee table bases; let their materials dictate the best method of attaching them to their tops. Assemble wooden hangers in a pleasing design and attach them together with screws to make table legs. Use screws to attach the legs to the table top. A lobster cage is a cool coffee table that needs no top. Secure a small piece of thick glass to a stable hunk of old metal printing machinery by using epoxy to attach magnets to the glass.

Industrial Piping

Explore the pipe section of your local building supply outlet or collect examples from building demolitions. Attach them together to create a sturdy industrial-style frame to your specifications. Make a simple four-legged table base, a sculptural object or a colorful piece by painting pipe sections. Attach a table top made of stained hardwood or a weathered barn door using screws or bolts.

Castors

A highly functional coffee table base is portable. Make a frame from old plywood in the shape of a box. Attach castors to the bottom so you can easily wheel it in and out of sight. This makes a particularly fun base for a television table. Turn a short wooden stool into a movable coffee table in the same way, screwing the table top to the base through the stool seat.