Several months ago, Betty (or departmental secretary), asked me if I wanted two of her old oak doors. She knew I did some carpentry and was fond of repurposing old wood. I didn't have a use at the time, or the space to store them. Shortly thereafter, Hortencia and Carmela were talking in the office and I found out that Hortencia wanted to do some work on her deck and maybe add some furniture. They had found a picture on Pinterest of an outdoor coffee table with built in coolers and wondered if I could use the doors to build one....and we were off. I am not sure what Hortencia's husband Tony thought when we approached him with the idea though.
It was a lengthy project and I enjoyed the ever evolving design process. The finished product is far beyond my initial plans. Tony had some good design ideas, and we just kept revising as we went.
Here are the original two doors. Betty and her family had stripped the first one, and we used it for the top of the table. The iron grate you see would eventually serve as a hot plate. Four of the middle panels would be cut out to house the hidden ice coolers. The second door would be cannibalized to make the base.
This is the second door as we cut it into strategic pieces for the base units. I love working with old wood and furniture - the craftsmanship is tremendous. These two doors were solid and built to last.
Of course being two hapless guys, we needed constant supervision! Can you tell it's about 100 degrees with 85% humidity? That is not a fashion statement on Tony's head.
I should back up a bit and mention that before we started on the table, we decided to give the deck itself a face lift. It need a good deal of stain fast and some replacement planks. I think we caught it just in time. The most fun part though, as a hired gun, was watching the spousal negotiations over stain color. Tony actually won this one, to my everlasting awe and admiration....
The day finally arrived. Tony and Jasmine led Hortencia out onto the deck to check out her new coffee table. The best part of the whole day was the cupcakes Jasmine made me :)
I think she likes it! The two coolers hold quite a bit of ice and beverages. The little grate on the left will be the hot plate. If you look carefully, you will see we put the family's first initials on the panels around the base. I wanted the base to have that antique toy block look, but decided to lighten it up by adding the circular cuts. Tony took it a step further with the router and added a nice chamfer around the inside edges. The grates covering the ice coolers are just common heat duct covers; I liked the pattern. So, after a hundred trips to Home Depot, the table is done. Next up, we will build planters and benches that will wrap around most of the deck....stay tuned.
It was a lengthy project and I enjoyed the ever evolving design process. The finished product is far beyond my initial plans. Tony had some good design ideas, and we just kept revising as we went.
Here are the original two doors. Betty and her family had stripped the first one, and we used it for the top of the table. The iron grate you see would eventually serve as a hot plate. Four of the middle panels would be cut out to house the hidden ice coolers. The second door would be cannibalized to make the base.
This is the second door as we cut it into strategic pieces for the base units. I love working with old wood and furniture - the craftsmanship is tremendous. These two doors were solid and built to last.
Of course being two hapless guys, we needed constant supervision! Can you tell it's about 100 degrees with 85% humidity? That is not a fashion statement on Tony's head.
I should back up a bit and mention that before we started on the table, we decided to give the deck itself a face lift. It need a good deal of stain fast and some replacement planks. I think we caught it just in time. The most fun part though, as a hired gun, was watching the spousal negotiations over stain color. Tony actually won this one, to my everlasting awe and admiration....
I will let you be the judge - What do you think?
The day finally arrived. Tony and Jasmine led Hortencia out onto the deck to check out her new coffee table. The best part of the whole day was the cupcakes Jasmine made me :)
I think she likes it! The two coolers hold quite a bit of ice and beverages. The little grate on the left will be the hot plate. If you look carefully, you will see we put the family's first initials on the panels around the base. I wanted the base to have that antique toy block look, but decided to lighten it up by adding the circular cuts. Tony took it a step further with the router and added a nice chamfer around the inside edges. The grates covering the ice coolers are just common heat duct covers; I liked the pattern. So, after a hundred trips to Home Depot, the table is done. Next up, we will build planters and benches that will wrap around most of the deck....stay tuned.
Great project.Awesome idea and very cool looking cooler.
ReplyDeleteKeep it up
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