Card Catalog Coffee Table REstore

This vintage card catalog turned- coffee table and ottoman storage was designed by a friend of mine, Luke Williams and
constructed by Dan Williams. They really outdid themselves on creating this one-of-a-kind piece.

I love the clean lines and the natural materials used to create this charming vintage card catalog coffee table. I'm inspired by the concept of repurposing one key centerpiece and then building around that to create a piece of furniture.

Let’s get started on what you will
need to make this coffee table.

Materials:

1 sheet of ¾” Plywood

Wood pieces of same thickness to cover plywood

1 card catalog

Wood glue

Finishing nails {this was done with a finishing gun}

1 large burlap sack

2 pieces of foam cushion

Tools:

Miter Saw

Table Saw or Circular Saw

Nail gun or hammer and nails

Here are the instructions:

1. Find a vintage card catalog to use {they can sometimes be difficult to find} if you can't find one, really anything can be used for the centerpiece: baskets, metal bins, or one big wooden drawer will work. Luke decided to repurpose his grandfather’s meaningful card catalog, which he used for storing all sorts of things in his workshop.

2. Cut a piece of plywood to the dimensions that you would like for your table to be.

3. Nail the plywood to the BOTTOM of the card catalog. Make sure you don’t use nails that are too long and also make sure not to put too many nails into the original piece because you don’t want to compromise it’s originality too much.

4. After carefully flipping it back over, measure the sizes for each “wall” piece for the boxed in sides of the table. Cut these pieces from plywood. Make sure to leave enough space on the top for the cushion. You will need 6 of these pieces, 3 for each side of the table.

5. After cutting out these pieces use wood glue and then nail them into the bottom plywood base to make the boxed in sides. You will need to put one piece of wood up

against the side of the card catalog to keep the

front and back pieces from moving.

{you can see that in the next picture inside the box}

6. Start to glue on any size pieces of wood you would like to use. These are planed down pieces of old salvaged wood from different places, old barns, old fences, etc. After gluing the pieces on you will want to use your nail-gun to nail each piece on as well. You will have to use a saw to cut each piece to fit correctly. Do this all the way around until the plywood is covered.

7. Do step 6 also on the top of the card catalog for the table top. {Below you see the product of step 6 & 7}

8. Cut the tops for the sides with the saw. Cut so they are a little loose because they will fit snug after you add the fabric to the cushions. Cut a large part for the top and the smaller part as seen above to nail onto the top piece of the plywood so the cushion top will stay in place. Nail these 2 pieces together to make the top. These will allow for closed storage under the upholstered top.

9. Cover the top with a cushion. {you can purchase two 1 inch thick cushions at Wal-Mart for around $6} Then cover them with the burlap sacks or whatever fabric you choose.

10. Stain the wood with a stain or glaze. {a glaze was used here} Cover it after it's dried with a few coats of satin polyurethane for a good coating.

11. Screw on small legs, casters, or leave it without any extra height. Here he used regular 4 inch legs purchased at Lowe’s for about $3 a piece and he painted them white.