Painted Furniture
Made at 173
Sometimes the perfect piece of furniture isn't hiding in a store, it's hiding in the scrap pile.
In the last year or so, I've gotten into this thing of making stuff from scrap wood left over from different projects around the house.
Why I Build with Scrap Wood
I've made tool boxes, a shoe stand, an umbrella stand and a potting bench.Somewhere along the way I stopped looking at leftover lumber as leftovers. Every short board became a possibility. A cutoff from one project might become the leg of another. A shelf from an old cabinet might become a tabletop. It almost became a challenge to see how many useful things could come from wood that had already lived one life.
There's something especially satisfying about building a piece of furniture that quite literally contains the history of other projects around the house.
For years I've wanted a phone stand for our entryway but I could never find one just the right size. See, I wanted one just so tall and just so wide so that it fit in just the right place. A couple weeks ago I decided it was time to build one out of scrap wood and make it to the exact size I wanted.
Custom Always Wins
That's one of the quiet advantages of making your own furniture. Stores build for "most" homes. Old houses rarely qualify as "most." There's always a space that's an inch too narrow, a corner that's just a little awkward, or a wall where standard furniture simply doesn't fit.
Building it myself meant I could ignore standard dimensions and make something that fit the house instead of forcing the house to fit the furniture.
Anyway, here it is:
Ha!! Just kiddin'! I could only WISH to make one that nice! But...this is the picture that inspired the phone stand I envisioned. The truth is, I simply don't have the skills to make one that nice, but like I said - it was my inspiration. So I started with a couple old 2x4s I had used on an outdoor project a million years ago.
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| (2x4s after being ripped) |
After initially starting with 2x2 legs, I realized how clunky the stand was looking with the legs that size, so I ripped them down to 1x1.
Learning As I Went
That's one thing woodworking has taught me over the years. Sometimes the project tells you what it wants to become. I had convinced myself thicker legs would make the stand look sturdier. Instead, they completely threw off the proportions. Cutting them down was one of those little decisions that made the whole piece feel lighter and more balanced.
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| (1x1 legs) |
I used a some more scrap wood and, using my newly purchased Kreg Jig, made pocket holes to start putting the stand together.
Then came a scrap wood top and two "shelves". I put this picture in mainly to show off my 1956 Atlas table saw, the one my uncle calls, "The table saw of death," due to its lack of ANY safety features. It's old but it's done every job I've needed it to!
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| (The Table Saw of Death) |
Just to fancy up the phone stand just a bit, I routed a simple profile into the top:
Once again, time to put it all together. After standing back and staring for a few hours (okay minutes, but you guys out there know what I mean), I realized it needed just a little something more. OFF TO HOME DEPOT!! I picked up $3.00 worth of "rope" style trim, and glued it onto the shelves.
The Finish Makes the Piece
Construction phase complete!
I've found that the finish is where a project really begins to develop its personality. Up until this point it's simply wood assembled into a useful shape. Paint, stain, and a little distressing give it a story. Suddenly it starts looking like something that's belonged in an old house for years instead of something that just came off the workbench.
So then it was a matter of finishing. Here's what I used:
1. Because the stand was made of pine and had several knots in it, I worried about bleed through. So I primed the while thing with two coats of Kilz primer. One coat would likely have been sufficient - but I obsess.
2. I was looking for that "shabby french cottage chic" look that seems so popular right now, so I painted the stand with Valspar's "Snowy Dusk" which gave the stand a creamy white.
After the paint dried, I took sandpaper to some of the edges and sanded just barely to the bare wood.
3. Then I went over section by section with Minwax "Jacobean" stain. I wanted to use antiquing glaze but test runs on other scraps of wood didn't get the dark look I wanted on the parts I had sanded bare. The stain worked great, I just had to be careful not to get too far ahead of myself. The stain darkened the bare wood and left a beautiful patina on the paint.
Also notice how I left some of the stain in the crevices of the "rope" applique. Tickled me to death! Not literally of course, that'd be kinda weird.
4. Once the stain dried thoroughly I had to decide on the finish coat. I thought about polyurethane, but that has a tendency to yellow, and I really didn't want to mess with the finish and colors the paint and stain had accomplished. So I applied 6 coats of paste wax. I learned pretty quickly that if the can says to wait 10 - 15 minutes for the wax to dry before buffing - wait the 10-15 minutes! Don't rush this step!
Made for One Spot
And it was done.
I wasn't trying to build heirloom furniture. I was trying to solve one small problem in one little corner of the house.
Funny thing is, those are often my favorite projects. They're personal. Every measurement was chosen because of 173, and nowhere else would this little stand fit quite as perfectly.
My only camera is on my phone, so the pictures really don't show the colors very well, but I love the way it turned out! Okay, so it doesn't much look like the inspiration picture, but it'll do and it fits EXACTLY where and how I wanted it to!
And that's the scrap wood phone stand made at 173.
I've built enough projects over the years to know that it's usually the simple ones that get used the most. I liked that this wasn't about showing off fancy woodworking, it was about building something that fit a real need. Changing the leg size, adding the trim, and taking your time with the finish are exactly the kinds of small decisions that turn a homemade project into something that looks like it belongs in the house.I also appreciated that you admitted where the inspiration came from. Every woodworker borrows ideas and then makes them their own. By the end, this wasn't a copy anymore, it was a piece built specifically for 173, and I think that's what makes it successful. - The Seasoned DIYer
Frequently Asked Questions
Why did you build the phone stand instead of buying one?
I couldn't find one that fit the exact size and proportions I wanted for our entryway, so building one from scrap wood made more sense.
What finish did you use?
Two coats of KILZ primer, Valspar Snowy Dusk paint, Minwax Jacobean stain for aging, and six coats of paste wax.
Why use scrap wood?
Besides saving money, I enjoy giving leftover lumber from previous projects a second life.
What joinery did you use?
Pocket-hole joinery made with a Kreg Jig.
Would you build it differently today?
Probably a little, but that's part of woodworking. Every project teaches the next one.
Keywords
scrap wood furniture, DIY phone stand, shabby chic furniture, Kreg Jig project, custom entryway furniture, painted pine furniture, reclaimed wood furniture, House 173, DIY side table, woodworking for old houses