How to Make A Tall Outdoor Side Table with Wood Scraps

Have you wanted to add some style to your front door, but lack much space? Check out how I made an outdoor side table for both sides of my front door and built them out of wood scraps!  DIY projects do not have to be complicated to be stylish!

Hey there friends.  Its been a bit since I have posted here, and I have missed it so much!  June has proved to be the busiest month yet this year.  But, it is so nice to be back and hopefully I will get into my groove once again soon.  

Today I finally decided to share how I made a super easy tall outdoor side table out of scrap wood from my trash pile.  I have had a lot of people ask me how I built them, and believe it or not, they were so very easy to make!  

Making sure they were perfect or that they were elaborate was not a concern for me, since I was going for a more laid back look.  I kept it simple and easy.

If you want to make your own outdoor side tables, here is my supply list:

Keep in mind, this can be done either with scrap wood or with store bought pieces that may make it easier to build.  I will list both ways.

• 2 by 2 inch pieces of wood. ( I used 2 by 4 studs and cut them down on my table saw since that is all I had)
• 1 by 10 pieces of wood in lengths of at least 6 foot.  You will use this for the tops, cut at 20inch lengths.
• Cordless drill and impact driver
• 1 1/2  and 2 1/2 inch screws
• 1 by 4 inch piece of common wood board, appx 8 ft in length – You will cut 2- 18 inches long and 2 – 17 inches long pieces for the sides.
• Orbital Sander
• DIY weathered wood stain

How to build an outdoor side table:

Now, there are things I did that you will not have to do if you buy the right size pieces of wood.  I only had some old 2 by 4’s and I wasn’t able to buy anything at the time so i had to use what I could find.  I cut my 2 by 4’s down to 2 by 2 pieces.  These will serve as the legs to the outdoor side table from reclaimed wood.

You want to start by building the side piece of the table.  This pieces is the most important, since it will hold the tabletop and the legs.

You can connect these in many different ways.  You can even miter them.  I just sandwiched the ends, putting the 17 inch pieces on the inside, and screwed them together. 

I made sure to drill holes first so that none of the wood would split.  Then secure one side at a time.  In order to make sure that it is square, you can use a metal square and put it in the inside corners and adjust it and then secure the screws.

Once the side piece was connected, we began adding the legs.  We made our legs 34 inches long since I wanted a tall and skinny table. 

I put a leg in the corner of the side piece, and lined it up at the top.  Then I drilled 2 holes through the side table into the table leg.  

Then I secured the leg with a 2 1/2 inch  screw.

Repeat this to secure all legs to the table.

Once you have this done you can either screw in the top or add the cross pieces to the legs for stability.

I added the cross pieces first.  You want to measure the at the top of the legs where they meet the inside of the table. 

This is the width that you want the legs to be at the bottom as well, and thus will cut the cross pieces.

We attached one cross piece and then lined up each one as we secured them, measuring from the bottom so that they were all in line.

Make sure to measure each side at the top where the legs meet the table.  That way the legs will be consistently straight.

Once you have the legs and cross pieces secured, its time to add the table top.  I wanted my table top to have an overhang of 1 inch.  Since my table is 18 inches wide on each side I cut the table top pieces 2o inches long and since the wood was 10 inches wide, it evened out into a 20 inch by 20 inch tabletop with 2 of them.

I lined the table top pieces in the top and made sure to measure for the 1 inch overhang.

I then pre-drilled holes in the corner of the table top pieces and into the table legs below.  Then I secured the tops with screws. Do one screw at a time and make sure that it is still straight and then add the next screw.  This will help prevent crooked pieces.

Once the tops are on, its time to give everything a good sanding.  I used my orbital sander to do this quickly and easily.  

How to finish off the outdoor side table:

Now that it is sanded down, I used my favorite weathered wood stain that I make myself!  This comes in really handy because it works well on combining different wood species and giving them a more uniform look.  This was created because of the combination of water based stain and grey wash.  Check out how I made it from the link above↑↑↑

Styling my outdoor side table set:

I made two of these outdoor side tables and flanked either sides of my front door.  We were able to find some adorable lavender topiaries to set atop of the outdoor tables.  These ones we found at Costco, and they have been quite difficult to keep alive!  I found these adorable faux trees ones on Amazon and think they would be much easier!

I am so in love with my simple outdoor side table set. Their simplicity is all I need and the way they look with the rest of my front porch decor is seamless. 

Now, you could customize yours any way you want. There are so many paints and stains out there!  You could also add tiles to the tabletop if you wanted it to be more customized.

Since I used wood scraps and already had the tools, it cost me exactly nothing to build!  I love it when that happens!  

Do you think an outdoor side table or two would look great on your porch?  Try it out!

And make sure you PIN IT for later!