How I Built My Storage Coffee Table (& How You Can Too)

Our playroom cabinets were overflowing with board games. And even after putting all our games in mesh bags to get rid of the bulky boxes, we needed a better solution for storage.

That’s when I had the idea to replace our ottoman in our media room with a coffee table that had storage!

All the ones I was looking at online were way too expensive, so I decided to take inspiration from a few of them and create my own for less!

HOW I BUILT MY STORAGE COFFEE TABLE (& HOW YOU CAN TOO)

STEP 1: MEASURE & GATHER YOUR MATERIALS

The first thing I did was decide how large I wanted my coffee table to be. I decided on a 36″ diameter and about 18″ tall.

Then I grabbed the following materials…

And here are the tools I used to bring this coffee table to life!

STEP 2: BUILD THE BASE

The first thing I did was build a base out of 2 24″ round edge-glued panels. I added some scrap 2×4 pieces in between the two to thicken it up, then I pole-wrapped around the edges for a fluted look!

I just nailed and wood-glued everything together!

STEP 3: BUILD AND ATTACH YOUR COFFEE TABLE’S MAIN SECTION

Once my base was built, I screwed a 36″ round edge glued panel to the top of it. Then I cut down 1″ dowel rods to add all the way around for support.

Next, it was time to add another 36″ round edge glued panel on top of the dowels. Again, I wood-glued and nailed these together.

I added a screw in the center of the top round, attached a string to a pen and the screw, and drew a large circle on the round. This would need to be jigsawed out in order to open up the body of the coffee table for storage!

I used a drill bit to drill into the round, then stuck my jigsaw blade in so I could cut my circle. I added pole wrap all the way around, and after a good sanding, it was ready for paint!

I spray-painted the entire coffee table Shiplap by Magnolia.

STEP 4: ADD THE LID

I grabbed a third 36″ round for the top. This time, I used a marble epoxy kit to paint and epoxy the round to look like marble!

These kits are fun and easy to use (linked above), and they would take my table to the next level!

Once the paint was dry, I used some brackets and a leftover dowel scrap to add a guide to allow my lid to swivel back and forth so we wouldn’t have to remove it every time we needed to open it.