{"id":901,"date":"2025-01-04T15:48:34","date_gmt":"2025-01-04T07:48:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/veryauto.org\/index.php\/2025\/11\/22\/diy-rustic-outdoor-console-table-great-outdoors-challenge\/"},"modified":"2025-11-22T14:42:13","modified_gmt":"2025-11-22T06:42:13","slug":"diy-rustic-outdoor-console-table-great-outdoors-challenge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/veryauto.org\/?p=901","title":{"rendered":"DIY Rustic Outdoor Console Table \u2013 Great Outdoors Challenge!"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"Great<\/p>\n

Hey there everyone! \u00a0Happy Friday! \u00a0I hope you\u2019ve had a wonderful week. \u00a0It\u2019s been a busy one here, but today all of that hard work pays off and I get to reveal my Great Outdoors Challenge project! \u00a0If you remember, I announced the challenge earlier this month. \u00a0I invited some of my insanely talented blogging friends to join in with me on the blog hop, but all of our incredible readers were also invited to join in! \u00a0The rules were simple. \u00a0Create an outdoor project using wood, metal, concrete, or whatever you like. \u00a0It just needs to have a building element to it. \u00a0Pretty simple, right? \u00a0Did you participate in the challenge? \u00a0If so, be sure to link up your project at the end of this post! \u00a0No website necessary! \u00a0Just link up your picture and make sure when you share your project on social media, you use the hashtag #greatoutdoorschallenge so we can see everyone\u2019s creativity!<\/p>\n

\"DIY<\/p>\n

My project for this challenge was inspired by the Benchwright Outdoor Console Table from Pottery Barn. \u00a0I loved the look of it, and I hate the bakers rack shelves that we currently have on our back patio. \u00a0They served a purpose at our old house, but in this house they somehow became a drop zone for a bunch of random stuff. \u00a0I knew this would be a great piece of furniture to add to that spot. \u00a0Plus, I built it for only $60 in lumber! \u00a0Even I was a little shocked! \u00a0If you want to build one of these for yourself, I\u2019ve drawn up the free printable plans for you to download.<\/p>\n

\"edited-3819\"<\/p>\n

I started by assembling the legs. \u00a0I drilled 3\/4\u2033 pocket holes with my Kreg Jig into the 1\u00d74 top supports and attached them to the legs with wood glue and 1 1\/4\u2033 pocket screws. \u00a0<\/p>\n

\"edited-3825\"<\/p>\n

Once the legs for each end were assembled, I assembled the support frame for the bottom shelf. \u00a0I drilled 3\/4\u2033 pocket holes into the ends of the front and back 1\u00d72 supports as well as the cross supports. \u00a0I attached them all with 1 1\/4\u2033 pocket screws and wood glue. \u00a0For the 1x2s on each end, I attached them to the 4\u00d74 legs with 1 1\/4\u2033 wood screws and glue.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\"edited-3837\"<\/p>\n

I cut and attached the bottom shelf pieces using wood glue and 1 1\/4\u2033 wood screws.<\/p>\n

\"edited-3828\"<\/p>\n

To determine the angles and lengths of the X braces, I held the 4x4s up to the legs and marked the angles with a pencil. \u00a0For this it ended up being a 60 degree angle for each end of the long pieces and 60 degrees for the short pieces with a 30 degree angle meeting in the middle.<\/p>\n

\"edited-3838\"<\/p>\n

To attach the ends of the X brace pieces, I drilled 1\/8\u2033 pilot holes and drove 3\u2033 wood screws into the 4\u00d74 legs. \u00a0It\u2019s a tight spot to drill the holes, so my offset drill adapter worked like a charm to drill the holes and drive in the screws. \u00a0I used my impact driver with the offset attachment to drive in the 3\u2033 screws.<\/p>\n

\"edited-3858\"<\/p>\n

I used my Kreg R3 to drill 1 1\/2\u2033 pocket holes into the 30 degree angled ends to attach them to the center of the X brace with 2 1\/2\u2033 pocket screws.<\/p>\n

\"edited-3860\"<\/p>\n

To assemble the table top, I drilled 1 1\/2\u2033 pocket holes into the inside edges and the ends of each of the 2\u00d76 and 2\u00d78 planks. \u00a0I attached them all together with 2 1\/2\u2033 pocket screws. \u00a0Once they were attached, I cut the breadboard ends to size and then clamped and attached them to each end of the table top.<\/p>\n

\"edited-3864\"<\/p>\n

I sanded it all down, then flipped the top and drilled 1\/8\u2033 pilot holes into the breadboard ends to attach them to the 4\u00d74 legs with 3\u2033 wood screws. \u00a0For added strength, I also drove 1 1\/4\u2033 wood screws up from the bottom of the 1\u00d74 top braces into the breadboard ends.<\/p>\n

\"edited-3866\"<\/p>\n

The Pottery Barn version of this table has bolts in the centers of the X and on each corner of the breadboard ends. \u00a0I loved that look, so I grabbed a 1\u2033 forstner bit and drilled out my holes about 1\/2\u2033 deep. \u00a0I then used a 27\/64th drill bit to drill the pilot holes for the 3\/4\u2033 lag bolts to screw into.<\/p>\n

\"edited-3868\"<\/p>\n

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Here\u2019s the point where everything went horribly wrong. \u00a0None of us are perfect and no project of mine ever goes without a hiccup. \u00a0I shopped around for a transparent weather-proof stain and settled on Behr weatherproof stain in natural cedar. \u00a0It looked okay on the wood swatch, and we all know you can trust those swatches, right??? \u00a0I set up my spray shelter and Finish Max got to spraying the stain. \u00a0A smart person would have stopped after the first leg came out looking a little orange, but I figured it would lighten up once I wiped all of the stain down. \u00a0I sprayed the entire thing. \u00a0Big mistake!<\/p>\n

\"edited-3870\"<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, it left me with a bright orange monstrosity! \u00a0I was devastated! \u00a0I\u2019ve said many times that a great project can be ruined by a bad finishing job and I had just fallen victim to that. \u00a0It was not the beautiful finish I had been hoping for. \u00a0I panicked and was tempted to drag it out in the yard and light the whole thing on fire and then go cry in a corner. \u00a0Thankfully some of my blogging friends talked me out of grabbing the gas can and suggested I try gel stain. \u00a0I have never used gel stain before, so that thought hadn\u2019t even occurred to me. \u00a0Normally, you wouldn\u2019t use a regular stain on an outdoor project, but this will be under our patio where it is shaded 100% of the time and not exposed to any of the harsh elements of the Arizona desert. \u00a0<\/p>\n

\"edited-3875\"<\/p>\n

\u00a0I sanded the entire table down. \u00a0I didn\u2019t go crazy with the sander, but figured I\u2019d take off a good amount of the stain to tone down the orange.<\/p>\n

\"edited-3876\"<\/p>\n

I bought some Minwax gel stain in hickory and tested it on a small area. \u00a0Success! \u00a0No more ugly orange! \u00a0I was so happy my project hadn\u2019t been ruined. \u00a0I thought for sure that this was going into the scrap or burn pile. \u00a0It\u2019s proof that none of us are perfect and sometimes you just have to keep trying to get things figured out. \u00a0<\/p>\n

\"edited-2928\"<\/p>\n

I forgot to photograph the next step, but I sprayed my 3\/4\u2033 lag bolts with oil rubbed bronze spray paint and then screwed them into place with a 3\/4\u2033 ratchet. \u00a0I just love the rustic, industrial look they add!<\/p>\n

\"edited-2910\" \"edited-2889\" \"edited-2856\"<\/p>\n

I\u2019m so in love with the end result! \u00a0At nearly 5\u2032 long and just over 18\u2033 deep, the finished table is the perfect size for a drink station or even a buffet\u00a0for backyard parties. \u00a0I was nervous about how the color would turn out with trying to fix my staining issues, but I\u2019m so happy with it! \u00a0Oh, and that cool dinnerware caddy and paper towel holder are DIYs too! \u00a0I\u2019ll be sharing the tutorials for those with you all tomorrow! \u00a0Don\u2019t forget to download the free plans for this DIY rustic console table. \u00a0Just don\u2019t stain it orange like I did. \u00a0Unless of course you want it to be that color;) \u00a0Have you ever had a project not go according to plan? \u00a0Definitely know that you aren\u2019t alone. \u00a0It happens to all of us!<\/p>\n

Now you definitely want to go check out the outdoor projects from my friends! \u00a0Also, if you participated in the #greatoutdoorschallenge, make sure to link up to the link party below! \u00a0I can\u2019t wait to see what everyone created! \u00a0<\/p>\n

Addicted 2 DIY\u00a0(that\u2019s me!)<\/p>\n

The Ugly Duckling House<\/p>\n

Pneumatic Addict<\/p>\n

That\u2019s My Letter<\/p>\n

My Repurposed Life<\/p>\n

My Love 2 Create<\/p>\n

Her Tool Belt<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

An InLinkz Link-up<\/div>\n

*This post contains affiliate links to product used for your convenience. \u00a0For more information, please read my disclosure statement. <\/p>\n

<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hey there everyone! \u00a0Happy Friday! \u00a0I hope you\u2019ve had a wonderful week. \u00a0It\u2019s been a busy one here,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":902,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[22],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/veryauto.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/901"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/veryauto.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/veryauto.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/veryauto.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/veryauto.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=901"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/veryauto.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/901\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1050,"href":"https:\/\/veryauto.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/901\/revisions\/1050"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/veryauto.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/902"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/veryauto.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=901"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/veryauto.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=901"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/veryauto.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=901"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}