We have been in our house for almost 20 months now and choosing a furniture piece is one of the things that we have been struggling the most. I mean, we like stuff until we see the hefty price tag… like £500-600 for a single side table! No, thank you! When I saw a DIY Fluted side table on Instagram, then I had a spark! It looks easy, so why don’t we do it too? If you like marble and wood together, then this easy DIY side table with marble might be perfect for you!
I have seen similar tables in online stores which were starting from £200 to all the way up to over £500! Seeing some DIY ones gave me the courage to try my own one and I am really happy with the outcome. So now let’s get to the point…
Easy DIY Side Table with Marble
What do you need for DIY Side Table with Marble?
- 1 x D200 – L500 mm Ducting Pipe (or Heavy Duty cardboard tube, if you can find)
- 10 x Pine Half Dowel – 6 x 14 x 2400 mm (you can also get 6 x 21 x 2400 mm from B&Q for £2.70)
- D300 mm Marble Cheese Board
- Gorilla Hard Plastics Liquid Glue
- Wood Filler
- Sandpaper
- Paint (We used Farrow & Ball Peignoir No. 286 sample pot – 100 ml)
- Clamps
- Spirit Level
- Tape Measure
- Saw or Mitre Box
- String* (optional, if you want to do everything in one go and you don’t have enough clamps, once you finish glueing the pieces, you can tie them really tight so that it doesn’t move.)
How to Assemble the Side Table?
Once you have all the tools and parts needed for the table, you need to start cutting the dowels to 500 mm long pieces, you can get 4 full sizes from one piece. Remaining 400 mm pieces will be used as well, so the nothing goes wasted. You will need around 45 pieces, it all depends on how accurate and closely you can glue the pieces.
Before assembling the dowels, we put the ducting on the marble board and outlined where the finished ducting would approximately sit. Instead of trying to move it around, later on, we had a rough idea where we needed to put the ducting.
We wanted to get a cardboard tube, however, we had zero luck finding one in the UK. Only ones that we managed to find were really small and quite expensive. Ducting pipe is a good option, however, the surface is not as grippy as the cardboard, therefore you really need to be careful when you apply the adhesive. You need to ensure to get the first one straight, otherwise, it will be quite problematic to get the pieces aligned. You should use something like a spirit level to get it to the position. Once you apply the first piece, use 2 clamps to hold it in the position and let the adhesive dry before applying other pieces.
As I mentioned earlier, 10 pieces are not enough to get full-size pieces to cover the whole ducting. If you can’t be bothered to stick the small pieces and use wood filler to fill in the gaps, you will need 2 more long pieces, which means 12 pieces to cover the thing. I applied a good amount of wood filler to the gaps between the dowel pieces and once it dried, I sanded it down to get a smoother finish which is not visible once painted.
It took us a day to attach all the pieces and we let them dry for a day. Once we were sure everything was dry and ready for painting. We got 100 ml sample pot and applied 3 layers of paint. There is still some paint remaining which was a good buy. We had some other paint colours at home, but we wanted something pastel and not too greyish. Peignoir is described as a romantic grey pink.
We let the paint to dry for a day then it was ready to be assembled. You can just simply put the adhesive over the ducting and attach the board. My husband chose a little bit complicated option and cut some MDF for the top and bottom of the ducting so it is covered and the marble has a bigger surface area to be attached.
What is the best way to cut dowel?
You can use either a circular saw or mitre box to cut the pieces. A circular saw would possibly give you a cleaner finish which is also quicker. We have a circular saw, however, we ended up using the mitre box. If you get rough edges, you can just sand it down.
No More Nails or Gorilla Glue?
We started with Gorilla glue, however, changed it to UniBond No More Nails. Gorilla glue was quite liquidy which meant the first piece we applied kept moving and the drying time of the glue is 60 minutes and it expands 3 to 4 times, which meant if you apply a little more than you should, the glue was coming out as it was drying. Once it dries, it is really hard to remove it. No More Nails dries relatively quickly and it has a thicker consistency which means the pieces don’t move as easily. It is a personal choice I guess, we bought Gorilla Glue and we weren’t happy, then we used the other one which luckily we had from the previous DIY panelling project.
How much does a DIY side table cost?
- £2.97 one dowel x 10
- £10 – ducting
- Cheeseboard – £15-35
- Gorilla glue – £7
- Paint £5
- Approximate Cost – Around £60
If you want to make make your own coffee table or side table, just look for inspirations and give it a try. My husband and I really enjoyed this DIY project and got quite a few compliments to our table. I love how pretty and elegant this DIY side table looks.
