A new coffee table! Sort of…

by Shannon @ So Pretty Is As Pretty Does on June 4, 2012

I have been looking for a new coffee table for the past nine months. I took two months off due to the wedding, but started looking this week, and wouldn’t you know that after a little time away, I found exactly what I was looking for on the very first Craigslist click! I had been hunting for a display coffee table, mainly because I think they’re cool, but also because I like the idea of being able to change my table to suit the room as it changes and because I thought I could get away with having a larger coffee table if it was all glass and didn’t take up as much visual space.

Here she is!

Okay, so it doesn’t look incredibly awesome in that picture. But, it will soon, after a little work. Two legs were loose and the glass insert on the top of the table was no longer inset, but just sitting on top of the wood frame, waiting to slide off the top of the table and shatter into a million pieces the next time someone opened it, or so I imagined.

First, we gathered the necessary tools; a caulk gun, finishing nails, finishing hammer, cat claw nail remover, Loctite Power Grab clear construction adhesive, silicone, and an old blanket.

Then, we nailed the loose leg trim back on. The parts of the leg that support the weight of the table were in good condition, just the trim was falling off.

Also, because we have 100-year-old pine floors (a very soft wood), protective furniture feet must to attached to every piece of furniture that enters the house.

Re-attaching the glass required a few more steps –

Step 1: Apply Loctite adhesive all the way around the edge of the frame.

Step 2: Lay the glass down into the frame. It’s still moveable for 15 minutes after it’s set in the glue, so we made sure it was in exactly the right spot and then wiped any extra adhesive off of the glass.

Step 3: Hammer the finishing nails into the wood just above the glass. We did this as extra insurance, in the event that the adhesive didn’t hold up as well as we hoped. Also, my husband used a finishing hammer to make contact with the nail, but actually hammered it in with the second hammer so there was less risk of damaging the glass. As extra, extra insurance, we also ran a bead of silicone around the glass.

Step 4: Weigh down the glass to make sure it’s in direct contact with all the wood. We had to use books because Sebastian (cat pictured top-left) refused to participate.