My youngest daughter wanted to build something useful for her teenage sister. She spent hours on Pinterest and after some back and forth we decided to build an arm rest table. It so happens that my oldest has an Ikea couch in her bedroom (technically a “KIVIK Loveseat“).
I spent a fair amount of time trying to figure out what to do with the stair railings. I contemplated replacing them altogether or find a way to improve them. I liked the overall dimensions but the triangular pattern and the shape of the handrail were not my taste.
I was looking for a sturdy coffee table with simple, modern lines. Something with solid wood and a steel frame. I used to have a coffee table with a shelf underneath. That was extremely convenient to store all the stuff that would otherwise lay on the table itself so I wanted a table with a shelf. I went to the usual places, IKEA, CB2, Crate and Barrel, Room and Board, Pier 1, Ethan Allen and a few other local stores but sure enough I couldn’t find the right coffee table (at a reasonable price too). Since nobody ever built what I needed, I had an excuse to do what I wanted to do anyway, build my own coffee table.