Small Round Coffee Table from Eames Chair Base

Sold at a neighborhood art show. Dimensions: Height, 19 inches; Diameter, 23.75 inches; Legs spread to a 15.5-inch square at floor; Weight, 11 pounds. This unique little table, with a bit of mid-century flair, could be just the right solution for a small living space. Or it could be nice accessory piece next to your favorite reading chair. Or you might put a plant on it in front of a low window. It reminds me a bit of a large satellite dish. $125.

The Story

I found a reproduction of an Eames Molded Plastic Side Chair (a very famous mid-century design; look it up) on the sidewalk around the corner from my house in the Glover Park neighborhood of D.C. The molded plastic had cracked, so someone was getting rid of it. Yes, thank you! I got rid of the seat and immediately envisioned the interesting base remade into a coffee table. I bought the premade pine top from The Home Depot for about $12. I created a custom stain for it—8 parts of Minwax Golden Pecan to 1 part of Minwax Provincial—to try and match the color of the legs, and finished it off with three coats of Minwax water-based clear satin Polycrylic (with a light sanding before the final coat) to protect against spills, etc.

The main challenge in this piece was to come up with a strong but attractive and interesting structure to transition between the top and the four legs and raise it up to standard coffee table height. I eventually came up with the final design you see. It’s thin, so as not to add a weighty-looking element to such a refined leg system. The X shape and the black satin finish echo the design and color of the metal cross-bracing and the arc shape echoes the round top. I made it by stacking and gluing four layers of 1-inch square pine lumber, leftover from another project. The way that the pieces are interlocked makes for a strong structure in which the joint isn’t really visible. It’s glued to the underside of the table and connected to the tops of the four legs with small inset angle brackets.

I spray-painted the existing and new hardware to simplify and unify the overall look; the original silver screw heads were distracting. I hand-painted inside the slots at the top of the legs to cover the raw wood that was visible next to my angle-brackets and washers.

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