How to Make a Countertop Height Dining Table

If youd like to put a table near your kitchen counter, you probably want one that is at least as high as your countertop. This way when you entertain, you can work in the kitchen and still easily relate to your guests, rather than feeling isolated from the action. If you cant find a table of the appropriate height in stores, you can make one yourself fairly simply. Does this Spark an idea?

Instructions

1

Measure the height between the floor and your countertop. This serves as the minimum height of your dining table. If you like uniformity, the measurement should also serve as the exact height of your table.

2

Cut a piece of wood in the shape and size youd like your tabletop. Consider the size of the space where the table will be placed and allow room for chairs to fit around the table and for people to be able to walk around it easily.

3

Create an apron to go underneath your tabletop using at minimum the same thickness of wood of the tabletop. You want this thickness because you'll later be cutting a rabbet into the apron to attach the legs. The apron should consist of four long and narrow pieces of wood. Two pieces will run the length of the tabletop and two will run the width. The apron is in the exact shape of your tabletop, but a few inches smaller all around.

If your tabletop is a rectangle of 6 feet long by 4 feet wide, an appropriate size for your apron would be 5-by-3-feet. This adds sturdiness to the table and is where the legs will attach. Join the four lengths of wood together using nails.

4

Cut four legs for your table. To get the appropriate height, turn to your measurements from Step 1. If you want your dining table to be exactly as tall as your kitchen countertop, subtract the thickness of your tabletop from the height of your countertop. The resulting measurement is the length of your table legs.

If the length between your floor and countertop measures 4 feet, and you're using wood for your tabletop that is 3/4-inch thick, your legs would then have to be 3 1/4-inch long for your table to be the same height as your countertop.

5

Cut out a rabbet at each corner of your apron. This is the recess into which your table legs will rest. Place a table leg against a corner of the apron in the position you want the leg to attach. Lightly mark where the leg rests with a pencil. Cut out an indentation so the leg can lay into the apron rather than sit flush against it. Repeat this step for each leg.

6

Attach the legs to the apron using dowels. Drill a few holes into the top of each leg and drill corresponding holes in the apron where the legs attach. Insert dowels the same diameter as the holes into the legs and through the apron.

7

Attach the apron with legs to what will be the bottom of your tabletop. L-shaped brackets work well for this task.

8

Sand the entire table down until its smooth. Paint or stain the wood. Once your paint or stain has dried fully, apply a waterproof or water-resistant sealant. Only when the sealant has dried completely can your table be used.