A modern living room just isn't complete without a modern coffee table. But before you fork over several hundred dollars for that mass produced coffee table you found online, consider building your own custom table. We make it easy by doing the hard part for you.
First off, what do we mean by "modern"? That term can be used for minimalist, midcentury, or just anything your grandmother couldn't buy from the Sears catalog :) When I use the term modern, I'm referring to simple, clean lines, and elegant design. Lucky for us, this type of design is not only aesthetically pleasing, but can be easy to build as well.
2 simple parts
A modern coffee table can be broken down into two simple parts: a flat top and sturdy base. The tabletop is the easy part. It can be a few boards glued or screwed together, a large slab of live-edge wood, or an existing tabletop that needs a fresh look. You can even repurpose items like surf boards, old doors, or stone remnants. It simply needs to be strong enough to function as a tabletop and aesthetically fit with your overall style.
The base is where it gets a little tricky. You need legs that are strong enough to support the top, but also give you that modern style you're looking for. The table base not only has to hold the weight of the top, but it has to provide strength against lateral forces, as well. In other words, it has to be rigid enough to withstand someone pushing on it from all sides. Some bases get their lateral strength from "stretchers" or bracing that tie all of the legs together. Building that type of base requires several tools and is outside the capabilities of most DIY'ers. To keep it simple, you need legs that attach to the tabletop easily and also provide all of the strength required. That's why so many people end up defaulting to a cheap set of metal hairpin legs. They are easy to screw on, they provide lateral strength because they are slanted, and they have a somewhat modern look. The downside is they look cheap and they have been DONE TO DEATH!! We can do better....
We have you covered
1600design has developed modern style coffee table legs that check all the boxes: They look great, they are strong, and they are simple to install. First and foremost they look amazing. The slanted geometric design gives them a modern style, while the premium hardwood material gives them an authentic handcrafted look. But that geometric design doesn't only look good, it makes the leg extremely strong. And by orienting the legs at an angle to one another, you get that much needed lateral strength, as well. Of course, none of this matters unless the legs are easy to install. That's where the 1600desing legs really shine. Each leg has predrilled and countersunk holes allowing them to be installed with ordinary wood screws. You simply layout the legs on the bottom side of your tabletop, mark the screw locations, predrill a small hole, and attach with screws. We have a full installation tutorial with pictures on our website at www.1600design.com/pages/installation-tutorial.
Options
We know your project will be a one-of-a-kind, so you need options. That's why we offer our coffee table legs in various wood species and finish options. We choose quality hardwoods that finish easily and will last a lifetime. We offer our legs in Walnut, White Oak, Ash, Maple, Mahogany, and we are adding new wood species all the time. You also have finish options. If you need to stain the wood to match an existing tabletop, you can purchase our legs unfinished. The very top of the leg is an excellent place to test stain colors. Or, if you want your legs ready to install straight out of the box, we can apply two coats of clear polyurethane which will bring out the natural color of the wood and give it a protective coat. Need a custom height? We can cut the legs to your desired height before shipping at no additional cost. And speaking of FREE, all of our table legs ship free to the lower 48 states!
Quality
1600design is a small workshop based in Greenwood, Indiana. All of our products are made right here in Greenwood and most of our hardwoods are Indiana grown. We craft our legs in small batches with quality joinery. Every single leg is hand sanded and inspected before shipping.
Check out our complete catalog of modern table legs at www.1600design.com
