Chest As A Coffee Table – On a recent trip to the thrift store, I came across this old cedar chest. It has a lot of damage to the decorative legs. But the main body was in good condition.
And the giant cedar chest was great for storage. So I took it to elevate the chest into the perfect coffee table for our living room.
Chest As A Coffee Table
I have been looking for a storage solution for our blankets for a long time. The old fat blanket ladder we used to use them on just didn’t fit in our reorganized space.
Vintage Painted Teak Shabby Chic Marina Chest Coffee Table
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But with the cold winters we’re having and my love of snuggling up with a blanket while watching a movie, getting rid of the blankets wasn’t an option.
So when I saw a large cedar chest I knew it was the solution to my quilt storage problem. And a bonus, the chest was made of cedar wood. Perfect for storage skivvies! Armed with a $40 price tag and a 30% off coupon, I couldn’t pass it up.
Kepooman Medium Wooden Storage Treasure Chest Coffee Table Locker For Living Room, Brown
When I got our new storage coffee table home, I realized that the damage to the base of the piece was more extensive than originally estimated. I thought it was just missing some decorative parts of the base, but it’s actually missing a large part of the legs.
That didn’t deter me from creating living room storage! I knew I could use my woodworking knowledge to quickly replace the base and legs. I even had leftover cedar from our DIY vertical garden in my scrap wood stash.
There were 3 parts to our storage chest change. First I had to remove the broken base/legs and build new ones. Second, sand and paint the chest of the body. Finally, remove and paint the lid. Overall, it only took a few days to complete these fun changes and I love the results.
Midcentury Modern Vintage Cedar Trunk, Blanket Chest, Coffee Table, Lane
I started by removing all the parts that were just attached to the base of the raised chest. They were only held in place by nails, so a few hard blows with a hammer removed them nicely.
The decorative front pieces were a single piece that went all the way to the floor, over the missing legs. That was probably the only reason the chest was still standing! Instead of removing them completely, I used a utility knife to go through them and break off the pieces at a fine point near the bottom. And I removed the rounded bottom trim.
I then used leftover cedar fence picket wood to create trim around the base. This contrasted with the decorative pieces that had been cut out and helped to cover up the less-than-pretty joints at the bottom of the bust.
Treasure Chest Coffee Table
To make the new legs, cut 1×3 cedar boards into decorative legs with a jigsaw. Then cut some 2×2 boards to the same height as the decorative legs.
I attached the legs to the bottom of the chest with some self-tapping screws and 1 inch nails and lots of wood glue.
A 2 × 2 foot was used to support most of the weight and decorative legs were attached to it and the chest. Overall, it’s more durable than the one I bought.
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I even added a center leg to prevent the bottom of the chest from sagging further (and hopefully help lift it up a bit).
I chose to paint the new coffee table with DecoArt’s Chalky Finish paint. First time using it. Chalk paint is supposed to be extra durable and require less prep work, so it sounded perfect for a living room that’s sure to get a lot of love.
Once the piece was ready for paint, I gave it 2 coats with a small paint brush to help me get into all the details.
Upcycled Chest To Coffee Table
After the paint dried, I used 220 grit sandpaper to add some distressing to the edges of the decorative pieces to really bring out the unique shape. The chalky paint comes off easily with just a few swipes of sandpaper.
When you are worried, always start small. You can always add more, but it’s harder to fix if you take too much!
To give the raised chest more of a coffee table look, I wanted to leave the lid exposed instead of bare wood. Also, I’m sure my kids will get rid of the painted top in no time (they play hard in the living room).
Vintage Wooden Box,wooden Chest, Coffee Table, Coffee Table Made Of Solid Wood, Decorated
And since the roof is straight and solid, it was easy to remove the surface. It would be harder on all the detailed parts.
I used CitriStrip to remove the finish. It’s pretty easy to use and doesn’t smell like a chemical stripper. I covered the whole roof with a nice layer of striptease and left it for a few hours.
To remove the loose surface, I used a cheap knife to scrape the CitriStrip. This is very satisfying! And you can start to see the beautiful wood beneath the old, dated varnish.
Rustic Beaulieu Chest / Ottoman Coffee Table
After scraping the entire surface as best I could, I cleaned the entire surface with mineral spirits. This removes any remaining CitriStrip residue. Then I broke out my sander to get a smooth clean surface.
There was still a solid finish on the piece. I could probably do a second coat of CitriStrip. But I’m impatient and just let my Orbital Sandor do the heavy lifting.
I started by sanding with 100 grit sandpaper to remove the rest, then moved to 220 grit sandpaper for the final finish.
Vintage Large Wooden Treasure Storage Chest / Coffee Table
The cedar still had quite the red tone that cedar usually does. But I wanted to give the roof a little more worn color. I added a coat of Varathane Aged Wood Accelerator to give the wood a gray tone and it worked like a charm.
Using the same studs, I reattached the lid to a storage chest. To save my baby’s fingers, I replaced the broken lid chain with these soft close hinges.
I also gave the entire piece a coat of wax to give the piece a protective finish. I love how the matte finish of the furniture wax looks on this raised chest.
Vintage Plan Chest Coffee Table
I love how the raised chest turned out. This is the perfect coffee table for our section. And I can’t believe how much storage it gives us. All our blankets fit in it and have room to spare!
We are ready for the coming winter, we have space to store all our blankets. And we even have the perfect coffee table to hold a bowl of popcorn while enjoying family movie night!
If you’re tempted to try your hand at giving new life to old furniture, I recommend starting with a simpler piece. Something you can complete in a weekend will help you learn for bigger projects.
Extra Large Handmade Rustic Wood Coffee Table Trunk Chest Storage
Or to build your own coffee table from scratch, check out this easy modern coffee table DIY or my new favorite asymmetrical coffee table build.
This chest turned out amazing! A good idea is to simply restore the legs and that decorative touch at the bottom. I love how you chose to cast the top in natural wood – it looks amazing and most importantly, it’s completely functional. Right now our blankets are in a pile in the corner…haha!
Our quilts were in the same corner pile until I found this! It’s like fate told me to finally take care of our little blanket problem 😉 And the natural wood top is one of my favorites too. It looks very nice with the painted bottom.
Chest/coffee Table (ka050)
It makes such a great coffee table! And I love the new legs you made – great storage!
Very cute! I just wonder if the inside of the chest smells like cedar. I have one very similar to yours and want to use it for the same purpose, except the cedar smell is so strong that I can’t store anything in there.
The inside is raw and unpainted, so it smells like cedar. I love it because I love the smell and it helps keep bugs out of the things you store. But if you want to cover up the smell, you can paint the wood with a paint or primer designed to block the smell. About half the height of a standard foundation foundation, allowing your sleeping set to stay low to the floor.
Chest Coffee Table
This 9-inch foundation is the most popular choice, blends well with most bedding, and has the added benefit of easy portability.
Now you can see your products in your room. Just use our app to scan the room and place the product where you want!
Each distressed piece is unique! Visible signs such as worm holes, gum scratches and saw grooves are important
