Transform a Train Table into a Coffee Table with Pallet Wood

By Carmody Tisdale on May 26, 2015 in Decor, DIY Decor, DIY Projects, Furniture, Home Decor 0

Hi Friends!

I have a soft spot for the beauty of reclaimed wood and like everyone else on pinterest, I love pallet wood. It is usually free and asking to be made into something creative and cool.

Today I will show you the perfect upcycle for turning a children’s train table into a modern and rustic coffee table. With a little imagination you can easily put that chunk of furniture into use.

Are you ready to transform a train table into a coffee table with pallet wood

We are in the grand part of parenthood where we can finally put away the train table. You know that large piece of furniture piled with abandoned toys and expensive trains? They are great in theory, but are largely ignored. Both of my boys loved to play with train tables….in bookstores and libraries.

Like a lot of you we have a train table that looks like this one from Pottery Barn.

Train tables are usually strong simple tables with a recessed center to hold trains and toys. Here is ours. This was given to us by a friend and I am guessing it is around 13 years old. It has been various colors, but we painted it white a few years ago. Before we moved to our new home, we were using the train table to hold an epic castle.

A photo posted by Paper Planes NYC (@paperandfox) on Feb 20, 2014 at 3:03pm PST

Transform Train Table into a Coffee Table with Pallet Wood

My husband is a great collector of pallet wood and at one point crossed the line into hoarding it. He painstakingly took apart wood pallets that he found abandoned in dumpsters and saved the best pieces of wood.

With a handsaw and some ingenuity he cut pallet wood and placed the wood pieces inside the lip of the train table. He arranged the wood like you would a puzzle. They are to tightly squeezed togther that they did not need to be nailed down. The wood pallet coffee table is for our living room or what we call the “adult room” in our house.

If this were going to be in place where the kids played we would lay a piece of glass over the wood to prevent splinters. We really love the rustic wood look and will keep it how it is.