Do you remember when we got this library table at a garage sale and used it as our dining table in the old house?  Man, I loved that thing.  I was so excited when I saw it advertised at a sale on the marketplace.  And the price was unbelievable.  We actually had to take the entire thing apart and cut down the skirt part of the table and put it all back together.  Because it was too short for our dining chairs.  Well, we had another antique library table in our stash and decided to repurpose it this past week.  So, here is what we did to turn an old library table into a coffee table.

Turn an Old Library Table into a Coffee Table

So where did this old library table come from?  We walked down to a garage sale down from our old home in town several years ago.  They had a few antiques, but we fell in love with this library table. Did we need another table?  No. Did we sell our house a few months later and this table land in storage for years?  Yes. But, it was another steal of a deal and had the best shape to it. This is where it was for a few months before the storage unit.

Do you remember it?

Cut to the present.

We moved into our new home last December.  There is an area in this house that has never been seen here on our website.  However, I have shared it in our social media stories, so you may have seen it there.  It’s an area that was supposed to be a small office right off of the family room and dining room.  But, during the build, they had to run the heating and air ducts upstairs in that room.  So, the office area was out of the question.  When we moved in, we basically threw our office items in that room anyway and put them in front of the window.  We both were unhappy with that decision because it was a junk collection area.  

Last week, I stared into that office space and told Deb that I was done looking at it.  All of that needed moved.  While we were removing all of the junk that collected on that library table, it dawned on me.  I thought it looked like the perfect size for a coffee table for the family room if Deb cut down the legs.  So we moved it in the room to make sure the size was right. I loved the size of this table so much, that we immediately took it to Deb’s workshop and got to work.

I like coffee tables on the shorter side.  Basically almost even with the couch cushions.  Any taller and they feel too overpowering to me.  Deb cut this one down to around 16-17″ tall.  She also repaired the drawer because it didn’t slide easily.  This library table didn’t have any finish on it at all.  So I simply cleaned it and added a few coats of polyurethane and called it a day.  That is it!  This project went so smooth, which I can’t say that too often.  Ha!

What do you think of our new/old coffee table?  I absolutely love how this project turned out.  And, love the chunky legs on it.  It’s so funny, because I have been looking for something to use as a coffee table and this piece has been here this whole time.  Stay tuned for what we do with the leftover pieces from the legs.  Because you know something has to be done with them!