Wear eye protection while working with power tools to prevent sawdust from getting in your eyes. You can work with any kind of wood you want. If you want to be cost-effective, use pine or oak. For an upscale look that’s also durable, use maple or walnut.

The size of the table you build can vary depending on how much space you have.

If you want the corners to look cleaner, cut the ends of each board to a 45-degree angle before putting them together.

This forms the apron on the underside of the table so you can easily attach the tabletop and legs.

Visit your local lumber yard to see what sizes of boards are available and see if they can cut it for you.

You can use thinner or wider boards depending on how much wood you want to use.

If you’re making a tabletop out of multiple boards, only put wood glue on the apron where you’ll put the middle board.

If you don’t want to hold the wood in place after setting it down, place something heavy on the spots you glued. Work quickly since wood glue can dry within 20 minutes.

When you’re making a tabletop from multiple boards, glue and nail down 1 board at a time. Look for any areas of the table bowing away from the apron. If you notice this happening, put in more nails to hold it tight. Although wood glue takes 24 hours to set completely, nailing the tabletop to the apron will hold the pieces together so you can keep building.

Ask a friend to help you if the table is too heavy to lift on your own. Don’t slide your hands against the wood grain or else you could get a splinter.

If your wood pieces wobble, use a sander to flatten the ends. Adjust the height of the legs accordingly to how tall you want the table.

Stagger the height of the holes so screws won’t run into one another.

Use darker colored screws on darker wood and light colored screws on light wood to conceal them better.

An electric belt sander will work faster if you have access to one. Be careful not to over sand the legs or else the table may still wobble.

Use an electric sander if you want to get your work done faster. Wear a face mask and eye protection so sawdust doesn’t get in your eyes.

Put your table on a painter’s tarp so you don’t spill stain on your floors.

Paint your table a color to match other furniture in your room.

Polyurethane finish can be purchased at your local hardware store.