Tree Stump Side Table

Yesterday I mentioned that we were able to sneak in a little project this past weekend, in between our anniversary celebrating, and it was this little tree stump side table:

For those of you who are following along, you can probably tell that this little table was built out of the one tree stumps we left, after cutting down the trees around our fire pit terrace. 

 

It was actually my husband's idea to leave this stump, and turn it into a useful little side table. Although to be fair, he suggested it because he didn't want to have to dig out another stump, and it was also after seeing the below inspiration photo on Pinterest a few days earlier (no, he's not on Pinterest himself, I was just scrolling through my boards and he saw it).

via HGTV.com

Compared to what we've been working on lately, this was a quick and simple little project. Last Thursday I spent a couple of minutes applying a coat of waterproofing sealant to two wood slabs I'd ordered online (found here and here).

After letting the wood dry (we gave it almost 48 hours, but the can specified a 24 hour drying time), it was time to finish off the tree stump. We cut it down to a level that was a little higher than the arms of our fire pit chairs (high enough to hopefully discourage people from sitting on it).

It took a few passes with the saw to make it level. The cell phone level worked better than our bigger level for such a small surface.

Once things were looking level, we attached the smaller wood slab to the tree stump, with a total of 4 long screws.

Then it was time for the table top wood slab. Because we drove the screws down into the tree stump through the smaller slab, we were able to attach the table top slab without having screws going through the top of the table. This is an early example of attaching the table top to the bottom slab, with appropriately sized screws, so as to not go all the way through the table top slab. We ended up using about 8 total screws to attach the top to the bottom.

(Also, it wasn't a huge issue, but getting a slightly bigger bottom wood slab would have made it easier to drive the screws into the top piece. We had to use a lot of screws to make it sturdy, which a larger bottom slab would have helped with too.)

But that was it to this project! Two slabs of wood and some screws, for a cute little woodsy side table.

I find it kind of dreamy, like elves made a little table in the woods for us. So I couldn't resist styling it!

It also looks a little like a toadstool, which I also think is pretty fun. Here's a more realistic representation of what we'll actually be using this little table for.

And a shot of it next to one of our chairs, so you can get a feel for it's height.

Which of course, led to another kitty photo bomb. She just can't seem to help herself! Or else she's hungry for s'mores and beer.

And with that, I'm officially calling phase 1 of our fire pit terrace project complete. My husband got rid of the giant pile of dirt that was behind the terrace area when I was in Chicago, and now that our tree stump side table is done, so is this project (Well, until we eventually go back and put in a paver stone or flagstone patio surface. But that's in phase 2, sometime down the road!). We even put the table to use this past weekend.

Thank goodness we're done, because we were trying to get our outdoor projects out of the way before it starts getting too hot around here, which is going to happen any day now.

Some very satisfying before, progress and after shots!

(Although 2 of 4 chairs our chairs have migrated back up to the deck, and they're missing from the last photo. Extra, easy to move around seating is a great thing to have!

And for the budget for this little table, here's the breakdown:

Olympic Waterproofing Sealant: $15.29
16"-18" Large Wood Slab: $36.00
11" x 7" Small Wood Slab: $5.00

= $56.29 total for the table + some screws we already had + shipping (and we hardly used any of the waterproofing sealant, maybe $1.50 worth, really)

Which isn't too bad, considering tree slab tables can sell for hundreds, even thousands of dollars. And while ours is outside and made with a stump, so it's not going to last forever, we're pretty happy with this little investment. Having a place for prepping s'mores, especially in the dark, makes our fire pit terrace even better!

Have you ever used wood slabs for anything before? I've seen them as wedding centerpieces, and now as furniture. I wonder what else they could be used for!

(and in case you missed it, see this post, this post and this post for more info on building our fire pit terrace)