Simple DIY Outdoor Side Table With Open Storage

I always knew I wanted to remake this rustic wired basket plant stand into a DIY outdoor side table but didn’t expect it to take me over a year to finally do that.

Purchased at the Vintage Market Days event in Knoxville last year, it was one of the most popular items available.   I was lucky enough to acquire one before they were all sold out.  When asked by another shopper for information about which booth had them available, she referred to it as an outdoor plant stand.  But what I saw when I spotted it was a unique base for an outdoor table.

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THIS POST IS PART OF THE ‘DO IT OVER’ DESIGNERS LINK PARTY.  A GROUP OF DESIGNERS WHO TAKE SOMETHING OLD AND/OR UNUSED AND ‘DO IT OVER’ INTO SOMETHING NEW. THESE ITEMS CAN BE FOUND IN CLOSETS, BARNS, GARAGES, YARD SALES, THRIFT STORES, YOU NAME IT!

 

 

At the end of this post, there will be an opportunity for you to visit the posts from all of the talented and creative bloggers who have joined the challenge this month.

This project started with a need for some outdoor tables to use with a vintage outdoor furniture set.

The outdoor season in Tennessee runs from early Spring through late Fall with temperatures that encourage outdoor events and dinners for months.  Like most homeowners, we spend a lot of our spare time on our outdoor decks. 

My style inside and outside of my home is more retro and vintage with lots of mid-century flare.  It would be hard for me to consider purchasing a full outdoor furniture set without adding in a few DIY unique pieces. 

The furniture on our back deck is a vintage set of vinyl strap chairs and recliners that I won at an estate sale auction for a steal.  The large 10-piece set sat in our storage building waiting for us to finally rebuild our decks. 

Once our decks were rebuilt last summer, we had plenty of chairs for the outdoor spaces, but they needed the charm of a DIY outdoor end table or two.

 

 

Not usually my style but I wanted to make this metal plant stand work out.

More rustic farmhouse and cottage style than modern, I still thought this metal basket was a great candidate for a remake into a side table base. It had character.

I may be a modern design gal at heart, but some items grab your attention and won’t let go.  That was the case with this rustic outdoor plant stand so of course it came home with me.   

 

 

After the event, I visited our local home improvement store and purchased a precut 18″ wood round for the top.  I had so many great ideas for how to paint the wood top for this DIY table.

Instead of working on my ideas right away, I put the wood round in my craft room and the wire basket on the outside deck and left them there for a year.

Does anyone else relate to the craft project procrastination problem?  Just me?

 

 

 

The wire plant stand is perfect just the way it is with all its rust and chipping paint.

In hindsight, leaving the already rusted wire basket plant stand outside for a year to accept more rain, sleet, and snow wasn’t a bad idea.  Mother Nature helped to give it even more of a unique aged patina.

When I realized that this month’s theme for the ‘Do It Over’ Designer Challenge was metal, I decided it was a good time to get motivated and finally make the outdoor accent table I envisioned for this rusty piece of metal.

 

 

 

To repurpose this wire basket plant stand into a little side table for our outdoor space is an easy project overall.  Most of the work involved would be to transform a plain round wood cutout to match the rusty and unique design of the table base.

It was tempting to sand off the rust on the wire basket plant stand and start over with a fresh coat of paint in a bright color. But the effects of being left out in nature gave it the aged personality it deserved.  I just needed to paint the wood circle cutout in a style befitting its aged perfection.

My challenge was to make the wood table top look as weatherworn as the wire basket table base.

 

 

Two coats of weathered gray stain before painting on the stencil design and two coats of stain afterward.

Giving the round wood cutout from my favorite home improvement store a more aged appearance started with a light sanding with 100 grit sandpaper, an application of pre-stain conditioner, and two layers of weathered grey stain on both sides of the cutout.

 

 

Once the stain had dried overnight, I was ready to add a stenciled design in the center.

In my craft supplies, I have a few large-scale 18″ x 18″ floor tile motif stencils that I have been waiting to use.  Originally purchased for what I hoped would be the stenciled floor in the basement, they have been waiting for me to get around to that project as well.  One stencil design was perfect for a creative touch to the top of this DIY side table.

 

 

 

 

Use a dry-brush technique with less paint.

Instead of adding paint directly to the top with the stencil, I quickly traced the outline of the stencil design to fill it in with paint for a more freehand effect.

The painted design on the top of the table needed to appear faded and worn just like the base did. 

I decided to achieve that look with paint using a drybrush method and my choice of white acrylic paint. 

The best way to do that is by removing the majority of the white acrylic craft paint off the craft brush onto a brown paper bag before applying the paint to the stenciled design. The paint was applied with small craft brushes and a toothpick for detailed outlines.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Even with dry brushing on the paint, it wasn’t faded and rustic enough to me. So I sanded over the dried painted stencil design with 220 grit sandpaper to remove more paint.    

Then I followed that up with two more applications of weathered gray stain, with sanding between each layer.

 

 

Apply a clear acrylic coating to protect the design and create a water-resistant barrier.

At last, the final step was to spray the entire wood top with a topcoat of waterproof sealant in a matte finish.

The open basket area is perfect for a vining plant or as an open storage for items such as bug spray or gardening tools with easy access underneath the top of the table.

The wood top is purposely not attached to the metal plant stand.   My husband and I discussed using waterproof glue to attach the wood round to the metal base.  We also talked about searching for something at the hardware store for a type of metal hinge. The hinge could be attached to the wood top and the plant stand base so the top could lift open to access the open storage of the basket.  

In the meantime, we decided to wait and see how well the table holds up without the top being secured in place. 

Depending on how well this table idea works out, or not, I will to be able to either reuse the plant stand as originally designed or use the table top on a different table base in the future. 

 

 

 

One or two projects for a DIY patio table were needed to complete my vision for the side deck.  In a previous ‘Do It Over’ Designer post, for an Easy No Cost Makeover For A Glass Top Side Table, I shared the first beautiful outdoor side table project for the deck.

Well, better late than never for finally getting the second one done.

 

 

 

With this simple DIY project, I have been able to repurpose an almost forgotten metal plant stand into a gorgeous side table.  It would also be a perfect addition inside the house as it is outside.

The best part about finishing this little outdoor side table, I got another DIY project off my wish list.

 

Pin It For Later

 

 

 

Please visit the following posts for all of the other talented bloggers who are participating in the ‘Do It Over’ challenge this month.

 

Birdz of a Feather

Exquisitely Unremarkable

Little Vintage Cottage

Modern on Monticello

Purple Hues & Me

Southern Sunflowers

Sum of Their Stories

Color Me Thrifty

The Apple Street Cottage