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DIY Mid Century Modern Side Table

May 12, 2023May 11, 2023 by Sugar & Cloth

Get the stylish and functional mid-century look for less with our step-by-step tutorial on building an easy DIY Mid Century Modern Side Table from scratch.

We weren’t really wasn’t messing around when we told you that we were currently obsessed with all things mid century modern.

But the style can be pricey so instead, we decided to build mid century furniture ourselves.

If someone doesn’t stop to intervene soon, we might start making pet furniture with tapered wooden legs and watch the Brady Bunch before bed every night while sipping tea out of a Starburst cup.

We’ve already made some mid century planters and a DIY daybed.

And our latest project is this easy DIY Mid Century Side Table that has a storage feature to house your little but important things like your TV remote controls and chargers.

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Table of Contents

Materials and Tools Needed to Make a DIY Mid Century Side Table

Round wood circle — You can buy pre-cut circles at the hardware store or cut your own from scrap wood or any wood board of your choice. Ours has a 18″ diameter.

Round cake pan — We used a pan measuring 16″x 2″. You can use a deeper or wider pan for a larger end table. Just be sure it’s heavy so that the end table isn’t wobbly from being too light!

Tapered round legs — Ours are 16″ tall.

Angled leg mounting plates

Drill and 11/64″ drill bit

#10-24×3/8 inch round head screws with nuts and bolts

Wood stain — We used American Walnut brown.

Foam brush

Spray paint — Optional in any color of your choice. Our cake pan/storage base was painted Shrimp Pastel Pink, and the table legs were painted gold.

How to Make a DIY Mid Century Side Table

1 — Using a foam brush, stain the wood round circle top and table legs.

2 — Once the stain is dry on the legs, tape off the wood to spray paint the feet gold. This is optional. But if you are wanting to achieve the mid century look, gold tones are very prominent in this decor era.

3 — While the legs are drying, place the cake pan upside down. Lay the angle plates where you want the legs to be positioned and mark with a pen.

We made the mistake of putting the legs too close together originally. (Hence, the extra screw holes!) This mistake made the end table seem unsteady. So be sure that the legs are far enough towards the edge of the table. This way, it isn’t rickety and unstable when it’s built.

Use the drill and 11/64″ drill bit to make holes for each of the four corners on every plate.

4 — Attach the plates to the pan with the nut and bolts in all corners.

It is more ideal to use bolts instead of screws so that there are no sharp edges when the storage pan is being used.

5 — Once the plates are attached, spray paint the entire pan and plates the color of your choice. Allow to dry completely.

6 — Once dry, screw the tapered legs into the plates, and flip the cake pan upside down. The top of the end table will just rest on the storage.

Project Notes

Choosing your round wood circle:

Your round wood circle can be any size. Even though ours has an 18″ diameter, you can customize yours to have a larger or smaller table top. Just make sure that it is as least 2″ larger in diameter than your cake pan.

Choosing your cake pan sizing:

Our cake pan is 2″ tall which is just big enough to store our TV remotes, magazines, or notebooks and pens. Your cake pan can be any size in depth and width. Keep in mind that the cake pan needs to be 2″ smaller in diameter than your wood circle.

This is such an unconventional material, right?!? We creatively turned cake pans into DIY hanging planters too.

Where to place your table legs:

Be sure to adjust the placement or the table legs to be far enough apart so that they hold the weight of the top evenly.

Make sure to use round head screws:

It’s important to use round head screws or even flat bolts with the accompanying nuts so that there are no sharp edges in the storage pan.

More Easy Modern Furniture DIY Projects

This is definitely a simple project for a last minute weekend DIY on a rainy day. And it’s so budget friendly that you could even make one for each side of your couch.

We even love the idea of painting them different colors for a punch of color in a space!

If you love our DIY mid century round side table, then check out a few of our diy mid century modern furniture ideas below —