The DIY dining table is a popular woodworking project because a table can be a very simple design. I’m not saying that building an amazing dining table is easy; I’m saying that there are simple options available which can be extremely gratifying to beginner DIY’rs.

There’s something pretty cool about dining on a table you make. Of course, building dining chairs is more complicated so that may take a bit, but in the overall scheme of DIY furniture, the dining table is a good one to try early in your DIY woodworking career.

What’s the post all about?

Instead of listing every possible project out there, what we did was provide you different types of DIY dining table options. We include different types of wood and table designs. This gives you an idea as to your options.

Here’s our list of 22 different types of DIY dining tables.

Table of Contents Show

A. Type Based on Material

A starting point for any table is deciding which material(s) to use. This section sets out several different types of tables based on various popular materials.

1. The Walnut Table with Extension

The crucial bit, that one characteristic that makes this table stick out, aside from its walnut veneer, is the fact that it extends. This table is built for four, six and even more.

Materials

Walnut boards and pieces.
Epoxy coating.
Iron struts.

Tips/Instructions

Buy the following 10 dollar guide: https://mccauleysdesign.com/product/extendingfixed-farm-style-table-plans/
Wait for all the wood to dry out before attaching the pieces together.
Use mask and proper protection.

Video

2. Pine Simplicity

Pine Pine is everywhere. It’s the sort of wood that’s practically being given away in the northern states. The best part of pine is that its one of the easiest wood to curate and take care of.

Tips/instruction

Check-out the step-by-step guide at: https://www.briansbenham.com/
Beetles love, love pine. Well, for that matter so do most other insects. So, before you bring your pine indoors give it a proper check and fumigate it, just in case.
Fill with epoxy the holes the beetles or insects bore into the wood.

Video

3. The Hickory Job

Hickory is one of the heaviest woods out there. It’s beautiful, rich and, if you ever find yourself in a bind, you can always torch it and make some fine BBQ sauce. This piece is build to last, period.

Materials

Slaps of hickory.
A carpenter’s table and patience.
Wood glue.
The whole woodworking aisle of your local Home Depot.

Tips/instructions

Buy the step-by-step, 21 page, super manual: https://jayscustomcreations.com/2016/04/how-to-build-a-dining-table/
Take your time. Invest a whole week or month to the affair.

Video

4. The Oak Classic

Made from laminated timber, this cute but bulky beauty seats six. It’s elegant. It’s solid. It’s cheap!

Materials

Oak beams.
Oak planks.
Wood glue.
Metal brackets.
Sanding paper.

Tips/Instructions

Take your time and double check your measurements.
It’s a group effort. Don’t try to do it all Lone Ranger style and go get yourself a sidekick.
Don’t skimp out on the timber. Buy oak.

Video

5. Concrete

Most people opt for wood to build a table, but concrete works too.

Here’s a great DIY video showing you how to build a concrete DIY dining table.

6. Pallet

For those of you who take great pride in reusing materials such as pallets for your furniture, here’s an example of a DIY pallet table.

Watch the video:

B. Type Based on Style

Another decision to make is table style. The options are endless. We feature the most popular styles. Farmhouse is insanely popular.

1. The Farmhouse

The charm to this model is the fact that it does its level best to unearth images of Hunky Tonks and barn house jamborees. It’s a communal table. Elbow to elbow. Knee to knee. Human flesh to human flesh. Supports as many as are liable to enter… It all depends on your family/friends rear end dimensions.

Materials

2 1/2 inch Kreg Screws
6 inch Torq Screws – Need about 40 –
5 inch Torq Screws – Need about 20
5 inch Torq Screws – Need about 20
Stain ( or White Vinegar / Steel Wool )
4×4, 2×10 and 2×4 boards.

Tips/Instructions

Check out your local lumber yard or, even, depending on where you live, the area’s trash dump. Sometimes you can get lucky, and snatch fine pieces of lumber for pennies on the pound.
Make sure to let the wood properly dry.
For beginners, use biscuits and glue for top planks.
Build each part separately.
Do your level best and hunt for prices. This table should not cost you more than 200 bucks.

2. Contemporary

If you prefer something more contemporary, that’s possible too.

Check it out:

3. Industrial

Here’s an industrial dining table with a wood top sitting on pipes. It’s really cool and not terribly difficult to build.

4. Trestle Table

If you want to get away from the 4 legs, go for a DIY trestle table. Check it out:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CEja9VUi-Ig

5. Bar Height Dining Table

Here’s the pedestal:

If you like the bar experience and want to replicate it at home, check out this bar-height project. It’s really cool.

Watch the video tutorial:

C. Type Based on Shape

We won’t include rectangle here since most of the dining tables in this video round up are rectangle. But round is not one we’ve included so here it is.

1. Round DIY Table

This is a beauty. Some dining rooms work better with a round dining table. Here’s how to make it:

2. Square

Square dining tables are best for some rooms. They offer plenty of table depth for food. This particular example has a cool angled leg design.

Watch how it’s made:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QfHkq9SIpBA

D. Based on Use/Utility

There’s poetry, then there are haikus. One houses inner secrets, the other is organized; both get the job done. The only difference is, one’s a bit more Baroque than the other. At the end of the day, as long as it manages to hold your cheeseburger at chest level, perhaps a pot of flowers and a glass of beer, then, that is a proper table. Everything else is nothing short of window dressing.

A proper Utilitarian dinning table never clashes with the decor. Toss a vase, or some fabric on it and it will chameleon its way into the decor.
Most are rather cheap to produce.
Most are incredibly simple.
Most are practical and have a HIDDEN practical charm.

1. The Minimalistic Majesty

Are you working with nothing more than the spare change you found in your dorm’s laundry-room ? Or between the cushions of your parents’ couch? Or, quite possibly on the street? Well, hark and hear the good news! This budget friendly piece will bamboozle the natives with its sexiness and, above-all, keep the piggy bank intact.

Materials

legs from IKEA – 2
200 x 45 cm plywood sheets, 12 mm thick – 2
wood glue – 1
180 x 60 cm plywood sheet, 15mm thick – 1
sandpaper – 1

Tips/Instructions

Ask the local hardware store to cut the plywood.
Assemble? Yeah, some assembly involved. Real tricky stuff. Did you pick up on the sarcasm?
Take the rest of the afternoon off.

2. Built-In Cooler

Hosting an event? Getting ready for a party? Or, do you simply like your beer to be perpetually cool? Now, with this awesome design, you’ll never have to needle your way through lukewarm “cerveza”.

Materials

Aside from wood and screws, you’ll also need long canals or flower pots to use as your impromptu ice bucket. Find one that’s insulated or uses materials that conserve temperature.

Tips/Instructions

As always, follow the plans.
Think plastic, steel or aluminum for your cooling canals.
If, you’re going to use this outdoor, then by all means think about adding some holes in the canals for the water to drain out.
If, you’re going to use this piece indoor, then be sure that you can remove the faux ice bucket struts for washing and such.

3. The Cellphone Charger

Forget the vase. Forget the pretty bits. Away into the night with that useless piece of rug. Give us something, anything, that’s worthwhile. Something really handy. Presto! I give you the one-true, and quite possibly, most essential item you’ll likely need on any dining room table… The USB charger.

Finally, someone with two fingers in front of him. Where do I hook up my iPAD?

Materials

USB Chargers.
Wood
Slaps of steel and zinc.
Iron plates.
Extension chords.

Tips/Instructions

You’ll be working in many fields, so you should, if anything, have at the very least some experience with: woodworking, electricity and metallurgy.
Take proper care, with absolutely everything. Focus, otherwise you might lose a finger or snatch up a nasty case of third degree burns.

4. Built-In Flower Vase

It’s the concept that’s important here. Whether you put flowers, drinks or whatever in the storage space, is totally up to you.

Watch the video for instructions:

E. Unique Dining Tables

So far we’ve been going through artistic movement byways. Zig-zagging our way through a miasma of styles, fad’s and such. Now we have no other choice but to step on the brakes and look out at the landscape that’s making itself known. No other choice but to stare dumbstruck by the vista and ask: “who the hell spiked my Coca-Cola?”

Nope, my friend, you are not stoned. If this article was a department store, then it is most certainly Bed, Bath & Beyond. Hold on tight cause we are about to cross the threshold into the last B… The BEYOND.

1. LED Resin River Table

The trick with this table, the big selling point, is the fact that it will be an excellent conversation starter.

Materials

Mari wood, but any hard and heavy wood will suffice. Try to find something rustic, recently cut.
Resin
Your whole toolkit.
Fiberglass
LED lights

Tips/Instructions

This is one hell of a job. Will probably take you somewhere between 9 to 10 weeks to complete.
Be extremely thorough and patient.
Bubbles will appear; so have your drill and resin mixture ready.
Make sure the table top is dead level before doing a final coat.
Wet and dry grit multiple times – then cut an polish multiple times.
Attach LEDS before metal braces and give them some slack. Eventually, they will spark out so you’ll have to replace them.

2. D.I.Y Decoupage Dining Table

This video shows you one of the many way to hack a table top and give it that vibe of originality it previously lacked. This is and excellent and easy way to spruce up any table and give it a funky, vintage inspired look.

And, yes, I know the tutorial is for a coffee tables… But come on, guys, work with me. Use your imagination. Same thing, only bigger.

P.S.: after the second viewing you might need earmuffs… Kate’s voice tends to annoy just a tiny bit.

Materials

Table
Sand paper.
Images, pics’, old newspapers… Basically whatever catches your fancy.
Glue
Water-based polycrilic for the protective finish.

Tips/instructions

The more you sand, the more old and rough the varnish will look.
You can paint your top, or, if you like the natural vintage look, then simply gloss over with some oil.

3. Chalk Paint

This piece has two qualities that make its stand out above the rest.

It’s extremely versatile. The YouTuber uses French Script, but if that doesn’t get your motors running then by all means shop around Amazon for something that gets you hot. “The World is Yours”… which, if your a Scarface fan, will no doubt plant a seed of inspiration into your hunt.
A trained monkey can do this! Really. A chimpanzee with paintbrushes could have this project wrapped and sealed within the day. Let me retract that… a Sea Monkey experiencing an epileptic attack, and missing a limb or two could complete it in less time that it took me to write up this sentence. As such, it should only take our ADD addled brains a day or two. Compared to the other ones, this one is a cinch.

P.S.: If I so much as hear another coffee table remark, I’m closing this post and banning the knave, the pirate, the blackguard who lacks creativity from the net… I have that mutant power, don’t test me!

Materials

Stencil (whichever you like. If you’re a Stephen King enthusiast, then by all means plaster the top with Pennywise sayin’: “We all float down here…” Then please take my advice and seek professional help.)
Black Chalk paint.
White paint.
Varnish
A fine brush.

Tips/Instructions

– Take your time and wait for everything to dry out.

4. Aquaman’s Table

Meet Bob, he likes to built stuff. Some of Bob’s stuff look like the end result of a really groovy acid trip… a cool acid trip. This little table is small, but with some tweaks it can easily support 4 to six people. Check out Bob’s video… It’s a hoot!

Materials

Clear table top Epoxy resin.
Nitrile Gloves.
Plastic mixing bucket.
Dado stack.
Hanging air filter.
Micron bag,
Angle gauge.
Danish oil.
Respirator
Filter
Clotting sponge.
Concrete or rocks.

5. Herringbone Pattern Dining Table

For that extra design, you can do a patterned dining table. This is an example of a herringbone pattern.

Watch the video:

22 DIY Dining Table Project Ideas