Outdoor Table Projects

By building your own outdoor projects, you enhance your outdoor space with custom items. Dining or having a cup of coffee on your patio or deck is a wonderful way to enjoy the outdoors, get a little fresh air or just have meditation time. Whether you choose to construct an outdoor table with new materials or repurpose materials you already have, building an outdoor table is easy for the skilled and unskilled craftsman. Does this Spark an idea?

Convertible Picnic Table and Bench

This project looks like an A-frame table with only one bench.

For those spur-of-the-moment picnics and easy portability, custom build a red cedar, convertible picnic table and bench combination. As a bench with a table, this project looks like a counter top with a bench on one side. When the counter-top section is unhooked and tilted to an almost vertical position, the piece becomes a bench with back support.

Stone-Top Table

The same slate used in flooring makes a beautiful tabletop.

If you have a power miter saw, a drill, and a few hand tools, build a stone-top table. Buy a 16-inch square of slate, tile, granite or limestone as the top for this end table. The base is constructed of four 2-inch by 2-inch legs with a wood-slatted shelf built four inches off the ground. Be sure to soften the edges of your stone top with 120-grit sandpaper.

Fold-Up Grill Table

Add hooks to the side of your table for grilling tools.

This collapsible cedar table is made with legs that fold up underneath the horizontal table top. In a few hours, you can build this table with short pieces of cedar, a drill, a saw, and basic hand tools. Build it with 1-by-4-inch cedar boards that are completely flat and free of knots. The finished table top measures 19 inches wide and 42-3/4 inches in length. This is plenty of space for the sauces, platters, grilling tools and condiments you need handy while grilling.

Urn Table

Old produce crates make interesting outdoor tables.

Create an outdoor table with repurposed materials you already have on hand. Large ceramic urns make an attractive base for a patio table. Purchase a large square of tempered glass to attach to the top of your urn with UV glass glue that bonds in direct sunlight and dries clear. Cut the legs of an old bar stool to the desired table height and add a larger piece of round wood for your tabletop space. Paint the round of wood in a color or design motif that coordinates with your outdoor space. Attach an old window to a rectangular crate and place a piece of tempered glass on top for a unique patio table.