I Made a Coffee Table with Folding Legs
Living in a small apartment means almost every piece of furniture has to earn its space. I wanted a coffee table that was large enough to actually use - for coffee, dinner, working from the sofa, and everything else, but that I could also put away when I needed more room. So I made one with folding legs.
A Coffee Table Made for a Small Space
The idea was pretty simple: a wooden coffee table with legs that fold flat underneath the tabletop. Instead of designing something permanently around the limited space I have, I wanted the furniture itself to be able to adapt. For the tabletop, I used a 60 × 80 cm acacia wood panel. The legs are made from 5 × 5 cm beech wood, cut to a height of 35 cm, with folding hinges connecting them to the tabletop. The result is a fairly simple piece of furniture with one very useful feature: when I don't need the table, I can fold the legs underneath and store the whole thing away.
Materials I Used
The tabletop is acacia, while I chose beech for the legs. I sanded the wood progressively with 120, 160, and 180 grit sandpaper before finishing everything. The folding mechanism itself is surprisingly uncomplicated. I used folding hinges that allow the legs to lock into position when the table is standing and fold underneath when I want to store it. It's one of those small design decisions that makes a big difference when you don't have much space to work with.
How It Folds
I made a video walking through the finished coffee table, including the materials, dimensions, folding mechanism, and some of the decisions I made while building it.
This isn't a step-by-step woodworking tutorial, but rather a closer look at how I approached the project — including the things that worked, the things that didn't, and, most importantly, how it folds.
More Things to Make
This coffee table is part of a much bigger experiment in making things for my own home instead of always trying to find the perfect thing to buy. There are plenty more projects coming — including a much bigger DIY kitchen redo — so stay tuned.
