Great news: we finally have a proper coffee table in the beach house living room—so I can actually put my feet up. Sherry’s version of this win: “We finally have a coffee table!”
light fixture / ceiling medallion / similar rug / similar sofa / similar curtains / curtain rods
This was a DIY that cost a fraction of what a high-end stone top would have. We’ve already swapped the rug since these photos were taken (more on that and a few dining room changes in an upcoming post), but back to the table.
The octagonal wooden base has been with us for a while. A neighbor posted it on the neighborhood buy/sell board for $7, and we snapped it up. It lived topless in our garage for months and then moved to the beach house last fall—still without a top—until last month when we finally finished it.
We’d originally planned to have a stone top cut—marble or quartz—but quotes from two stone yards for even a remnant piece came back in the $700–$900 range because of the table’s 38″ width and octagonal shape. Instead, we pivoted to a DIY solution that would give a chunky stone look at a fraction of the cost: a wood top coated with a thin concrete skim coat.
A full poured concrete slab felt too heavy and risky for cracking, and it worried us with small kids around, so we chose to build a wood top and coat it with Ardex Feather Finish—a thin concrete finish we’d used before on laminate counters to mimic solid concrete.
Making the Wood Coffee Table Top
We bought a 4′ x 4′ sheet of 3/4″ plywood to ensure the top would be sturdy and resist sagging. To mark the shape, I flipped the table base onto the plywood and traced around it. Using a circular saw, I trimmed the plywood into an octagon that fit the base exactly—no overhang yet.
Next I cut eight pieces of 1×2 whitewood to form a border around the plywood. Each piece needed a 22.5-degree miter to fit the octagon, which my miter saw easily handled. With the plywood placed on the base, I nailed the 1x2s to the plywood (not to the base) and used wood glue for extra hold.
Adding this border accomplishes a few things:
- It creates a slight overhang around the base.
- It gives the top a thicker look without much extra weight.
- It helps the top sit snugly on the base like a shoebox lid—though I still screwed the top to the base from underneath for security.
After nailing everything in place, I used wood putty to fill gaps and nail holes. The table wasn’t a perfect octagon, so some corners needed a little filling and sanding before the concrete skim coat.
Applying the Concrete Finish
We used white Ardex Feather Finish for a bright, chunky stone look. The 10-pound bag mixes with water and requires only buckets, trowels and sandpaper to apply. I mixed small batches to get the right consistency—like thick pancake batter—so it would stick to the trowel briefly before dripping off.
Before applying, make sure the surface is slightly rough; if you’re working on a smooth piece, sand it with low-grit paper (60–80 grit). I spread the first coat generously for full coverage, paying special attention to the edges and corners to avoid thin spots.
After a few hours of drying, I scraped off any drips beneath the edge and sanded the top with an 80-grit palm sander to knock down ridges. The first coat is mainly for coverage; the second coat refines the surface. For the top coat I mixed the Ardex a touch thinner and worked to get a smoother finish, finishing the sanding progression with 120 then 220 grit to achieve a very smooth surface.
The finished, sanded top looked great and felt smooth. We sealed it next for durability and shine.
Sealing the Concrete
Since this is a coffee table and not a food prep surface, we chose a heavier-duty sealer for durability and a glossy finish. We used a wet-look sealer to give the top a high-gloss, almost mirror-like shine. Application was simple with a small foam roller—two coats, and a third later for extra protection. The gallon barely dented, so we’ve got a little left for touch-ups down the road.
After letting the sealed top cure, we brought the table inside and waited a week before placing anything on it. The result is a glossy white top that breaks up the darker rug and couch, while tying in other white accents like the bookshelf and curtains.
The surface retains subtle imperfections—light trowel marks and texture—which add character and mimic the movement you’d expect from natural stone. It reads as raw concrete with a polished finish rather than a plastic imitation.
We’ve talked about tweaks—staining the wood base darker or painting it glossy white to emphasize the legs—but for now we’re content to put our feet up and enjoy having a proper coffee table. Isn’t that the point?
bookcase / similar pink pillow / similar blue pillow / white faux wood window blinds
We’ve also made a few other updates in the room since these photos, like painting and recovering two armchairs, so seating has increased. More tweaks might follow, but that’s a story for another day.
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