2x4 Outdoor Side Table

Screw a leg side apron to two legs, flush on the inside faces, two screws per joint. Build two identical assemblies.

Attach a 24" top board across the top of each leg pair with three screws — one at each end, one in the middle. These two boards are the long sides of the top's border frame.

Screw the two 18" inside-frame pieces between two of the 17" boards, two screws per joint, forming a rectangle. This frame is what carries the top infill.

Set the inner frame between the two leg assemblies and drive four screws per side — spaced wide apart and ANGLED in different directions. The opposing angles are the trick: parallel screws pull out together under racking; opposed ones lock the joint like dovetailed nails.

Lay the remaining 17" boards inside the frame, snug them evenly, and screw each down with one screw per end.

Sand everything, round the top edges well, and finish (or don't — bare framing lumber outdoors just goes silver). Then make the second one, because side tables are like bookends.