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This is a small round dining table with a genuinely useful trick: the base isn't a simple pedestal, it's a two-shelf storage cube. The four legs frame two open 20" x 20" shelves — a spot for placemats, board games, a fruit bowl — right under the table where you'd otherwise have wasted space.
The build leans on store-bought parts to skip the hard stuff. The round top is a pre-made unfinished 42"–48" tabletop from a home center, and the feet are pre-cut bun feet, so you're not turning a pedestal or gluing up a circle. What you build is the square base: legs made of paired 1x2 and 1x3, two plywood shelves, and a double apron (an inner apron for structure and an outer 1x3 apron for looks) that ties it all together and gives the top something to bolt to.
The legs are L-shaped in section — a 1x2 and a 1x3 nailed together — which is what lets the aprons and shelves land cleanly on two faces of each corner. Watch the two apron layers: the inner apron carries the load and receives the tabletop screws; the outer apron is the finished face. When you attach the top, predrill through the inner apron and be careful not to drill through the top itself. If your bun feet came with hanger bolts, use the surface-mount plates; if not, just screw up through the bottom shelf into the feet with a long predrilled screw.
| Item | Qty |
|---|---|
| Round tabletop, unfinished, 42–48 inStore-bought (Lowe's/Home Depot). | 1 each |
| Bun feet, unfinished, 4-3/4 inPre-cut. | 4 each |
| Surface-mount leg brackets | 4 each |
| Hardwood plywood or MDF, 3/4 in (~1/4 sheet)Shelves. | 1 each |
| 1x3, 8 ftLeg parts and outer apron. | 2 each |
| 1x2, 8 ftLeg parts, inner apron, shelf trim. | 4 each |
| Brad nails, 1-1/4 in | 1 box |
| Wood screws, 2 in | 1 box |
| Wood glue | 1 bottle |
| Finish | 1 quart |
Overall cost: $$$. Lumber prices vary by region, species, and season, so we give a band rather than a figure we would only be pretending to know.
| Part | Qty | T × W × L |
|---|---|---|
| Leg 1x2 parts1x2 | 4 | 3/4" × 1 1/2" × 28 1/2" |
| Leg 1x3 parts1x3 | 4 | 3/4" × 2 1/2" × 28 1/2" |
| Shelves3/4 in plywood | 2 | 3/4" × 20" × 20" |
| Inner apron (1x2 sides)1x2 | 2 | 3/4" × 1 1/2" × 20" |
| Inner apron (1x3 sides)1x2 | 2 | 3/4" × 1 1/2" × 18 1/2" |
| Outer apron (1x2 sides)1x3 | 2 | 3/4" × 2 1/2" × 17" |
| Outer apron (1x3 sides)1x3 | 2 | 3/4" × 2 1/2" × 16 1/2" |
| Shelf trim (1x2 sides)1x2 | 4 | 3/4" × 1 1/2" × 17" |
| Shelf trim (1x3 sides)1x2 | 4 | 3/4" × 1 1/2" × 16 1/2" |
Buy 8 boards at 8 ft.
1 board
3 boards
4 boards
Assumes 8 ft stock, a 1/8" saw kerf, and buying each part at its own width. Change the board size or kerf on the full board plan →
Build each leg by nailing a 1x2 and a 1x3 together into an L-shaped section, using glue. The L profile gives you two clean faces at each corner for the aprons and shelves to land on. Make all four identical.
Fasten the two plywood shelves to the legs, nailing through the outsides of the legs into the edges of the shelves. The shelves set the base's square footprint, so check they sit level and the legs stay parallel.
Attach the inner apron pieces to the 1x2 faces of the legs with 1-1/4" nails, and nail through the 1x3 legs into the end edges of the apron. Repeat around all four sides. This inner apron is the structural ring and the layer the tabletop will screw into later.
Add the outer 1x3 apron pieces as the finished face, keeping top edges flush. Then trim the shelf edges with the 1x2 shelf-trim pieces. These layers hide the plywood edges and give the base a solid, furniture-grade front.
Center the base upside down on the underside of the round top and predrill through the inner apron into the top with 2" screws — go slow and watch your depth so you don't drill through the top surface. Sand and finish the base and top together for a consistent look.
Mount the surface-mount leg plates to the bottom of the base and thread the bun feet in. If your feet didn't come with hanger bolts, skip the plates and instead screw up through the bottom shelf into each foot with a long, predrilled screw so the foot doesn't split.
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