Who says you need to know what you're doing to build cool stuff? We just built a new, crazy-colored table for the front yard, completely out of scrap wood. Paint that thing with the brightest colors you can find in the style of a hyper little kid, and you've got yourself some unique lawn art.

I won't be winning any awards for craftsmanship, but the final product actually looks pretty cool and will be fun addition to the summer chill-out area. We love being outside as much as possible when the weather is nice (as most of us do), so having enough seating and table space is important.

How did I build this table out of scrap wood? Well, it obviously starts with having decent pieces of scrap wood. We had a few good pieces of leftover cedar from a deck project, which made for a sturdy frame and table legs. Nothing fancy - just some extra framing underneath the tabletop.

The tabletop piece is an oddly cut piece of plywood that we had originally cut for the trunk of a '66 Triumph. It never fit quite right and we didn't use it, but I didn't have the heart to toss the wood. It's just been leaning against the back wall of the garage for two years. Now I need a decent sized tabletop for the front yard - this weirdly shaped plywood gets a second chance. Who cares if it's got strange notches in it? Nobody's going to notice when they're drinking beer in the yard this summer.

photo: Michelle Wolfe
photo: Michelle Wolfe
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Keeping in mind the simplicity of this entire project, it should come as no surprise that I had to paint the tabletop in the brightest, craziest colors we could find. Just smear it on there like a little kid and make it as bright as possible. It's art - just not fine art. But it's so ridiculous, you can't help but smile a bit when you see it.

CHECK OUT ALL THESE SCRAP WOOD PROJECT IDEAS

After we got all the pieces screwed together (as straight as possible), it was time to protect this work of art. It's going to live outside for months at a time so I've been diligent about deck-staining and clear-coating this thing. This project may be entirely scrap wood but I did spend quite a bit of time and energy. It's worth the additional time to weather-proof your hard work.

Photo by Lucas van Oort on Unsplash
Photo by Lucas van Oort on Unsplash
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(Can you imagine how cool it might be to re-purpose an aging, unloved picnic table? If you or someone you know has something like this falling apart on their property, turn it into something new and funky!)

The tabletop got three coats of basic outdoor clear coat, including the thin sides and underside. Every piece of cedar got three coats of leftover Messmers UV protectant deck stain in 'Natural Cedar'. A little more weather strength and a nice, warm color.

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Photo by Ries Bosch on Unsplash
Photo by Ries Bosch on Unsplash
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