UncategorizedAntique Dough Bowl Turned Coffee Table May 28, 2014 Growing up, my parents kept an old dough bowl like this on their dining room table. It was smaller, of course, but I always thought it was beautiful. I loved the rustic, hand-carved quality that it had. You could see where someone had carefully carved it, each stroke different than the last. That bowl belonged to my great, great-grandmother and it was one of my first introductions to rustic antiques. I said that one day, I wanted to own one like it. A couple of months ago, I came across this five foot dough bowl at Cline’s Antiques in Charlotte. I immediately fell in love with it, though I didn’t consider what one does with a five foot long wooden bowl. After getting it home, I knew it was impractical and I was going to have to re-purpose it to keep it. We have a small house and everything needs a function. I decided to turn it into a coffee table during Round 3 of Creating with the Stars and I am so excited to share the tutorial with you guys! Dough bowls come in all shapes and sizes, but for this project, you want to make sure it has a flat rim around the bowl part. Some are just a bowl without the extra trim and that would make attaching the legs very difficult. Any legs that you like the look of will work. I’ve been wanting to use some mid-century hairpin legs for a while and thought they would be perfect for this project! I found ours on eBay and they aren’t incredibly cheap ($50 for a set of 4), but they’re solid steel and add a great industrial quality to the table. Alright, let’s make a table! Step 1: Test Legs When we went to attach the legs to the bowl, we realized that even though our rim is fairly flat, these are hand-carved and it wasn’t exact. So, we sketched around where we wanted the leg to go. Yours may be flat and you wouldn’t have this issue, but you want the legs to rest completely against the bowl so that the table will be level. Step 2: Chisel, if Necessary Since ours was not completely flat, we chiseled out a level section where we had sketched. Now, our legs will rest perfectly against the bowl! Step 2: Attach Legs We got all of the legs attached, then we flipped her over and she was ready for a top! (I realize the table does not look level here, but it’s the cart it’s sitting on.) Step 4: Measure Plexi-glass We had planned to use real glass at first, and then realized that with a large dog who loves to run around the house, this was a safer option and it doesn’t look any different once it’s cut and on the table. We got this large sheet at Home Depot. It’s much thicker than your regular plexi-glass, which makes it more stable. Place it on the table and measure where it needs to be cut. We decided to give ours an inch overhang all the way around because again, hand-carved dough bowls don’t have an exactly straight edge. Step 5: Cut Plexi-glass We used a jigsaw to carefully cut on the lines we had drawn. Make sure to use a fine tooth blade. Step 6: Sand Edges We went slow with cutting the plexi-glass, so we got a really straight line. We lightly sanded the edges with 400 grit paper to make sure we had a really smooth line. Step 7: Place your Glass! We chose not to permanently attach the plexi-glass so that we could remove it and use the bowl for things if we wanted. But with it styled, it is weighted down and won’t move. The best part about this project is that the old quality is still preserved and we now have a functional display piece out of a piece of history. This photograph was taken at a friend’s house because we couldn’t share anything during the contest that would give away it was our home. I would love to live here, though! We now have it and the Moroccan Wedding Blanket in our living room at home and we love it. I’ll share a living room refresh picture soon. Happy table making!
angela says May 28, 2014 at 10:23 am You have no idea how much I love this table! I’m a huge fan of dough bowls, too and you completely made it usable and contemporary! Angela @ Number Fifty-Three Reply
Trina @ Let's Just Build a House says May 28, 2014 at 11:51 am I love those dough bowls, who would have thought it would make an excellent coffee table!! You!! Love it. Reply
Lindsay says May 28, 2014 at 1:15 pm Haha, thanks Trina! Just seeing the rim around it seemed like the perfect place to attach legs 🙂 Reply
Danielle @ 2 Little Superheroes says May 28, 2014 at 4:59 pm This is so smart! I never would have considered doing this. And it looks so great! I’ve been wanting to make a trip to Clines for months now. I’m only in Raleigh so I really need to make the trek. Reply
Lindsay says May 30, 2014 at 8:56 am Danielle, it is worth the drive! When I went, they had an entire 18′ truck bed filled with these! Probably 50 or so… Reply
Kristin @ bliss-athome.com says May 29, 2014 at 6:50 am Lindsay, I love that you could repurpose that into something functional for your home and that it triggers a memory for you. Such a great project 🙂 xo Kristin Reply
Lindsay says May 30, 2014 at 8:55 am Thanks Kristin! Those are my favorite kinds…projects with a story 🙂 Reply
Lindsay says May 30, 2014 at 8:54 am Thanks Elizabeth! And so happy for you with your BHG feature!!! Go girl 😉 Reply
Summer Hogan says May 29, 2014 at 7:51 pm I drool over that giant dough bowl and I may just have to head to Cline’s Antiques one day soon 🙂 Y’all did a fantastic job on this! I used that plexiglass on my pallet desk too and I love it! It’s just as good a regular glass! Reply
Lindsay says May 30, 2014 at 8:54 am You’ve got to go to Cline’s, Summer! You are so close and it is so worth it!!! Reply
Bethany @ Dwellings by DeVore says June 2, 2014 at 12:56 pm This is one of my favorite projects that you have done! So pretty and unique! I definitely need to go to Cline’s! Reply
Lindsay says June 5, 2014 at 8:19 am Thank you Bethany! You seriously have to go to Cline’s!!! Maybe we need to plan a Charlotte (and Greenville) blogger meet up and go! Reply
Bethany @ Dwellings by DeVore says June 5, 2014 at 1:58 pm We definitely should, that would be so fun! Reply
ileana says September 23, 2014 at 11:56 pm Hi! I have a bowl that I’ve wantedto do this with for a long time!! Like a console table. Would you mind sharing where you bought the legs for yours? I absolutely love it!! Ileana carlile Reply
carolyn says November 6, 2014 at 8:02 am IN. LOVE. with this project! It is amazing! I totally want one! Carolyn http://www.ccmcafeeperspective.com/ Reply
Christina says December 5, 2014 at 8:27 am What are the dimensions of your dough bowl? I just bought one and I fear it may be too big. Reply
Sandra Salisbury says June 27, 2016 at 2:39 pm Good job on you’re dough bowl table, it looks terrific! I think by adding the hairpin legs you have created a crossover piece from rustic to mid-century modern. Very clever!! Have you thought about putting something in the bowl such as coffee beans? Maybe you have one or 2 cups and saucers handed down from your mom or grandmother to go with them? They would add a ‘multi-era’ aroma to the room! ;~} Thank you for sharing your table! Reply
Megan says November 5, 2017 at 7:48 am How long are your hairpin legs? I have a large bread bowl and love this idea! Reply
Lindsay says November 5, 2017 at 9:18 pm Hi Megan! I think they were around 16″? We don’t have the table anymore sadly, but I remember we just searched standard coffee table height and bought accordingly 🙂 We found ours on eBay! Reply
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