Category: DIY Furniture

We’ve been known to say that all it takes to make a table is a set of modern metal table legs and some beautiful wood. Many of our customer’s DIY furniture projects stay rustic or rough-cut. We love that look but Jill points out how beautiful a project can be when you sand and seal it to a perfect finish. Her table is made from an old piece of oak and was made by her Dad. Here’s what Jill says:

My dad made the table from 100-year old oak from a barn loft that he got from a family friend…it has about 8 coats of water based polyacrylic, high gloss (General Finishes brand). I wanted it to be as rustic as possible, which was difficult for my dad, who is a perfectionist when it comes to building with wood. It is made with three planks only. He will be 80 years old this year.

Great story! Having homemade furniture with a story like this behind it is such a treasure! Jill’s table is made with our modern angle iron legs. This style of metal table legs is a bit different than our hairpin legs. We start with straight angle iron and cut them so they taper down to the floor. Then we add small feet to the bottom for support and a nice finishing touch.

Thank you for sharing your table, Jill. It’s beautiful!

The mountain pine beetle has killed millions of trees over the past two decades. But loggers and lumber companies are helping out with all the dead wood, and it turns out beetle-kill pine makes astounding pieces of furniture.

Furniture made from this wood can be quite different than wood from the same species not affected by the beetle. The pine beetle transports a fungus that discolors the wood. The result is beautifully colored pine that is often turned into such masterpieces as tables and desks. Of course we think such special wood would go best with metal legs – hairpin legs or otherwise and Mike helped us prove the point!

Mike, owner of Woodshed Production in Issaquah, WA, put this live edge beetle killed ponderosa pine slab atop our tapered angle iron metal legs. What a combo! The mix of beetle killed wood and a live edge slab really tells a story about the tree. We love that Mike keeps coming back for more metal legs!

We love the way our modern angle iron legs look on Mike’s table, but if you’re looking for something with softer lines, our hairpin legs are your best bet. Our original hairpin legs are bent hairpin legs at their simplest and offer a nice counterpoint to the angles of a table top.

No matter what you use, make sure you send us a picture when you’re done. We love seeing new DIY furniture designs!

Having a DIY furniture project in your home can be like having a piece of history living with you. Imagine having a pew from an old grange hall or floor boards from an old covered bridge in your home. For those of us on the lookout for a unique furniture project, the source material might be nearby already.

Dave has that experience thanks to our metal bench legs. Dave tells us about the origin of his bench:

An old piece of cedar on it’s 3rd life as an indoor bench. It’s been an outdoor garden bench for 24 years and a bridge over a creek ’til it washed downstream. The legs are perfect for this 4 x 10 x 5 ft. slab of wood.

Thanks Dave, what a great way to preserve this piece of wood in a practical and functional way. A set of metal legs can turn artifacts such as these into living pieces of history you can use every day. Both our hairpin legs and bench legs do a great job of turning your own personal artifact into functional furniture for your home. Bringing a meaningful piece of wood to life is magical! We offer many varieties in both hairpin legs and bench legs so you can be a part of that magic. Multiple sizes and styles of metal legs provide the perfect option for every project.

Some folks choose to use our metal legs outside as well as inside. Having solid metal legs for patio furniture works great. As the weather starts to warm up its fun to think about enjoying the warmer seasons on your own homemade patio furniture. Our metal legs are up to the job! You can treat the legs with a clear coat or wax if you’d like to seal them, or leave them how they are. Our metal legs are so thick they can take outdoor exposure and will keep your furniture strong and stable for years to come.

The great thing about hairpin legs is that they let you do what you want! If you can think it up chances are hairpin legs can help you make something amazing. Check out Paul’s fun night stand. Taking an old suitcase and making it into a one of a kind night stand is a great idea! Our metal legs are so versatile they can easily be used to create tables like this. And what a great place for out of sight storage this table makes!

Standalone legs like this really make an endless variety of furniture projects possible. Each hairpin leg can be firmly screwed or bolted into the furniture top itself. We frequently see wooden tabletops as they are quite easy to screw into. Projects like Paul’s are also possible because the hairpin legs can be used with so many materials. On a thinner material like this suitcase you can use bolts with washers and nuts to hold the legs firmly in place on each side.

Four metal legs is a great standard number but perhaps a smaller project like a stool only needs three. Larger projects may use five or more legs to support a long table or bench top. The possibilities are endless. What crazy furniture ideas do you have? We’d love to be a part of them. Send us pics of your hairpin leg creations!

We like to say our metal legs are fit to use on just about any project. The hairpin legs can be used for a table, bench, or bureau. The bench legs can be used for a bench, table, or bookshelf. We offer a wide variety of styles and sizes but sometimes a custom order is called for. We love that our customers come up with great furniture ideas and custom ordered metal legs to go with them! If there’s something you have in mind, just let us know. Chances are if it’s made of metal we’ll be able to make it. Allison loves her custom metal legs. And the finished product is amazing! The legs on this table are a customized version of our flat bar bench legs. But clearly they are doing a great job as a table! Allison said:

Just wanted to send a big thank you for the custom built legs! They were perfect for the project and the end result turned out gorgeous! Thanks again for all your help!

Amazing table Allison! The clear finish is so pristine it is hard to see where the table ends and the rest of the room begins! We are happy we were able to come up with the right set of metal legs for this table.

Storage and multiple uses of space are great ideas to consider whenever undertaking a project for your house. The way Allison’s table was designed clearly took space into consideration. The custom metal legs make the table tall enough to easily store stools underneath. This makes for ease of use around the table when it’s not in use. The stools are already out of the way and the table serves as another horizontal surface for kitchen prep work, a stand-up workspace, or whatever else is needed at the moment. Thank you for sharing Allison – beautiful table!

We like to say our hairpin legs can go on practically anything, and part of why we offer such a wide variety of styles and sizes is to make sure they can! Short hairpin legs are not just for short furniture; they offer greater options in general. Sure, the 4” hairpin leg can be used to make a great footstool or ottoman. But they are also great for larger pieces of furniture that stay close to the ground.

Dressers accommodate shorter hairpin legs perfectly. It can be difficult to find a strong and attractive leg style for furniture that holds as much weight as a dresser can. But metal hairpin legs are always up to the challenge. Dressers themselves are heavy and filling them full of clothing and other belongings quickly piles on weight. Having stable and durable legs is a must. Our metal legs come in a variety of thicknesses – right up to 5/8” steel rod. That’s a durable set of legs! Tricia used our 4-inch hairpin legs to make this great dresser. Here’s what Tricia had to say about the project:

I’ve been meaning to send you a photo of my finished project with the custom hairpin legs you made me. I LOVE them and get tons of compliments! Thank you for making my vision reality. 🙂

Thank you for sharing Tricia, great project! We offer a number of styles and sizes…Tricia chose the square bar hairpin legs. They nicely compliment the square aspects of the dresser itself. Nice pairing!

We’re excited to share this hairpin leg console Jerrud made. For those who like a challenge, check this out! There is a reason we offer such variety in our hairpin leg sizes. Even though this is such a large piece of furniture, it needs quite short legs. Lifting the furniture just a little bit off of the floor makes all the difference. Adding small and tasteful metal legs to a piece can make it an elegant piece of furniture; it makes everything flow smoothly from a design perspective.

We all go about building in our own way. Some of us look around the garage for useful materials that could be repurposed into a nice piece of furniture. We’ve been known to throw a set of metal legs onto an old door and call it a table. Any kind of hairpin leg furniture is fine by us, but Jerrud takes planning to a higher level. From planning with CAD software to having professionally cut wood Jerrud’s project is DIY in name only…he went about creating this table like a pro! Here’s a peek into Jerrud’s process,

This is my latest custom media console. I draw the table in Adobe Illustrator and send the pieces to be cut on a CNC panel saw. I assemble and finish in my shop. I’ve used Modern Legs on 5 tables now and am very happy with the quality.

Thanks for sharing your process, Jerrud. We’re so glad we can be a resource for your unique and beautiful furniture designs! We can’t wait to see what your next hairpin leg project will be!

Desks come in all shapes and sizes – especially if you make it yourself! A custom made desk is pretty well guaranteed to fit exactly what you are looking for. When making your own furniture you can make sure it meets your personal needs as well as fitting perfectly into the space you want it will live. This simple and elegant desk fits all of Dean’s needs without hogging too much space. Notice how sturdy the hairpin legs are without taking up much space. This desk will be solidly supported by the 3 rod hairpin legs Dean chose while leaving lots of room for chair and leg space underneath. The edges of this wooden tabletop are nicely rounded – a nice touch for comfort when sitting close. This project is a great example of how simple it can be to make a desk and also a great example of how beautiful the finished product can be. This table consists of a solid wooden tabletop with hairpin legs securely attached underneath.

 

Choosing the hairpin leg style for your furniture is fun! If you like to stick with the basics, the original hairpin leg might be for you. Our standard hairpin legs are a great option when the legs are intended to support the table and highlight the tabletop without stealing the show.

Our square bar hairpin legs are another simple style of bent hairpin legs. Creating the same shape, the square bar metal leg offers the same support while the metal rod is square; bringing a different look to the piece over all. These are perfect for a more rustic look or when matching wrought iron features in the surrounding area.

The 3 rod hairpin legs—which Dean chose to use–add a third upright to the original bar. This metal leg style will hold more weight for projects where added weight may be a concern. But they also add a nice visual dimension as you can see from Dean’s desk. For more unique hairpin legs check out our Just the Tip and Twist hairpin legs. They offer more unique lines while still sticking with the modern hairpin leg theme.

Live edge wood is so unique! Capturing a tree’s living edge adds a rough, wild look to furniture. The smooth finished surface of the inner wood itself nicely compliments the live edge while providing a smooth working surface. Laurie’s live edge black walnut sofa table is just gorgeous!

The dark and light wood adds such depth to the table. As you can see the slab itself is quite thick. Tabletops certainly do not have to be this thick to function properly, but it is such a nice piece of wood we wouldn’t change it either! Our Just the Tip hairpin legs go very nicely with this table. The strong durable aspects of the wood are nicely matched with the extra “tip” or foot of this hairpin leg style. Here is what Laurie had to say,

Thank you so much…the legs you sent are wonderful. We will be ordering more and telling others!

Laurie’s choice of table really ads a finished look to the room. Instead of looking at the back of a couch now there is an eye catching, one of a kind table there. All our hairpin legs come in a large range of sizes from as small as 4-inches all the way up to 30-inches.

If you’re not sure what size you should order, there are some standard table heights. Coffee tables are typically 16-18 inches in height. Dining room tables are typically 30 inches high. But more important than the standards, are your home’s measurements. Couches, for example, can vary in height. Do you want to be able to access your couch table while sitting, or while standing from the other side? Is your couch lower or higher than a standard couch? Making a table for your current couch will determine its height.

One more great thing about our metal legs is: you don’t have to commit to your table height forever. If you upgrade your couch later and it is a different height, you can always order another set of hairpin legs from us and change them out for the current set. Then the old set can be used for another awesome piece of hairpin leg furniture!

An entryway table can do more than just provide a neat place to put things. It can be a welcome home. Walking in to a table you made is a great feeling. Entryway tables can be simple and sparse or they can provide a home to all the useful things you need near the front door.

How difficult is it to build your own entryway table? It can be as simple or complex as you’d like it to be. You can get a pre-sized piece of wood from your local sawmill or hardware store and attach your hairpin legs. Or you can make an elaborate piece if you’re up for the challenge. Here’s what Sean chose to do:

I used the 28″ just the tip legs from you. The wood is 125 year old cedar from the original water tower of the town of Minot ND railway. The pieces are 4″ thick 8″ wide and 54″ long. I rough sanded with 80 grit and finished with 120. I used a 2-part resin glaze and did 2 coats. For a little metal on the top I used metal flashing and lag bolts.

Repurposing a salvaged piece of wood is a great way to make furniture. Not only does it keep building materials out of the landfill but unique pieces like Sean’s give additional meaning to homemade furniture. If you see a renovation project going on in an old building ask them what they’re doing with the old wood – you may be going home with a new tabletop! Thanks for sharing, Sean, we love your entryway table!