DIY Entry Table Tutorial

I wanted to make a tutorial for the entry table I made because the one I followed wasn't as easy to follow as I'd hoped. Except sorry for the lack of pictures. I got the idea for this table from this blog HERE. She doesn't show it on that post, but she added a bottom shelf later.

You will need:
Wood (I'll detail the measurements below-Home Depot or Lowes will cut it all for free, just ask)
Wood putty
1 1/4 inch screws
Wood Glue
Drawer handles/hardware
Stain (or paint, personal preference) ((I used the darkest stain they had @ Walmart)
Stain sealant coat (optional, just locks in the stain better)
Paint (I used off white, but again, personal preference)
Sand Paper (220 grit and a stronger grit for distressing)
Q-tips (you can actually pre-stain the whole thing and skip the q-tip step, it just takes more paint to cover over the stain)
Drill
Painter's Tape
(You can get almost everything but the wood at Walmart and it's cheaper than the big hardware stores)

Wood:
4 2x2's 31" long for LEGS (you could go a little longer or shorter, depending on how tall you want your table to be)
2 2x2's 11" long for BOTTOM SHELF
2 2x2's 43" long for BOTTOM SHELF
2 2x6's 11" long for SIDES*
2 2x6's 43" long for FRONT AND BACK*
3 2x4's 11 1/2" long for 'DRAWERS'
1 48x16" board for table top (at Lowes they had this length pre-cut and wrapped in plastic)
*Use 12 foot long boards for these and have the leftover length cut into as many 15" pieces as you can to use as planks for the BOTTOM SHELF. You may need more depending on how far apart you want to space them, I just used what I had and spaced them farther apart. (see final table picture for understanding)
**You need all of your 2x2's to be VERY STRAIGHT. If they are not straight, you will end up having to re-cut some of your pieces to make them fit right. Just dig through the piles until you get really straight pieces.

Putting Table Together:
1. Glue your 'drawers' (please note that these drawers are fake, just boards glued to the front board) to one of the 43" long 2x6 pieces leaving just under 2" between each board and the sides. Let dry.
2. Glue the legs and sides upside down to the bottom of the table top with your wood glue (may need to hold for a minute or two until glue is dry enough to keep them standing alone). You can see a photo of how this was done in the link to the blog I followed above.
3. Flip table right side up. Glue your two 43" 2x2's and your two 11" 2x2's four inches up from the bottom to the inside of the legs.
4. Glue your plank pieces to the 43" 2x2's, space equally apart so they stretch the entire length. (See final table picture for understanding).
5. Drill screws into all major connection points to add sturdiness to your table. This is at your discretion. Make sure screws go deeper into the wood than the surface so you can cover them with putty.

Second Phase:
1. Wood putty all of the screw holes. Wait to dry according to putty instructions, then sand until smooth. Wipe dust off with a dry cloth.
2. Sand table top with 220 grit sandpaper (very fine) in the direction of the wood grain. Remove dust with dry cloth. Use a clean dry cloth, or paint brush, and apply wood stain in the direction of the grain. Wipe off excess stain. Do additional layers to get a darker color if desired.
**You can stain the entire table to skip the q-tip distressing step. It will just require you to add more layers of paint to cover up the stain.
3. Allow stain to dry, then tape off the table top and cover with plastic (I used grocery bags). Paint everything but the stained top with an off-white wall paint (this is just what I used, you can use any color, but I found that the canned paint worked much better than spray paint). I painted 2 layers (wait for the 1st to dry before applying the 2nd).
4. Allow entire table to dry completely.

Final Touches:
1. Sand all corners/edges to give the table a distressed look. Make sure to sand down to the natural wood (or to the stain if you stained the entire table).
2. Q-TIP STEP-dip a q-tip into your stain and lightly brush/dab it onto the natural wood you sanded down to. Wipe off excess quickly with a rag. May need more than 1 coat. (Can skip this step if you stain entire table before painting)
3. Drill your drawer handles into your fake drawers.

DONE!