Coffee Table Mashup

Today I have a coffee table mashup story for you.

I’m so cool that when I decided to use the word mashup I had to Google it to determine if this slang was written as one word, two words, or hyphenated.

So cool, indeed.

Wait. Do the cool kids say ‘cool’ these days?

I should probably ask my 13-year-old, but I’ve already reached my daily quota on eye rolls. 

Anyway, you might be wondering what a coffee table mashup is?

It’s when you combine different coffee table parts to make a new coffee table.

A top from one coffee table, a base from a different coffee table and bada-bing bada-boom you have a coffee table mashup!

I have a feeling this term is going to catch on like wildfire any day now. Any. day.

I have been looking for a new base for my round coffee table for 18 months, ever since we moved into the Colonial Farmhouse.

Huh. Maybe patience IS one of my virtues.

The round coffee table was originally a dining room table I bought at a thrift store for $9.60. I gave it a terrible makeover that about killed me. I fully admit that while I LOVE the blue color, it wasn’t one of my better paint jobs.

However, I’m not a perfectionist, so I’m just rolling with it. I also can’t let that table get the best of me, so I have to show it who is boss by using it in my home. I’m mature that way. 

When we moved here, we took the legs off this dining room table and turned it into a coffee table by adding hairpin legs.

The hairpin legs were what I had on hand from another table we built. While they were not what I wanted for this space, the hairpin legs worked while I could search for a unique base for my round coffee table.

Fast forward 18 months and on a cold day in December I was idly perusing a thrift shop when I spotted a potential base for my coffee table. It was $39.

What I didn’t realize at the time was that the thrift shop had placed the table base upside down. The glass on top of the brass coffee table base was too heavy for me to move to inspect the table base further. That meant I wasn’t sure if we could attach the base of that table to the top of my table. 

So I left the brass coffee table and all my hopes and dreams at the thrift store.

You know my mantra on leaving stuff behind at a thrift store. If it is meant to be, it will still be there when I go back a week later to purchase it.

It makes me laugh because the things I leave behind are usually the items no one else wants. Then I can’t decide whether or not to be relieved or offended that the item I wanted is still there.

True story.

Another true story is that I spent more time thinking about this brass coffee table than it did to attach the new brass base to my old coffee table top. The brass bars on the base are hollow and were predrilled on the bottom, so we just had to use the existing holes to attach the base to the top. It took five minutes and my brass coffee table mashup was complete.

I will say the brass base isn’t quite as sturdy as the hairpin legs, but I have a plan to fix that in the future. I just need another 18 months to find the perfect thing…

Once I find the perfect thing, I’ll be able to use that piece of glass that is now sitting in the garage. Man, in the meantime, I hope it survives without getting cracked. 

All that aside, my brass coffee table mashup still makes me ridiculously happy because I managed to create a table that’s completely unique.

My style has definitely evolved over the years. Combining furniture and art from different decades with items we have DIYed gives my home a collected-over-time look that is still distinctive and fresh. At least, that’s the goal! 

I smile every time I look at this brass coffee table! If there’s one thing I know it is that your home should make you feel good! 

P.S. If this was a true fairy tale story, the glass top of the new coffee table would have been a perfect fit to sit on top of the round blue top of my original table, but it’s not. It is a few inches too small.

P.P.S. We used 16″ hairpin legs on our coffee table originally. With the combined height of the table top, that raised the coffee table up to approximately 18 inches. The ones we purchased are no longer available, but these are almost identical and have excellent reviews.

Have you ever created a coffee table mashup? Or any other furniture mashup? Do tell! Here are some other adventures with furniture for you to read:

Refinishing a Dining Table with a Natural Finish

Modern Live Edge Side Table – Target Hack

Makeover: Dresser with Brass Details

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