How to Make a Round Coffee Table
This post may contain affiliate links, please see our policy for details.
How to make a round coffee table on the cheap to look like expensive marble. Sound impossible? Check out how easy it is to create yourself.
I was looking around for a small-ish coffee table to use in our 2nd living room with our sectional sofa. While scrolling online I was drawn to all of the fab round marble coffee tables but I just couldn’t justify the price.
Instead of caving in and buying one, I came up with a plan to make my own, for a fraction of the price.
How did I do it? With self-adhesive vinyl film.
You can find so many different styles and colors but I was looking for a specific one…faux marble. And I found the perfect one.
Supplies to make a faux marble coffee table
- self-adhesive vinyl film
- table top wood round
- scissors
- wallpaper smoothing tool
- hair dryer
- table legs or iron base
- table leg mounting plates
- drill
Once I had the vinyl film, I went to the home improvement store and picked up a pre-cut wood round.
Next, I searched for 3 wood table legs, that I ended up not using. Read on for more on that.
How difficult is it to make a DIY coffee table
This project ended up being super simple to make, once I figured out the table legs that I wanted to use.
I thought that applying the vinyl film would be difficult but it ended up being the easiest part of the process.
To get the most realistic faux marble coffee table the vinyl film must be glossy and you need to use a hair dryer to get the smoothest finish.
Making a round coffee table
The first step is to lay out the vinyl film on a sturdy work surface, sticky side facing up.
Place the wood round on top of the vinyl film and center it.
Next, cut the vinyl film to fit the wood tabletop, making sure to leave enough so that you can wrap the edges and secure it to the bottom of the table top.
Now it’s time to attach the vinyl film.
Don’t be intimidated by this step, it’s really simple to do.
First, lay the vinyl film on the table round, making sure your edges are even all the way around.
When you are happy with the placement of the vinyl film, start peeling back a portion of the backing (don’t peel it off at once. Just a little at a time).
Use the smoothing tool to carefully attach the film to the table top and smooth out any wrinkles. Don’t worry about the edge of the wood round, we’ll work on that after the top is complete.
Carefully work your way across the table round, peeling portions of the backing away and making sure the vinyl film is taught and smooth. Remember, leave the edges for the next step.
Once the film is attached and smoothed out, it’s time to work on the edges.
I used a hairdryer, on the highest and hottest setting, to create the smooth edges for our coffee table.
Placing the tabletop upside down on a stool, I gently pulled the edges of the vinyl film while blasting them with the hair dryer. I did this around the whole table top.
After the edges were smoothed out I was ready to attach the legs.
At first I thought I would use wood legs for my coffee table so I attached the leg mounting plates and screwed in the legs.
I didn’t care for the look with the new table top I created so I decided to try iron legs.
They were easy to attach with screws. I just turned the table upside down, found the center using a tape measure and attached the legs with screws.
Don’t forget to make sure the screws you use aren’t longer than the thickness of your table top or you will ruin your newly created surface.
You could totally go with the the wood legs if you’re looking for an inexpensive idea, or you could even paint the wood legs for another kind of look.
There are so many possibilities to create a look that fits your space.
That’s it!
Now you have a custom created faux marble round coffee table for your living room for a fraction of the cost of buying new.
