What's inside
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This side table uses a solid hardwood top, a shallow apron and four splayed legs. The top appears to float because it overhangs the base and the apron sits back from its edges. A hidden sliding attachment lets the wood expand and contract without splitting.
Contents
Size and materials
The plan makes a table about 20 inches square and 22 inches high. Adjust the top size to suit your room, but keep the leg and apron proportions similar. Choose straight, dry stock; boards that are twisted or still losing moisture make accurate joinery harder and can move noticeably after assembly.
You’ll need hardwood for the top, legs and aprons, plus screws or figure-eight fasteners for attaching the top. Cherry, maple, white oak and walnut all work. Pick boards with consistent thickness and no cracks near the joints. A selection of furniture-grade hardwood boards is convenient if you don’t have access to a local lumberyard, but inspect the grain and dimensions before buying.
| Wood | Practical trade-off | Good fit if |
|---|---|---|
| Cherry | Easy to work and darkens with light; softer than maple. | You want a warm, traditional look. |
| Maple | Hard and durable, but can burn or show glue stains. | The table will get frequent use. |
| White oak | Strong and distinctive grain; open pores need more care when filling. | You want a pronounced grain pattern. |
| Walnut | Works cleanly and looks rich; often costs more. | You value its dark color enough to pay the premium. |
Tools and stock preparation
A table saw, miter saw, drill, clamps and a router are useful, but the plan can be adapted to hand tools. For clean, consistent legs, a hand plane can flatten and refine faces without tearout, though a sharp plane takes practice. A random-orbit sander is faster for final smoothing; don’t rely on it to flatten a cupped board.
Mill the top boards to the same thickness, then joint and edge them straight before gluing. For a 20-inch top, glue up boards to a finished width of roughly 20 inches and a thickness of ¾ to 1 inch. Let the panel rest overnight after glue-up, then trim it square. Mark the best face and keep the grain direction consistent across the panel.
Make the floating top
Glue the top from narrower boards rather than trying to find one wide, stable board. Apply an even film of wood glue to the edges, clamp the panel on a flat surface and check for bow with a straightedge. Use enough pressure to close the seams, not so much that you starve them. Scrape squeeze-out after it gels; wet glue spread across the face can leave finish-resistant patches.
After trimming, ease the top edges with a small roundover—about ⅛ inch is enough—or sand them lightly by hand. A large roundover makes a small table look bulky. Sand through 120, 150 and 180 grit, checking for glue spots and cross-grain scratches before moving on.
Build the base and splayed legs
Cut four legs to about 21 inches long, allowing for the top thickness and final leveling. Taper each leg from roughly 1¼ inches square at the top to ⅞ inch square near the foot. Keep the inside faces untapered at the top so the apron joints have a flat landing. A taper jig improves repeatability; a hand plane also works if you mark the taper carefully.
Cut four aprons to fit between the legs, about 3½ inches high. For a 20-inch top with a 1-inch overhang on each side, the outside dimensions of the base should be about 18 inches square. Splay the legs outward by roughly 5 degrees in both directions. The exact angle is less important than making all four legs match and keeping the feet inside the tabletop footprint.
Mortise-and-tenon joints are strong and suit this design, but accurate angled mortises take care. For a simpler build, use loose tenons or dowels with a square shoulder and dry-fit every joint before gluing. Don’t use screws alone as the main leg-to-apron connection: repeated side loads can loosen them. Assemble the two end frames first, check for square, then join them with the remaining aprons. Clamp on a flat surface and measure diagonals; matching measurements indicate a square frame.
Attach the top without restricting movement
Solid wood changes width across the grain as humidity shifts. Fixing the top rigidly with screws through round holes can split it or pull the base out of square. Attach it with figure-eight fasteners, tabletop clips or screws through elongated holes in the apron. A set of figure-eight tabletop fasteners is inexpensive and straightforward to install.
Center the base under the top, leaving a 1-inch overhang on all sides. Install fasteners so they can pivot, or place screws near the center of elongated slots and leave the screws slightly loose. The slots must run across the table’s width, not along its length, so the top can move across the grain. Don’t glue the top to the aprons.
Finish and check the table
Sand the base to 180 grit and break sharp edges lightly. Test the finish on an offcut from the same boards: stain can look very different on end grain or on woods with contrasting color. For a simple protective finish, apply two or three thin coats of hardwax oil or wipe-on polyurethane, following the product’s drying instructions. Thick coats are more likely to look uneven and collect dust.
Set the table on a level floor and check for rocking. If one foot is high, mark the gap and trim that foot carefully; don’t force the base flat with a clamp, which can twist the joints. A final check for loose fasteners, glue residue and sharp corners takes little time and catches the defects most noticeable in everyday use.