DIY Real Wood Drum Side Table With Smart Light

We have had a small drum in Steph's garage for quite some time. We bought it at a thrift store a while back for $5. It never made it to the top of the to-do list for use in a project until now!

Step 1: Watch the Video

For more details, please video our website here .

Step 2: Gather Supplies and Remove Hardware

For this project we used:

• Tom Drum
• Wood Dowels
• Scrap piece of wood
• 12" glass round
• Cord set
• Aluminum foil
• WD-40
• Wood glue
• Drill
• Spade bit
• Sander
• Brad nailer

We removed all the hardware including the rings and drum heads--a borrowed drum key made this part really easy. When the drum heads were removed revealing the wood interior, it got us to thinking about the possibility of seeing if the plastic could be removed. We really liked the idea of having a natural wood table.

Step 3: Sand and Clear Coat

We found the plastic coating was glued only down one side so it was easy enough to muscle it off the drum. We sanded off the sticky part with a fine grit sandpaper.

We wanted to preserve the natural finish so we used a matte poly coating. We used three coats, sanding lightly between coats.

Step 4: Make the Stand

We made a very simple stand for the table using wood dowels.

We cut them to length, marked the placement of the holes for the smaller dowels. We used a spade bit to drill the holes.

Once everything was cut, we assembled the pieces and checked the fit. We then glued the smaller dowels into the larger ones, clamped it all in place and let it dry. After it was dry, we painted with white chalk paint.

Step 5: Make Support for Cord Set

We took a scrap piece of wood and cut it to fit inside the drum. We used a hole saw to cut a circle in the center. We added glue to the top of the legs and brad nailed the piece to the stand. The cord set was added through the hole.

Step 6: Set Up the Bulb

We used an LED WiZ smart light bulb which needed to be set up in the app. The nice thing about this bulb is it doesn't need a hub or additional hardware for it to work. It is connected via WIFi and remotely control through a smartphone. It can hold steady on one color or fade through many. We purposely left space all around the socket holder so that light could spill out the bottom of the table as well as through the top.

Step 7: Clean the Chrome Parts and Reassemble

The chrome on this drum was in pretty good condition but it needed a little cleaning. We cleaned it with WD-40 and crumpled up aluminum foil. This method cleaned well, brought back the shine and didn't scratch the metal. I'm sure someone could explain the science behind why it doesn't scratch!

All the parts, with the exception of the top ring and head, were put back on the drum which was then fitted over the stand. Once happy with the height of 21", we brad nailed the drum to the stand.

The top head and ring were then put back into place. Note: the bottom head was put back on, but it was cut away to allow for the stand to be inserted into the drum. Our drummer friend told us later that we could have left that head completely off and just used the ring.

A 12" round of glass was placed on top of the head to give the tabletop more support.

Step 8: Place the Table!

Now for the fun part--trying out all the various color schemes!

We added a few flat glass marbles to catch the light. Also, notice those things that look like bubbles? Those are actually dents in the drum head. If we had known how cool those "flaws" would look, we would have chosen the drum head that was way more used than this one!

We also made a version using a floor tom, which you can check out on our website !