Introduction: Useful Triangular Table From Old Cabinet Door

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About: I am a mom of 3, a grandmother of 6, and an accountant. My hobbies are gardening and woodworking.

I received a text from my son with the above image.

"Can u make a triangular table?" he asked.

Step 1: Buy an Old Cabinet Door From Re-Store

I got this old cabinet door at our local Re-Store for $1.25 during a half off sale.

I measured the space behind the couch, the three lengths of the triangle. Armed with that information and using the Law of Cosines (which I had mastered in high school, but was a little rusty after many years), I figured out the angles of the corners. They were not EXACTLY 38° and 71° and 71° as in the picture. They were more like 38° and 68° and 74° but I just went with the easier angles.

Step 2: Cut the Triangle, Attach Legs

I used my trusty DeWalt cordless circular saw for cutting the triangle. I then sanded a little, and found this old cabinet door to be rather charming. I then went to YouTube in search of the best ideas for legs for a triangular table, and I found this entertaining guy.who made a triangular table that looked like pizza. Loosely based on his table, I settled on scrap birch plywood legs 8" wide, 3/4" thick, 31" high. I attached the legs to the top and base using pocket screws.

Step 3: Attach a Shelf

For the extra shelf, with all these angles, I had to force a piece of manila folder into the opening and fold, bend, and cut until I had a template. I then traced the manila folder onto another piece of birch plywood, and cut using my circular saw. I screwed this into place.

Then I noticed how ugly the visible pocket holes were, so I made another shelf just above the pocket holes to hide them. Now I had 2 extra shelves and a secret compartment below.

Step 4: Finishing Touches

After adding the second shelf, I had some holes to fill. I stained and polyurethaned the top. Since the legs, base, and shelves are made from birch plywood, I primed and painted the body. I decided on gray because...that's all I had.

Step 5: Treasure

This odd looking table will fit well in its odd space. Hard to believe this treasure was once an old dusty cabinet door!