Pottery Barn Dupe Console Table

I’ve been eyeing a well known Pottery Barn Console Table for a very long time! After adding it to my cart at least 30 times I never actually cashed out and I know so many of you can relate to that! I wanted it so bad, but I wasn’t willing to pay the price, especially when it never went on sale. So instead, I decided to try to make one! What’s the worst that could happen? It turns out awful and I’m out $100 in materials?! Big whoop! I’ll take the gamble!

I had no plans going into this! All I knew was, I wanted a simple look with a really pretty brushed glazed finish. I went in open minded and took it step by step.

Frame

I started with building the frame. I used 2 x 4 studs for this part. I used pocket holes throughout to seamlessly join together my frame. This took about an afternoon to figure out what measurements I wanted to go with along with how to structure it so it was solid and sturdy.

Wrapping the Frame

Once the frame was built I moved to my next step which was cutting all my plywood. The plywood is going to cover the frame to give it a seamless finish. I had a 4’x8′ 1/2″ sheet delivered to my house for this!

My plan is first to cut every single piece to size with adding on about 3 inches to my cuts. The reason I’m doing this is because after I make all my cuts, I’m going to be running my pieces through my table saw to get a bevel cut. I know this is technically an extra step but It made it easier to knock out all my initial cuts in a timely manner!

After running all my pieces through my table saw, my bevel cuts are now done and I am ready for to glue all my pieces to my frame.

I am using gorilla glue and a lot of clamps to when installing my pieces. I am not nailing these boards to the frame because I really want a seamless finish! We for sure don’t want to see those nails or screws. I would say that this part took me the longest because you had to wait for each board to adhere to the frame before moving on and I only had so many clamps to work with! I want to say I was able to do 2 sections at a time before I could free up some more clamps for my next sections.

Fill & Sand

Now that the frame is done and the plywood is installed we are ready to fill all the imperfections in those seams and sand our little hearts out!

I started mixing my sawdust with some glue to fill in my seams, but it was not my favorite finished look. So I switched over to my DryDex and loved how it turned out! It was less messy and had a smoother finish!

Once filled I went and sanded everything. Some spots needed an 80 grit and I slowly worked my way to 320! This gave me the most beautiful finish and I was ready for paint! I started with my orbital sander and finished with a 320 grit pad on my Finish sander.

Paint & Stain

For my finish look, I didn’t want to do just a stain. I really wanted to have a more brushed finish which led me to experimenting with decorative glaze. In order to capture that look you start with a base coat of paint. I skipped over the primer as I didn’t feel it was necessary and went straight to rolling my color of choice.

I started with Sherwin-Williams Accessible Beige, but once it was rolled on I noticed it carried a heavy gray undertone. I went back to SW and grabbed Sand Beach which appears to be a solid beige color with no gray undertones. And sure enough it was the perfect base coat I was hoping for!

After I painted the new color I sanded with a 320grit which gave me a perfect butter finish. Now we are ready to move onto the decorative glaze!

Items linked here!

First, I used a foam brush to coat small sections. I then quickly wiped it away a paper towel, which left just enough color! (note, this dries fast so act quickly during this stage.) Then I took a dry brush and smoothed it out using long brush strokes up and down. This method creates a subtle wood faux look without the heavy natural wood grain lines you may see in a traditional stain! Now I only did one coat of the Java decorative glaze however, if you want a darker look, you could go back and do two coats!

After the decorative glaze was on I went back and did three top coats of a water based polyurethane! I did not need to sand between these coats. I waited 24 hours for the polyurethane to cure before I began decorating.

And just like that she is finished and she is beautiful! I saved $900 by doing this myself and if I’m being honest, I think I love it even more than the Pottery Barn version. And that’s because I made it!! There is so much joy and pride that I feel when I look at this piece and I am so glad I took the jump and tried something new!

Watch Reel here!

Material List:

Below is a material list of all the items used. You can also click this affiliated link to be directed to my Lowe’s Storefront for all the items I purchased!

Shop materials here!

2×4 studs for the frame

Pocket hole screws

Wood screws

Wood glue

1/2” sheet of plywood (4’x8’)

DryDex

Sanding pads 80-320grit

Tack cloth

SW Sand Beach

Java Decorative Glaze

Water Based Polyurethane