Awesome Tables

Ed from Fifty Percent Awesome wanted an arcade cabinet but didn’t have space for one. Instead, he built an arcade system inside of a custom coffee table. Under its lid, it has a 4-player controller, a de-cased LG TV, speakers, and a Raspberry Pi 400 for emulating games. It runs on AC power or Ryobi 18V power tool batteries. It all comes together in part two.

AshelArt makes unique round coffee tables with a built-in light show. Underneath its glass top are two circles of RGB LEDs and a mirror creating the illusion of depth. There are numerous animations to choose from which can sync with music. The base and frame are made from wood and come in 20″ and 25″ sizes.

Charles River Woodwork creates delightful handcrafted home decor. This 25″ x 25″ table has a built-in Scrabble board. Its recessed board has cutouts to hold tiles in place and is surrounded by letter racks for four players. A removable glass top lets you pause and resume games. We also dig their backgammon, chess, and puzzle tables.

Olivier Gomis created this impressive piece of furniture – a table that looks like it has a wormhole that connects two points of space and time. He built the table from rough walnut planks he cut into sticks and glued into grids. He then assembled them into rough shapes, turned the rounded pieces, then assembled and finished them.

This convertible coffee table features not one but two liftable sections. The larger one is ideal for a laptop, while the smaller one is great for enjoying a cup of coffee. It’s also got storage space under its lids, a shelf, and two drawers to help keep you organized. Available in light grey, espresso, black, and brown finishes.

Wyrwood’s gaming tables come in various sizes and with modular accessories for versatility. Use the top layer as a dining table, then remove its sections to access a felt playing surface for tabletop gaming, jigsaw puzzles, or other hobbies. Use the table configurator to spec yours in one of 12 woods, and rectangular or hex designs.

Backyard Resin creates bold and dramatic wood tables with inlays of colored resin, small objects, and artwork. Their Nintendo Switch coffee table is CNC-cut from walnut with colorful resin-filled Joy-Cons, and custom airbrushed artwork based Mario Kart. They also make a Game Boy table with Donkey Kong artwork.

Ben from Woby Design has made some pretty amazing stuff out of skateboard decks. His latest build is a round tabletop made from skateboard decks arranged on end and cut into wedges. He also wrapped its cylindrical plywood base with colorful deck slices. The way the CNC machine cut it into a perfect circle was so satisfying.

Woodworker Ryan Hawkins shows us the time-consuming and laborious process that went into building a truly stunning piece of furniture. He built the 24″ x 48″ coffee table from maple, cherry, and walnut wood, incorporating a herringbone pattern into its top, inspired by a design from cutting board artist MTMWood.

Placing a one-way mirror in front of a regular mirror can create an infinite reflection illusion. It’s typically used to make glitzy disco-style lighting, but in this video from Wiz’s Woodwork, he shows us how to use the effect to make it look like his coffee table leads down a very long mine shaft.

Brad from Fix This Build That shows how he fabricated a coffee table that’s great parties. He built the table from cedar and MDF, and it packs a beer cooler, Bluetooth speakers, and recessed LED lights that animate to the beat of the music. He had a few challenges along the way, but the end result looks great.

Setting a dinner table for eight usually takes a few minutes. But these folks working in a dining room in China have the process down to seconds. It’s obvious that the video was sped up a bit, but the way they flip the tablecloth and spin the plates into place is still pretty impressive. (Thanks, Steven!)

This bentwood lap table combines a laptop stand and a snack tray so you can work and relax from the comfort of your couch. Its snack level has bins for multiple munchies, while its laptop level has a ventilated surface, and a modular mouse pad, a phone holder, and a self-balancing cupholder that prevents spills.

Lifetime Products’ steel-framed workbench folds up and out of your way when not in use, so it’s perfect for garages with limited space. When closed, it’s just 11″ deep, and opens up to provide a 47″ wide x 23-1/4″ work surface. Inside, it has pegboards and cutouts for storing and organizing tools. Review video by Kayak Utah.

Do you crave sweets all the time? Then you’ll have a hard time resisting this custom coffee table packed with candy treats. Created by Served Sweet, the colorful resin table has hundreds of candies permanently trapped inside of a smooth resin shell. They also make sprinkle-filled coasters and trays.

If there’s one thing city dwellers can relate to, it’s that living space is at a premium. So if it’s possible to replace multiple pieces of furniture with a single item, it’s worth doing. Get Hands Dirty shows off a versatile coffee table that they built that also serves as a platform for a murphy bed and a pop-up desk.

When is a coffee table not just a coffee table? When it’s a light show, of course. Dashing Axe built this unique piece of furniture with hexagonal cutouts filled with resin, then backlit with colorful rings of RGB LEDs and sensors that respond to movements. Sadly, a Kickstarter to make a production version was unsuccessful.

This metal coffee table is designed to look like a mini shipping container. Underneath its surface is a large storage area that can be accessed behind a single sliding door. It measures 29″ D x 47″ W x 18″ H and comes in gunmetal or white finishes. They also sell several other pieces of cargo-inspired furniture.

Several years back, we came across some coffee tables made from pinball machine parts, but you couldn’t actually play them. BuildXYZ wanted a playable machine in the space of a coffee table. So he took one of our favorite classic pinball machines, Bally’s Centaur, and completely rebuilt it into a more compact form factor.

Chicago artist Nicholas Berchtold created this incredible piece of furniture for renowned tattoo artist Pony Lawson. Under its glass tabletop is an intricate model of the Windy City, precision machined from wood, laser-cut acrylic, and 3D-printed ABS, finished in a marble pattern. More info available on the artist’s website.

Modustrial Maker shows off how he built a sweet coffee table from concrete, wood, epoxy resin, and LED strips. The design is inspired by the lighting patterns found inside of the Death Star. Unlike the pure white lights of the movies, these ones can change colors to the beat of the music.

Board Game Tables is known for its custom gaming tables. The Jasper is a more affordable table with a 3′ x 5′ playing area that seats six, while the Jasper Long seats eight. It includes a neoprene play surface and a deep edge to keep game pieces from falling off. Options include a dining table topper, snack shelves, and drink holders.

Most game room tables look cheap and tacky. But West Elm’s stylish air hockey table looks like a real piece of furniture thanks to its simulated woodgrain finish and mid-century modern design. They also sell a matching foosball table. We wish they were made from hardwood though.