Inspiration from The Ugly Duckling House, The Ambitious Procrastinator, and Merrypad. (I’m sure there are more out there) led me to craft my own version of a chair/couch arm sleeve side table like this one that Sarah at The Ugly Ducking House made:

If you recall my guest bedroom, there really isn’t anymore room for an end table by the chair, but I really wanted some place to put my laptop/beverage/breakfast/etc.

Actually, I really just needed an excuse to test put my new Kreg Jig.  I vow that I am going to make so many things with this toy! Check it out…

It was super easy.  I cut 3 pieces of oak I had laying around to size.

Secured the sides in the jig and drilled 3 holes in each board before drilling them to the top.   

I slapped on some chestnut stain that I had on hand, then finished with two coats of polyacrilic.  Voila!

I set the side back slightly from the face of the top for a more architectural and furniture feel.

And I also decided to make the top much larger so it could accommodate Adrian’s insanely huge and heavy laptop.  

The whole thing literally took 10 min (excluding drying time) to make.  Even Simi was mesmorized at how easy it was:

OC’s reaction to how easy this was:  

I love it.  I think this would be really nice with a beautiful piece of reclaimed wood, but the oak I had laying around isn’t bad either. If you aren’t a fan of oak grain I would suggest either using a darker stain or picking up a piece of wood that is a little cleaner such as walnut, cherry, or alder.

Whatcha think??

For those of you wondering, I did make a small amount of progress on the window seat this weekend. I am hoping to get that top on very soon, but stain and sealing will have to wait until warmer weather so I can open up some windows. I don’t want my cats to die.

Anyone else out there use any saws this past weekend and still have all your digits?