A step-by-step tutorial on how to create a DIY tree stump table, a budget-friendly end table!

When was the last time you went on a hike through the woods? 

As you follow the trail up the mountains, you feel energized, free and truly connected to your magnificent natural surroundings.

Without realizing it, you stepped away from your worries, daily stresses and doubts. 

I love adding that quiet, peaceful vibe to our home with natural design elements. That’s why I adore old homes with unique wood details – they bring in the organic beauty of the outdoors.

Lately, I have been seeing homes with tree stump coffee tables and my husband and I could not stop thinking about them – we had to make one! 

Or how about three? 

We could not choose – they were all unique pieces with gorgeous wood patterns. 

If you are wondering how to make a coffee table from a tree stump, this is our tutorial to DIY a tree stump table for any room in your home.

This is one of those projects that takes a while to finish, almost 4 months. The project involved lots of waiting/sanding/finishing and if you know me, you know I don’t like to wait. 

But it was worth every minute… just look at our masterpieces, amazing!

Make a tree Stump Table

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DIY TREE STUMP TABLE


MATERIALS:

TOOLS:

STEP 1: FIND THE PERFECT TREE STUMP

This adventure sent us in search of a sawmill and, lucky for us, there was one near my parents’ house. 

And we found this lovely pile of wood stumps…

pile of Tree Trunks

And after about an hour of careful selection, we came home with these three beauties – that’s right, we were going to attempt three separate projects!

Tree Trunk Coffee Table

STEP 2: LET IT SIT FOR A WHILE LONGER

Next, we let them dry out for over a month in our garage to let any moisture evaporate. 

STEP 3: CARVE TO YOUR HEART’S CONTENT

After that long wait, we started to remove the bark and shape the stump to our liking.

removing bark from tree stump table

This particular stump is so big that we had to use our longboard to move it.

DIY Tree Trunk Coffee Table

STEP 4: SAND AWAY ROUGH EDGES

After chiseling away unwanted features, we sanded and sanded and sanded some more. We first used a 60 grit sandpaper, then 120, and finished it off with 220. And we went through a lot of sandpaper.

TIP: A belt sander would be beneficial when sanding the top and bottom of the stump because it will remove more wood quicker to give you a flat smooth surface.

sanding stump table

But those stumps were baby smooth. Just look at the difference from the top photo to the photo below. Can you believe it’s the same stump?

sanded tree stump for table

STEP 5: REMOVE ANY REMAINING DEBRIS

After sanding the stumps, we then took an air compressor, with an air blowing attachment, and cleaned the stump by blowing air to remove the dirt.

make tree Stump Table yourself

But just to make sure we removed all the dirt we wiped the stumped down with a damp cloth.

STEP 5: ADD A PROTECTIVE FINISH

Now we were ready for the final touch, the finish. After a lot of research, we decided to use 100% Tung Oil. I plan on writing a post about the difference between poly and tung oil. The biggest difference is that tung oil penetrates into the wood making the grain color deeper. Here is a tutorial on how to apply tung oil to the wood.

100 tung oil

After applying the tung oil, we again let the stump sit for about 3 weeks to make sure the oil penetrated into the wood. 

And here are two of our stumps, all finished – the last one is downstairs. See how the Tung Oil brings the color out in the wood and gives it a natural finish.

Tree Stump Table

And here is our living room currently.

DIY coffee tree Stump Table

Try it for yourself – go and find your own tree stump and create a work of art that brings the outdoors to you.

UPDATE: We decided to add industrial style feet to our stump tables, check how to do that here.

make a stump table
DIY tree stump table

DIY Tree Stump Table

Yield: one stump table
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Active Time: 4 hours
Additional Time: 1 month
Total Time: 1 month 4 hours 10 minutes
Difficulty: Easy
Estimated Cost: $

A step-by-step tutorial on how to make a tree stump table. It's the perfect way to bring the outdoors into your home.

Materials

  • tree stump
  • sandpaper (60, 120, & 220 grit)
  • 100% tung oil

Tools

  • orbital sander
  • air compressor with air attachment

Instructions

  1. Find the perfect tree stump.
  2. Let the stump dry out for a while.
  3. Remove bark and shape the stump to your liking.
  4. Sand the wood to remove rough edges and make it smooth.
  5. Clean the stump with an air attachment.
  6. Add a protective finish to the wood.

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9 Comments

  1. Love this! I don’t think I’ve seen a tutorial for tree stump tables that used tung oil, I’ll have to check it out!
    I’ve got a tree in my yard that needs cut down and can’t wait to try my hand at making it into some tables!

    I’d love it if you’d come link up with me and my 4 blogging friends at Talented Tuesday Link Party on my blog!

    1. Thanks Kristina!

  2. oh man, those look awesome. i wonder if we can take some home from our trip to the redwood forest out west, lol.
    b

    1. Thanks we really like them! Redwood would be amazing as a stump, maybe just maybe!! Loved looking around your blog!

  3. I love the stumps! We’ve made things from tree branches, but if we had trees that were big enough, I would try this. :)

    1. Thanks Dee! My kids have been loving the stumps, they are always jumping off them.

  4. Really cool! I love it! Pinning to the Monday Funday board. Thanks for linking!

  5. What a great idea. I wonder if it would work on Pine stumps….does the type of wood matter?

    1. Thanks Celeste! I think it would work great with Pine, I don’t think it matters the type of wood.

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