There’s not much I love more than enjoying a cold beverage while sitting beside a campfire. We’ve been needing a side table for our fire pit area for a while now, so instead of building a regular table, I made one that houses our little cooler! Now we can have ice cold bevs on hand while we’re enjoying the backyard!

Want to build your own cooler table? Just follow the tutorial below!

You’ll need:

A cooler
Drill
18 gauge brad nailer
Cedar 1x4s
1x2s
Cedar fence boards (lumber quantities will depend on the size of the cooler you’re building the table around)
2in exterior screws
1 1/4 in exterior screws
3/4 in screws
Flat metal plates
Small hinges

Step 1:

Make the corner uprights

Cut your cedar 1x4s into eight 22in lengths (or longer if you want your table higher). These will be the corners of your table. Drill pilot holes and then screw them together in an “L” at a right angle using 2 in exterior screws. I put 3 screws in each.

Step 2:

Make the basic structure

Attach 1x2s to the corner pieces to connect them all together. This will be what the platform for your cooler sits on, so you’ll want to measure the height of your cooler, and then add a half inch— that’s how far down from the top of the corner pieces you’ll attach these 1x2s. The length and depth of your table will depend on the size of your cooler. I’d measure the short side 1x2s to be about an inch larger than your cooler’s depth. If you want to have a table section that doesn’t open (like mine), measure the width of your cooler and add about 10-12inches. This will how long you want your long side 1x2’s to be. Drill pilot holes in the 1x2s before screwing them to the corner pieces and then attach wth 1 1/4 in exterior screws.

Step 3:

Create the platform for the cooler

Cut cedar fence board that span across and rest on top of the 1x2s. This will be the platform that your cooler sits on. Use an 18 guage brad nailer to attach the boards to the 1x2’s

(image is viewing from the top down)

Step 4:

Create an interior wall to secure the cooler

This step is probably unnecessary, but I wanted to create a little barrier so the cooler didn’t scoot over under where the table top doesn’t hinge open. This just keeps the cooler snug in it’s spot. I did this by framing a barrier using 1x2s (which is what I had on hand), but you could also just add another cedar 1x4 to the outside of the platform base 1x2s and then do a cedar fence board across the top from front to back.

Step 5:

Wrap the top of the table

Measure the short side of the table from corner to corner, then cut two cedar 1x4’s at that length. Attach to the top of the corner uprights using 1 1/4 in exterior screws or 18guage brad nails (if you don’t want to see the screws). Do this on both short sides. Now measure the long sides, including the pieces you just attached. Cut two lengths of 1x4 at that measurement and attach those to the long sides of the table.

Step 6:

Sheath the outside of the table

Using cedar fence boards (I used both 5.5in wide and 3in wide fence boards) repeat the process you just did for attaching the 1x4s to the top. Use an 18 gauge brad nailer to put two nails in each side of each board to attach them to the corner uprights. I put a small gap between each board (the width of a carpenter’s pencil).

Step 7:

Create the table top

The table top is made out of cedar 1x4s. I had my table top over hang about a half inch on either side, so my 1x4s were cut 1 inch longer than the depth of the table. For the side that isn’t hinged, you just attach the 1x4s to the base. You can do this with brad nails from the top, or if you don’t want any fasteners showing on the top (which I didn’t), you can use pocket screws to screw the table top boards on from below.

I used flat brackets and 3x4in screws to attach all the hinged table top boards together, which is a bit inelegant, but works great. You could also use pocket screws to screw the boards together side by side.

Once your hinged table section is created all you have to do is attach it to the base using a couple small hinges!