The hyperfixation this time is building a tiny, functional table. And I absolutely wasn't going to be able to think about anything else until it was built.

The Matchstick Table stands just over two feet tall, made of pine, spruce, and oak. Built entirely with hand tools, it was assembled over a period of two weeks.

I knew from the start of this project that I wanted the legs to look as though they'd been charred. I didn't want to actually burn the wood, since I was aiming for a more angular shape, so I settled on whittling them down.

After tracing a toonie on the bottom of each leg, I used a draw knife to whittle them down to roughly the right shape, then went in with sandpaper sheets to smooth everything out.

The top of the table is just a simple wooden art panel, and needed only a light sanding to be assembly-ready.

Of course, the most difficult component to make would be the drawer. Why I decided it'd be a good idea to attempt making a functional drawer with no prior building or woodworking experience, I'll never know. But ambition got me this far, so it could take me a little further.

The drawer works with a wooden drawer slide (think a loose, waxed tongue and groove joint), and it's honestly not bad. I took no pictures of the process because hindsight is 20/20, but check it out!:

It's nowhere near perfect, and there's areas where I probably should've used stain instead of paint, or a different type of wood, or power tools. But now I have a cute little side table, and it's only slightly wobbly.

Using Format