I have a thing for hairpin legs. I don’t know what it is about this little metal extremity that makes me giddy with excitement. Maybe it’s how easy it is to turn a piece of wood into a table using them. Whatever the case, I’m in serious like with these sturdy little guys. Last year, I transformed an old trash pick coffee table into a cool bar table using hairpin legs and loved the final product. So, when my favorite little side table was destroyed by my move from New York to San Francisco, I decided hairpin legs might be able to salvage it.

The original table had these very cool intricately designed turned legs and a small middle shelf. The movers managed to break the solid metal brackets that held the middle shelf and 2 of the legs. I tried to think of a fix myself. If the legs hadn’t been broken, I could have fixed the shelf or vice versa, but together they were a problem. I spoke to an antiques repair shop who gave me an outrageous price and then decided that I could at least salvage the top. It killed me to ditch the legs, but at least I didn’t have ditch the whole piece.

The upcycle was pretty simple really, which is the beauty of the hairpin leg. First, I had to add a few 2x2s to the underside in order to give my legs something to attach to. The original tables base architecture was too thin for the width of the hairpin legs. I simply glued and screwed the 2x2s to the bottom. Then I attached my legs using 1 1/4″ construction screws.

 

That’s it. The new side table now sits up in our bedroom and is dressed with a lamp and a few bedside table necessities for the husband.