This project was built and designed by Alex from Bevelish Creations. It’s a smart, stylish mid-century modern coffee table made from walnut, featuring dual lift tops that improve both form and function in a living room setting.
Designed for comfort and convenience, the table addresses a common issue—how to comfortably eat or work from the couch—without sacrificing visual appeal. The result is a functional showpiece that blends strong joinery with thoughtful design.
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Why This Table Works for Real Life
Many people use their coffee table for more than just decoration. Whether it’s eating dinner in front of the TV or setting up a laptop for a quick work session, a static table often falls short.
Alex’s design solves this by incorporating two lift tops that raise independently, allowing better access to food or devices from the couch. It’s a clever adaptation of a traditional table that improves usability without cluttering the space.
Materials and Aesthetic Choices
The entire piece is built using walnut plywood and solid walnut lumber. Walnut is a popular choice for its strength and rich color, and it fits perfectly with the mid-century modern style that Alex was aiming for.
To elevate the look, Alex edge-banded the plywood with strips of solid walnut. This technique hides the layered plywood edges while making good use of offcuts—both a practical and visually clean solution.
The case itself was designed to be built from a single sheet of ¾-inch walnut plywood, keeping waste to a minimum. Internal panels and partitions divide the storage space into compartments, which adds rigidity to the case and makes it more functional.
Assembling the Case
For accurate panel joinery, Alex used a track-guided router to cut dados for all the partitions. This ensures every divider fits snugly, which adds to the overall stability of the table.
He joined the main panels using dowels and a precision dowel jig from Rockler. The jig helps align each part consistently, making assembly smoother and ensuring everything stays square as the case comes together.
One key lesson from Alex is to use the actual cut panels as reference points when sizing additional parts, instead of relying entirely on the original plan measurements. This accounts for saw kerfs, slight misalignments, and other real-world variances.
Building the Lift Tops
The lift top panels are constructed from solid walnut boards glued together to form thick slabs. These are cut, squared, and planed to size, then matched to the opening in the top of the case.
To make the tops easy to open, Alex added recessed finger holds along one edge of each panel. These were created with a bowl and tray router bit, resulting in a smooth, rounded edge that’s easy on the fingers and adds a nice visual detail.
Handling the Lift Mechanism
Attaching the lift hardware was one of the more difficult parts of the project. Mounting the brackets inside the case was straightforward, but aligning and installing the lift tops to those brackets from underneath proved tricky.
Since the screw holes weren’t visible from above, Alex measured their position on the case, then carefully transferred that layout to the underside of each panel. It took some trial and error, but the final result leaves just enough of a gap to allow for seasonal wood movement.
Alex encourages others to share any improved techniques for this step, noting that even experienced builders run into process challenges from time to time.
Designing and Attaching the Legs
The table’s legs follow a simple, geometric design that complements the mid-century modern style. Each leg is built from walnut strips joined into a rectangular frame using dowels and glue.
To visually separate the base from the top, a shallow groove is routed along the upper edge of each leg frame. This subtle line creates the illusion that the top floats just above the base—a detail that adds a lot of refinement with minimal effort.
The legs are attached to the case using figure eight clips, which allow the top to expand and contract with seasonal changes without pulling on the joinery. It’s a small but smart choice for longevity.
Finishing the Project
Once assembled, the table is coated with several layers of wipe-on polyurethane. This durable finish enhances the walnut’s natural grain while providing long-lasting protection against spills and scratches.
Despite how polished the final piece looks, Alex notes that the build was very manageable. Most of the complexity came from material prep and the careful process of filming tutorials—not from the woodworking itself.
This project also served as a reminder that effective results don’t require the fanciest tools. Many of the key steps were completed using basic techniques and tools, making it a realistic project for woodworkers with modest setups.
A Smart Table with Real Benefits
This lift top coffee table is more than a good-looking build—it’s genuinely useful. The dual lift tops allow for more flexibility in how the table is used, from dining to working to simple storage.
It’s also a great example of how thoughtful woodworking can solve everyday problems in a beautiful way. Clean design, clever joinery, and practical details make this a standout build for any living space.
Learn more about this project here: https://www.rockler.com/learn/lift-top-coffee-table-project-plan/.