Good news: we finally have a place to put our feet up in the beach house living room. In other words, we finally have a coffee table.
light fixture / ceiling medallion / similar rug / similar sofa / similar curtains / curtain rods
This was a DIY that cost a fraction of a custom stone top, so we were thrilled. Since taking most of these photos we actually swapped the rug in this room, so there will be a separate post about that and another dining room tweak soon. For now, here’s how we finally built a solid, stone-like top for our octagonal table base.
We’d had the wooden octagonal table base for a while. A neighbor listed it on our local board for $7 and we snapped it up. It spent months in the garage and then moved to the beach house last fall, still without a top, until recently.
Our initial plan was to have a stone top custom-cut. Marble would have been beautiful and quartz more durable, but quotes from stone yards—even for remnant pieces—came back between $700 and $900. The size (38″ at the widest point) and the octagonal shape increased the price, so we pivoted to a DIY solution that would mimic a chunky stone look for much less.
After considering faux stone laminate and painted wood, we chose a white concrete-like finish using Ardex Feather Finish over a wood substrate. We’d used Ardex years ago on kitchen counters and liked the result, so it made sense for this project. A solid poured concrete slab would have been extremely heavy and prone to cracking without extensive support, so fiberglass-reinforced concrete wasn’t a good fit for a table used around kids.
Making the Wood Coffee Table Top
We started with a 4 x 4′ sheet of 3/4″ plywood to ensure the top would be sturdy and resist sagging. To mark the shape, I flipped the table base on the plywood and traced it. Using a circular saw, I trimmed the plywood into an octagon sized to match the base—initially with no overhang.
Next I cut eight pieces of 1 x 2 whitewood to create a border around the plywood. Each piece needed a 22.5-degree miter to fit around the octagon. I glued and nailed the pieces to the edge of the plywood so the finished top would have a slight overhang and appear thicker. This framing also helped keep the top snug on the base; I later screwed it to the base from underneath for a secure connection.
After nailing the trim, I used wood putty to fill gaps and nail holes. The table wasn’t a perfectly symmetrical octagon, so some corners needed a little extra attention. Filling the seams made the surface more uniform before the concrete skim coat.
Applying the Concrete Finish
We chose white Ardex Feather Finish and bought a 10 lb bag. The dry mix combines with water to form a spreadable skim-coat material. For tools we used mixing buckets, various-sized trowels, and a palm sander for later smoothing.
The bag suggested a 2:1 powder-to-water ratio, but I used a touch more water to make the mix looser and easier to spread. I mixed small batches to a thick pancake-batter consistency so the Ardex would hold on the trowel briefly before dripping. Then I spread it across the plywood top using larger trowels on the flat surface and smaller ones for the edges. The substrate needs to be slightly rough for good adhesion; if you’re starting on smooth furniture, sand first with low-grit paper (60–80 grit).
Ardex requires multiple coats, so my first coat focused on coverage rather than perfection. I laid it on thicker around the edges to avoid sanding them down too much later. After it dried for several hours I scraped off any drips hanging from the underside with a putty knife, then sanded the top with an 80-grit palm sander to knock down high ridges and prepare for the next coat.
The second coat was mixed a bit thinner and applied with more care to create a smoother finish. After that coat dried, I progressively sanded with 120 and then 220 grit to get a silky surface ready for sealing.
Once sealed and finished, the table looked like a chunky, glossy stone slab but retained subtle imperfections and trowel marks that add natural character rather than appearing like plastic.
Sealing the Concrete
For a durable, glossy finish we used a wet-look sealer in a high-gloss formula. This produced a near–mirror sheen that really emphasizes the white concrete look and is much more resistant to wear than the eco-sealer we previously used on kitchen counters. I applied thin coats with a small foam roller and let each dry before adding another. We completed two, then three light coats for extra protection.
After the final coat dried, we let the table cure for a week before placing objects on it. It now functions as a handsome, practical centerpiece for the living room, balancing the darker rug and sofa while echoing bright white accents like bookcases and curtains.
The finished top is glossy and smooth but maintains subtle texture—light trowel marks and tiny variations that give it organic movement similar to natural stone. We’ve discussed a few future tweaks, like staining or painting the wooden base to better match the top, but for now we’re content to finally have a coffee table and enjoy kicking our feet up.
bookcase / similar pink pillow / similar blue pillow / white faux wood window blinds
We’ve also made other furniture adjustments in the room since these photos—two armchairs were painted and recovered—so the seating is comfier now. There are still a few more tweaks we might make, but this table brings everything together and finally gives us a proper place to rest our feet.
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