Some of the best DIY projects come about in the most unexpected ways.
A few years back, Instructables DIY-er alexpaterson2011's teacher prompted each of her students to complete an upcycling project of their own choosing.
Surprised and delighted by this assignment, this Instructables user dove headfirst into a brainstorming session.
Try as he might, though, ideas weren't flowing. So, this upcycler changed gears, and ventured off to his local reclamation yard, in search of inspirational materials.
Before long, he spotted a few amazing finds — a gorgeous yet dilapidated ship's helm, and a funky old billiards table leg.
These finds quickly sparked an amazing upcycling project plan. This upcycler would transform his reclaimed helm and table leg into an awesome, nautical-themed coffee table.
Fueled with inspiration, this crafter brought both his new finds home, spruced them up with primer and paint, secured them together, and topped the whole table off with a perfectly rounded piece of glass.
Inspired by an unexpected class prompt, this DIY-er fashioned himself a one-of-a-kind coffee table that surely blew his teacher away.
Keep scrolling through our gallery to learn how this upcycler transformed an old ship's helm into an adorably decorative coffee table.
When Instructables DIY-er alexpaterson2011 needed to upcycle an old item into something new and improved for a school project, he spent time brainstorming all sorts of fun ideas.
Eventually, after a fruitful trip to his local reclamation yard, this crafter decided to build a new coffee table out of an old ship's helm and billiards table leg.
This upcycler's first task, once he got his hands on his worn helm, was to clean off its caked-on dirt and rust.
After a sufficient cleaning, this upcycler gave his helm a diligent sanding, taped off its metal rim for protection, and painted the entire piece with two coats of primer.
Once the primer dried, this DIY-er painted his helm with two coats of rich, brown paint.
Already his helm was looking as good as new, but this DIY-er wasn't done yet.
He affixed a piece of circular glass atop his helm, to give his coffee table a contemporary look.
With the coffee table's top complete, this upcycler turned his attention to its stem and base.
For the table's stem, he repurposed an old, reclaimed billiards table leg.
He flattened this now-coffee-table stem's cut end, attached it to the table's base, then primed and painted the whole piece just as he had the helm.
This crafter then cut a circular piece of felt to attach to the bottom of his new table's base.
Affixing this felt in place ensured that, once complete, this new coffee table would never scratch his living room's floors.
To fully realize his new coffee table's nautical essence, this builder coiled rope around his coffee table's base — an adorably awesome decorative detail.
Finally, he attached the table's top to its base, and suddenly became the proud new owner of an incredible, upcycled helm coffee table.
Prompted by a school assignment, this upcycler completely transformed an old, worn-down ship's helm into an exciting, new coffee table that surely impressed his whole class.
What do you think of this upcycled coffee table? Let us know in the comments.
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