Is how much work it is!!! When I was looking to buy one of these I thought they were ridiculously over priced….well, it’s because they are a ton of work.

I love tree stump tables, these have been around forever, Ellen has had a tree stump coffee table on her show for years but they are pretty pricey, even the small ones. You are probably looking at least $200 for a small stump end table and much more for the coffee table type.

I searched retailers, private and public, etsy, you name it, and then decided I’ll just do it myself.

Now, if you live anywhere other than the desert it shouldn’t be too hard to find some extra stumps but for me this was not the case. I literally had to wait until one of my neighbors was cutting down a tree then asked them to cut me a couple of pieces to a specific height.

What they won’t tell you on Pinterest! Chiseling off the bark takes FOREVER!!!!! Buy a LARGE chisel!

Tips to each step:

• Turn the chisel so the flat edge is towards you so when you hit it with your hammer it doesn’t chisel farther into the log and make big dents but instead chisels the bark outwards. It also might help to pick a type of tree that has a thicker bark if you are able to. Getting the bark off takes a lot of time, I would suggest doing it in the morning when it is cool outside.

• Everyone will tell you to let it dry first…if you live anywhere hot….this will crack your log significantly so don’t let it dry for too long.

Sanding is the easy part but purchase a circular sander do NOT use a square one. Also, the top is IMPOSIBBLE to sand down so make sure it is cut level.

The staining and the sealing is NOT standard, trees soak up stain differently that cultured wood and in different spots. My stain was too brown at first but instead of re sanding it I just added more stain overtop. Instead of my regular mix of black, white and brown I eliminated the brown since I wanted it more of a grey tone. I also wanted the wood grain to show through quite a bit so I watered my stain down.

Also, Make sure you put a felt on the bottom so you don’t scratch your floor and also because the stump still technically has water in it and you don’t want it to damage your floor over time.

In the end, I’m glad I took the time to finish these and LOVE the finished product. Also, they were free which makes me love them even more. Except, now my husband wants a coffee table for the basement……I might have to make him do the chiseling this time!