How To Build Beautiful DIY Wood Countertops In A Day

Make beautiful DIY wood countertops from plywood in one afternoon.

It's easier and cheaper than you think.

Here's the complete tutorial and an update of how it's held up.

I've always had a thing for wooden countertops.

Long before I knew what a blog was and years before the farmhouse trend came roaring back into style, I was smitten.

When we added a kitchen in our first cottage, I fleetingly considered the idea, but in a house that we knew we weren't going to stay in, it wasn't a practical expense, so I didn't push.

When we moved here, however, I repeatedly mentioned them anyone who would listen to me during our renovation. The contractor, my husband, the kitchen designer and most of my friends had the same reaction.

I believe their exact words were, Are you crazy??

 Well, when it comes to design, possibly, but I like what I like and honestly what's so crazy about wooden countertops?

Every countertop material out there requires some kind of care and has issues. Marble stains, granite chips and formica peels. Plus none of them are cheap.

Wood seemed sensible to me, plus it was warm and elegant. Dining tables are made of wood. Boats are made of wood. Why not a countertop?

No one really had a good answer for me, but I lost out.

So, when the walls literally came falling down in our bathroom, and we were forced to redo it all, I thought, now is my chance.

It took a little bit of wrangling, begging and badgering, but eventually my sweet husband gave in and whipped up a gorgeous wooden countertop in a day.

It seriously took longer to talk about it, than it did to do it.

Ok, so the sealing did take about a week to complete, due to the drying time necessary between coats, but the construction itself was quick, easy to do and very inexpensive.

All in all, it was a giant success. Here's how we did it.

How To Build A DIY Wooden Countertop

The process was relatively simple.

We knew we didn't want the seams you get with planks or butcher block and we didn't want to use regular plywood, so we opted for a sheet of Maple topped plywood that we grabbed right off the shelf at Home Depot.

1. Choose Your Wood

Maple is a hard, clear wood, with a simple grain. It was perfect for our needs and since it came in giant sheets so there wouldn't be any seams in our counter.

Keep in mind we put our countertop in the bathroom, but this same technique could be used in a kitchen, pantry or laundry room, as well.

On a very large span you would have to have seams, but they'd be minimal and easy to hide.

2. Cut It To Size

Choosing a piece was simple, we borrowed a tool from the hardware aisle to make sure that our sheet was perfectly square and then we asked the nice man at the store to cut it on their saw.

My husband could've done it at home, but why bother when they'll do it there for free!? Plus, their saw is larger and can make very straight cuts.

3. Choose Trim Moulding

Next, we wandered over to the trim aisle where we picked out a wood moulding to cover the raw edges of the plywood.

Our plywood sheet was 3/4" thick, so we chose a 1 and 1/2" moulding and headed home.

4. Cut And Attach Trim 

Since the piece was already cut to the proper size, the only real construction was adding the moulding to the front and one side. The other two sides bordered the tile walls. They didn't require trim.

My husband just measured, cut the corners and glued the strips in place. To secure them, he used very small finishing nails, countersunk them, and covered the holes with a drop of wood filler.

5. Add Wood Filler In Gaps And Sand

As I said, we made sure the wood was square before we left the store, so the moulding fit tight against the maple.

Since there was barely a discernible gap, no wood filler was necessary. Lastly, he gave the entire piece a quick sanding to make certain that everything was smooth and even.

Update: This picture is a little out of order, since it's already been stained, but it is relevant to the construction.

It's a view of the underside of the countertop, so you can see that the trim does overhang the plywood top a bit.

6. Stain It

Once complete, he brought it inside and plopped it on the vanity to check the fit.

Then it was back outside to stain it. This is what we used: Varathane Classic Stain in Red Oak.

We picked it up at Home Depot. There's a variety of colors, so you can choose one that suits your style.

He applied several coats of stain, one coat at a time, until we were happy with the color.

Phase one completed on a Sunday...idea conceived, items purchased, built and stained all in one afternoon. Of course, the polyurethaning took several more days.

7. Seal It

For that part of the project, we used Varathane Ultimate Oil Based Clear Polyurethane in Clear Satin. Again, we picked it up at Home Depot.

He applied one coat each day for four days and gave each coat a light sanding in between to ensure a very perfect finish.

Now. I know a lot of people are going to ask, and have already asked, why we didn't use a marine grade poly. Here's the thing.

My husband has built wooden boats and he's used those products. They smell horrible, take forever to dry and he felt that a basic polyurethane would be sufficient for our needs.

It's wood, so we expect a little wear and we've used this technique before on our kitchen tables when they've been refinished and so far, so good. No water marks, rings or damage.

Water beads up and rolls away. So we went with it and I have no reason to believe it'll be any different.

And if you keep reading you'll see that years later, it's still looking great!

Pssst- If you do have water stains on wood, you can try this quick trick.

8. Cut The Sink Hole

The last part of this process involved cutting in the sink, which I also picked up off the shelf at Home Depot.

We were a bit nervous after out last Home Depot sink encounter, but it worked out well. This sink came with complete instructions and a template that my husband used to set the sink location.

We wanted to change things up a bit and center it over the cabinet. Once we were happy with the placement, he taped the template in place and removed the center of the paper.

He then traced the oval onto the countertop with a black sharpie marker.

9. Silicone It And Fixture In Place

Next, he carried the entire top back outside and cut the hole out. He brought it back inside to check the placement and then siliconed the sink in place.

When the sink and fixture were set and dry, it was finally time to glue the wooden countertop onto our newly made over vanity.

In less than a week, I had an absolutely beautiful, brand new, custom, wooden countertop for my bathroom.

Cottage style sophistication, just as charming as I thought it would be and totally fitting for my 1920's beach bungalow.

While we had to buy the entire sheet of maple plywood, we only used a quarter of it. So if we break down the cost by what we actually used, minus the sink and fixture, this project cost us less than $30.

Best of all, I still have a very large piece of that maple plywood leftover.

Hmmm.

I mean, I really do love my laminate kitchen countertops, but hey, since we already have the supplies....

I'll keep you posted.

😉

Update! Since someone asked I took a picture of the countertop this weekend to show how it's holding up- April of 2020. Totally perfect.

In May of 2021 it still looks the same!

I also wrote a brand new piece about how it's held up that you can peek at for all the details.

Heavily used by a family with teens and their friends.

It's used for makeup and brushing teeth, hair washing (and coloring!) and they don't always wipe up that water.