Cinder blocks may bring to mind grad-student shelving, but we like them as ad hoc table bases. (If it’s good enough for Axel Vervoodt, it’s good enough for us.) Here are a dozen good examples of low-cost, industrial-chic tables made from nothing more than hardware-store wood planks and simple cinder or concrete blocks.
![12 Tables Made with Cinder Blocks Economy Edition portrait 3](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/fields/emma-dime-cinderblock-shelf-remodelista.jpg)
Above: A cinder block shelf in the San Francisco studio of Emma Dime.
![12 Tables Made with Cinder Blocks Economy Edition portrait 4](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/fields/regards-et-maisons-concrete-table-remodelista.jpg)
Above: A DIY shelf via Liden Skapelse.
![12 Tables Made with Cinder Blocks Economy Edition portrait 5](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/fields/cinderblock-bedside-table-remodelista-2.jpg)
Above: A night table made from salvaged cinder blocks in a 400-square-foot Upper East Side apartment. Photograph by Alan Gastelum for Dwell.
![12 Tables Made with Cinder Blocks Economy Edition portrait 6](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/fields/painted-concrete-block-table-remodelista.jpg)
Above: Cinder blocks made colorful in a table at the artist-designed Playland Motel, in Rockaway Beach, New York.
![12 Tables Made with Cinder Blocks Economy Edition portrait 7](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/fields/jen-vitale-photo-plant-stand-remodelista.jpg)
Above: A DIY plant stand in the Portland, OR, home of John and Jen Vitale; photo by Carissa and Andrew Gallo via Freunde Von Freunden.
![simple diy desk made from upcycled cinder blocks](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/fields/simple-diy-desk-made-from-upcycled-cinder-blocks.jpg)
Above: A narrow DIY desk with a cinder block base, via The Merry Thought.
![12 Tables Made with Cinder Blocks Economy Edition portrait 9](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/fields/Hannah-Metz-cinder-block-table-remodelista-2.jpg)
Above: A simple cinder block table in the Brooklyn loft of Hannah Metz, via The Selby.
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Above: A cinder block bedside table, via Inside Inside.
![concrete block table breuer](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/img/sub/uimg/Julies__20__Images/concrete-block-table-breuer.jpg)
Above: A simple outdoor table by midcentury modern architect Marcel Breuer made from a rectangular slab of stone propped on a base of mortared concrete blocks. Photograph via The Improvised LIfe.
![12 Tables Made with Cinder Blocks Economy Edition portrait 12](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/img/sub/uimg/Julies__20__Images/Julie__20__Coffee__20__Table__20__Remodelista.jpg)
Above: My own coffee table in Mill Valley, California, made from a walnut drafting-table top and four concrete blocks.
![cinder block as table](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/img/sub/cinder-block-as-table.jpg)
Above: A coffee table made from eight stacked concrete blocks. Photograph via Kikette.
![Axel 20 Vervoordt 20 Concrete 20 block 20 coffee 20 table](https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/img/sub/uimg/Julies__20__Images/Axel__20__Vervoordt__20__Concrete__20__block__20__coffee__20__table.jpg)
Above: Legendary designer and antiques dealer Axel Vervoordt created an informal coffee table with concrete blocks and a slab of wood in this Belgian interior.
For more cinder block ideas and inspiration, see DIY: Concrete Block Planters and A Low-Cost Concrete-Block Kitchen for Serious Cooks.
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