From drab to fab! My new cutting/sewing table!

Before and after

Would you believe me if I told you this was the same desk? If you've been following my FB page for a while you may have seen the sewing cabinet I refurbished last year (see below). Refurbishing furniture seems to be a new hobby of mine.

Mum's old Horn sewing cabinet with wood laminate panels. Yuck!

Unfortunately I don't have a dedicated work room, but luckily I've got enough room in my bedroom to accommodate being both. It's cramped, but it's workable. I just need to find a better way of storing all my fabrics... :/ That's the next challenge for another time...

A friend of mine was selling his old desk last year and I had the crazy idea of fixing it up into a cutting/sewing table to match my sewing cabinet. I didn't have a chance to work on it til the start of 2017. I could've bought those cubed shelves from Ikea and placed a plank on top like I've seen other people do, but I really liked the big wide drawer in the desk. I've been using a 1x1m folding table for the last 4 years and it's just not enough space to work efficiently. 

To add a bit of perspective with the desk space, the cutting mat on the old desk is A3 size, while the mat on the new desk is 24x36 in. The finished table top measures 80cm x 160cm.

This project was definitely a labour of love and cost a bit more time and money than I had wanted, but I think the result is worth it. The desktop had to be replaced because it was worn down in certain areas. All those valleys and bumps are not good for a cutting table. The desk was hand-crafted so the dimensions were not your average desk measurements which meant all the Ikea table tops were either too long and/or not deep enough. I did look at using doors, wardrobe panels and whatever else, but they weren't going to work for some reason or another. 

I ended up buying laminated pine sheets from the hardware store and joined 2 pieces down the length with liquid nails and wood putty with a plank glued and screwed underneath along the join (total engineering nightmare, but an interesting exercise in problem solving). A few times there, I thought it wasn't going to work at all... Luckily it came out alright in the end. I'm still worried about how much pressure and stress the join can/will take.

The table top was painted with a laminate enamel paint, left over from when I repainted the sewing cabinet. It will hold up better against any scratches and general usage. The rest of the desk was painted with a semi-gloss interior paint. The support beams under the table top had to be replaced too.

With the help of my dad and his tools, he cut the planks to size and screwed things together. We added a base to the desk out of the same laminated pine to help support the main frame as it was a bit warped, and also to attach the castors to. It's now the perfect height to work at standing up and I can wheel it around if needed.

Top: The table top had been removed.
Bottom: Adding a base to the desk to help stop the main frame from warping. Excuse the dog... :P
Right: Drawer slides: before and after cleaning.

All the drawer slides were scrubbed clean (so filthy!) with warm water, dish soap and a scouring pad. I filled in all the cracks and holes with wood putty. I spent a good part of an afternoon hand-sanding the wood putty on the ENTIRE desk when my dad comes out and asks if I would like the electric sander... Thanks... Now you tell me?! XD Haha. 

I was able to add a shelf in the middle section. I kind of wish I had thought it over more and made the shelves deeper so I could store my old sewing machine AND overlocker underneath. As you can see, I can only store the overlocker there, but the shelf was an off-cut from the laminated pine so I didn't really have much choice.

All the handles were replaced. I've also added peg boards on either side of the desk to hang tools/equipment. I'd like to eventually add another peg board or a wire grid/hooks/shelves to the back of the desk so I can store my small craft ironing board and other things.

It took about a month from start to finish. The table top took twice as long having to wait for the liquid nails to cure and the laminate paint to dry for recoats, then days would go by where we'd be trying to figure out how to fix 'x' problem. So many problems!

It'll take me a good few weeks to figure out how to organise the desk, and I have less floor space to fit my mannequins in my room, etc, (really, who needs access to their wardrobe? Haha! :P) but I'm excited to finally have a decent working space!