Craft Table
My craft table wasn't bought, it was built and pieced together.
The top is made of wood with a light grid laminate glued on top. Supporting the top is a combo of a metal frame hubs welded and an old changing table. To conserve floor space, I've nestled several pieces underneath. I found a large window on Craigslist and added it to the top to help make clean-up easier while keeping the grid in view.
Hope you're doing well - if you have anything you've done in your craft area, please share it (or add a link to your blogpost) in the comments.
(On with the yammer. . .)
After decades of crafting on the coffee or kitchen table, I finally had enough of my own space to have a craft table. I like the craft tables I've seen everywhere online (the ones basically made from 2 bookcases and a table top), but I'm more of the "use what you have type" with a very limited budget. I'd rather spend money on things we all need or on supplies to use instead of buying storage pieces, no matter how great they may be. I also wanted something sooner than if I saved for it, so ended up with a DIY table and just used the wonderful tables I saw as an inspiration/starting point. (I'm also liking the idea of crafting things together for a craft space.)
I already had one small bookcase, so started looking around Craigslist for a free door to use as a thrifty table top. I was thinking that once I got the top, I could see if a small filing cabinet we had would work as the other side, or if I had to find another bookcase. While trying to figure things out, I realized our old changing table would be a great place for storage. Instead of taking up more floor space, it became a great solution for the other side. It also helped me decide how tall I wanted the table to be - it was a good height for a standing table.
I started trying to figure out how to make the bookcase taller in order to match the changing table when my husband stepped in and offered to help. He made a wooden top to fit snugly over the changing table and then a metal frame with two legs to support other side (it's attached to the changing table with a few brackets).
The bookcase isn't needed for support, but I nestled it in the same place it was going to be if it were. It covers the metal legs you see in the picture and gives me more storage. To save floor space, I've added a small file cabinet, two IKEA hinged cabinets that weren't being used anywhere else, and a DIY drawer shelf unit underneath. (Details in an earlier post here)
After crafting on it for a little while, I realized I wanted some glass to cover at least part of my table to help make it easier to clean up messes. Glass seems to be something listed on Craigslist often (- except when I really wanted it). . . After a few weeks of looking, I was able to pick up a window. There weren't any dimensions listed in the ad, so it's bigger than I thought it would be. It's tempered, so having it cut down is unfortunately out of the question.
Hubs said he'd build something to support it, but he tends to overbuild things (plus, I don't know when I'd get it because he has a few other projects to do). I moved it so it overlapped the side I tend to sit/work on by a few inches and had the rest over the opposite side. I put an OTT lamp on one corner and have my die file cabinet next to the other to help "remind" me /warn others it's there and prevent anyone from bumping it and hurting themselves or the glass. It's been pretty warm (we don't use the air conditioner much and definitely not at all in there), so I haven't used it enough to see if this is the permanent solution, but seems to be fine for the little time I've spent in there. . .
While using wooden rulers from the Dollar Tree on another project, I noticed that the printed part of it peeled off. It was still a little sticky, so I just put them on a few edges of my table to use a bit like the rulers the fabric cutters use at fabric stores. (They're the black strips in the pictures above.)
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