Sewing Table DIY Furniture Upcycle

Hands up who likes a before and after DIY furniture story!?

The finished table...

I am loathe to spend too much money on stuff inside the house. It seems like wasted money sometimes and if I can come up with a cheaper way of making things look good, well then, why not?

And as much as I love interior design shows, it all seems very wasteful to throw away things and get new stuff, just because we like a different look or style. I mean, some people in the world live in tin shanties and huts, and we need to rip out our old tiles because the colour is a bit daggy? We are very spoilt!

I am no saint and we do a lot of things in our house requiring new materials and funds, and I won't rule out ever removing tiles in my home, but I do love to think creatively when it comes to what I already have.

I had this sewing table that I bought for $4 from the op shop. It's nasty! I bought it quickly when we were setting up our house as I just needed a table. I was pretty proud of the cost :) Though recently I was looking into new ones and was going to throw this one to landfill, when I started wondering if I could save it.

(insert horror screaming soundtrack!)

Painting this thing would've looked terrible due to the worn away veneer revealing chipboard, so my solution was to cover it with oilcloth, which is essentially fabric covered in plastic, and nail it on with some upholstery tacks. I stretched the top piece on (after ironing on low) like a canvas, stretching it and tacking it from the middle one way then the other, and then working my way out to the edges of the table.

This is the desk upside down

I wrapped oilcloth around the drawers and tacked it on from behind. I glued the drawer back together with PVA, and spray painted the brown plastic handles. New handles probably would've looked nicer, but once again, it had handles, and this challenge was after all about not sending bits of it to landfill.

And now I have a cute little sewing desk! The bonus of which is anything you're sewing glides easily over the oilcloth and doesn't snag on that terrible rough chipboard that is now sneakily hidden.

Now if anyone could come and un-jam my sewing machine from me letting kids use it, I would be most grateful!! 

 Jules :)