DIY IKEA Knockoff Sewing Table

Shortly after we bought our house, we finished our basement to use as a play/sewing/guest space.  When my parents moved to Florida, I inherited an office desk that I've been using as my sewing table for almost 10 years.  At first, when I only had 1 sewing machine, it was great.  But I've slowly acquired more machines, each with it's own job.  I have a serger and a standalone coverhem machine now, and though it's not ideal, I've been making it work on my office desk.  So recently I decided it's time for a new desk!

The biggest issue I have with my current setup is that I often have go back and forth between all 3 machines and the knee space of the office desk doesn't allow me to do that effectively.  I end up having the slide one machine out of the way in order to use one of the others.

I'm also not in love with the colors we chose all those years ago.  We have a walkout basement, so we get some light from the slider, but it's still a little dark.  We liked the sort of coffee shop look of the yellow and maroon color scheme, but I'm not sure how well it works in brightening up the space.

 A few quick changes made a big difference.  I painted the maroon wall a lighter gray color.

I was planning on buying a new chair when I had the aha moment that I could simply remove the arms on my current chair and recover the seat and back.  The back ended up being a little more tricky and I ultimately had to use nails to get the back piece back on.

 The biggest and most fun change is the desk.  I had my eye on a kind of build your own desk at IKEA.  But I was dragging my feet on getting there.  The 2 limitations for me are the size of my vehicle and the fact that the closest IKEA is at least a 3 hour drive round trip.  I'm and IKEA lover, but I was also concerned with how lightweight the IKEA table might be.  I didn't want to drive all the way there only to end up with a table that shook a lot.  

After a few trips back and forth to Home Depot, I realized I could build essentially the same desk and not have to make the drive!  Here's what I did.

 Materials

• desk tops - 2 @ $16each (4feet long, about 23 inches deep -  I opted for 2, 4 foot table tops.  They also sell a single 8 ft piece, but it wouldn't fit in my car.)
• plates for legs to screw into - 4 @ $3each
• table legs -  4 @ $11each
• edge tape for table tops - 1 @ $6
• drawers - on clearance at my local Michael's $35
• as is piece of melamine at my local Home Depot $2
• 2 inch cord grommet - 2 @ $2each
• 2 inch hole saw drill bit - 1 @ $8

DESK PROJECT TOTAL -  $143

 My husband predrilled holes for me to screw in the top plates, in 2 corners of each top.  Then, I simply screwed the legs into the top plates.  Easy peasy!

The next part took a bit of troubleshooting. I found this set of drawers on the clearance shelf at Michael's but it wasn't the right height.  I went back to Home Depot and was able to grab a piece of melamine from the as is bin for $2 and have someone cut it for me.  The first guy I asked wouldn't do it, so I asked someone else.  Pays to be persistent

To make it a bit more stable, I screwed the bottom base into the drawer frame from the inside. The one downside of the Home Depot melamine tops is that the edges come unfinished.  To finish the edges, you have to iron on a special finishing tape.  I was a little nervous about doing it, but it ended up being pretty easy.

The last little touch I added to my tables is a cord hole.  Because my old desk had a larger depth, I had to keep the cords for the foot pedals in front.  These table are only 23inches deep, which means with a well placed cord hole, I can have all the cords under the desk.

 I bought an attachment for our drill and my wonderful husband drilled the holes for me.  I was warned at the store that you need to hold tightly on the drill when you first start because there would be a lot of torque.  That scared me, but my husband had no trouble.

 I am so so so happy with my new table.  It totally fits my needs and was really easy and affordable to make!  I can't believe I didn't do this sooner.

I'd love to hear if you decide to make one too.