I figured it was time for a break, so I went shopping!
A little background story:
I have a nice size studio (the master bedroom of the house, don't ask how I managed that one) but almost everything in it is custom made, simply because it is cheaper and I can get just what I want. I can conceive and my DH can construct. I like to re-purpose items, say if they were meant for one thing, I will find another way to use them for my needs in the studio.
For instance, my sewing table is made out of a 1/2 inch 4 x 8 sheet of MDF. We had to slice it down the center to get it home (because we didn't have truck at the time) but that was a good thing because it took two strong men just to get one half of this sheet up the stairs. MDF is really heavy!
I have 3 bathroom cabinets from way long ago, and I use them as base units for my sewing table. They have, up until this move, been attached to a wall with a kitchen counter top attached to them. Now that I have a bigger space, I can have a bigger table, makes since to me! So what you see here is the base of the table. I wanted electric added to it, so my DH, being my DH, went overboard on the request and wired me 2 four outlet plugs on one side and 2 four outlet plugs on the other side so when I have friends over, they also can plug in anything they want. The center piece also acts as a stabilizer so this table doesn't move and can support the weight of a baby elephant!! (over kill? Yup, you bet'cha!)
So here is the table with half of the sheet of MDF. It is attached to the center bar, which my DH cut the corner off so I could save my knees, with screws and angle hardware. This top is not going anywhere.
Without even asking if I wanted the corners rounded, my DH got out his router and saved my legs from multiple bruises! Isn't he nice?
So when all is said and done, I have a nice big sewing table that I can iron and cut on. I covered it in duck canvas with two layers of warm and natural underneath and it is a beauty!
Like I said, I like to re-purpose things. Next on the list is my ironing board. A long time ago, when the big board iron board was introduced, I said to myself "I can make that for less than $25 dollars, why pay $xxx for this?"
This is what I came up with. It is a wire shelf I found at IKEA covered with several layers of batting and an old bath towel covered by reproduction feed sack cloth (uckie stuff to sew with but wonderful to cover stuff with) I attached it to the top of my ironing board with a couple of screws and Wholla! my version of the Big Board for under $25 dollars! Not bad, but a little unstable if you lean on it.
Storage and shelves have always been a problem in my studio. Never enough of either, or maybe just to much stuff. Which brings me to the subject of this blog, The $50 dollar idea.
I was reading a post on one of the groups I belong to on FB. They were showing off their new ironing tables. Humm, ironing table, not board. They were showing beautiful, expensive base cabinets, lovely really, but way outa my budget, so I started to think, can I make something like this for way less? Yup, sure can, but how? Stared with the IKEA catalog, then Amazon, then Walmart on line. Got some great ideas, but settled on IKEA. I went shopping and here is what I found.It is a galvanized shelving unit, 36 inches tall, 14 inches deep and 19 inches wide. Perfect, I'll take 2, one for each side. The table I have now is 33 inches tall, so 3 more inches is not bad. The top is 22 inches wide underneath so the 19 inches is perfect. So here is what I managed to create with two units:
Took me all of 30 minutes to put them together, no tools, remove the ironing surface and set it on the shelves. I have attached the units to the table with the straps they provided and it is super solid and I gained a small amount of storage space, and 6 inches of floor space as the table is over an unused end of the sewing table. Water is not longer on the floor, scrap bucket is no longer in the corner and DH is happy with the 'upgrade'.So that was my $50 idea for the day.
Happy re-purposing!
