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    Home » Repurposed Furniture » Make Your Own Standing Laptop Table for $20

    Make Your Own Standing Laptop Table for $20

    Published by Gail | Published July 18, 2017 | Updated September 9, 2021
    As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

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    How to make a standing laptop table out of a t.v. tray table. Add longer legs, step by step directions with pictures to help you make one. #MyRepurposedLife #repurposed #tvtable #upcycle #standingdesk via @repurposedlife

    Sometimes I get a brainstorm about a repurposed furniture project, I search for something like it on google or pinterest to see what’s out there. As in today’s project, a fold up standing laptop table, I found nothing. There were lots of options for folding desks for computers—but I wanted a tall table that would allow me to stand up to do work on my laptop. That seemed easy, but you see, I want it to fold up when it’s not in use because when I use it, I’ll be in the living room. Then it hit me! A t.v. tray table is the perfect table top for a laptop. I just needed it to be taller!

    I am about 5’4” tall. While standing, I measured to  my elbow and chose to make my legs 42” long. My standing laptop table is about 38.5 inches tall. You may have to make adjustments depending on your height.

    Materials List

    • T.V Tray Table (free, I already had one)
    • 1x2 Poplar board 7ft (2)  $13.30 (7 ft easily fit in my short bed truck)
    • 1x3 Poplar board  12-14” (1)  $1.57
    • ⅝” Dowel  $2.54 (or you can reuse the one from your t.v. tray table)
    • Bolts 1 ½ x ¼” (4)  $1.20
    • Nuts ¼” (4)  $1.60
    • ¼” x 1 ¼” washers (4)  .80
    • Scrap piece of thin plywood (optional)
    • Wood Glue
    • Paint or Stain

    Total 21.01 includes the dowel that you may not need to buy.

    how to dismantle tv tray table

    My daughter Jamie takes after me in the fact that when we get an idea, we want it done YESTERDAY! The moment I figured out what I wanted to do, I grabbed one of my tv tray tables and started dismantling it. The plan was to use the top “as is” and just make taller legs for it. What do you think? Does it sound doable?

    I had to pop off some lock washers in order to dismantle the top.

    remove pin

    To remove the pin without messing up the cleat, I grabbed the pin with the claw of one hammer and used another hammer to tap the pin out.

    dislodge dowel by removing screw

    To remove the dowel portion of the table legs, I had to take out one screw. I replaced the screw in the hole so I wouldn’t lose it.

    remove dowel from table legs

    I used the hammer to tap, tap, tap the table leg in order to get the dowel out of the holes on the legs.

    remove pin from table bracket

    To remove the pin, I stood on the brace, grabbed the pin with the channel locks pliers, then tapped the pliers to pry out the pin. Thank you Rodney for showing me how to do that when I made the console table out of a table leaf. Up to this point I was working at home in the living room (floor). It’s been too hot to work outside.

    *this post contains affiliate links, read more here*

    cut tv tray table legs on miter saw

    There are a few tools that would make this project easier—tools I don’t have in my shop. I decided to go to Maker 13 and use their tools in an air conditioned shop. I cut the legs to size on the miter saw, then snipped each corner of the legs so that I could easily round them off with the sander.

    round corners disc sander

    This is one of the tools I don’t have in my shop, a disc sander. I was able to quickly round all the corners of the legs using it.

    tv tray table legs

    Before and after of the tv tray table legs. They have to be rounded in order to swivel that allows the table to fold flat.

    drill press

    Another tool I don’t have in my shop—a drill press. I drilled holes with a regular 5/16 drill bit.

    large drill bit to countersink bolt and nut

    I used a larger drill bit to make the hole wider so that the bolt will countersink. Later I found a forstner bit that did a better job making the countersink hole.

    belt sander

    I bought a ⅝” dowel rod, the same size that was in the original table. I drilled a hole with a ¼” forstner bit—it was too small for the dowel rod. John was working at the shop that day and he recommended that I shim some of the dowel rod off with the belt sander. It worked like a charm.

    bottom leg brace

    I cut the bottom leg brace to size.

    Then things went a little wrong. I had totally misjudged where the pivot should be on the legs. When I did a dry fit, the lower portion of the legs did not separate enough. Plan B. Back to the drill press to drill new holes. Time was running out, and I had to get going. I would be finishing my project at home after all.

    Ya see the good part about me making the prototype is that I can give you the correct measurements and you can said right through this project instead of working out all the kinks. Winking smile

    dry fit tall tv table for laptop

    Before I left, I did a quick dry fit to make sure the legs would pivot properly this time. If you look closely, you will see the holes that will need to be filled.

    kreg k4 jig

    Back at home, on a cooler day—I used my Kreg Jig to make pocket holes in the lower leg brace.

    lower leg brace pocket holes

    Using a clamp, Gorilla Wood Glue and pocket hole screws I secure the lower leg brace approximately 7” from the bottom of the legs.

    testing tall tv tray standup computer table

    I brought the table in to test it out. I love how it’s coming together!

    tall tv table underneath side

    You can see that the tall t.v. tray table looks just like a regular one, only much taller.

    patch holes

    I used spackling to patch all the holes that were drilled in the wrong place. Winking smile

    folding tall t.v. tray table for laptop

    See how nicely it folds up!

    outer brace

    To aid in stabilizing the tall legs, I opted for a second brace. This was made from thin plywood, and must be attached to the outer side of the rear legs in order to allow the table to fold flat. I used my Ryobi Stapler.

    finish max extra

    Time to paint! I used my Finish Max Super on the day I was painting the coffee table bed bench. You may notice I ended up patching the pocket holes as well as all the other “oops” holes.

    oops white paint

    I lightly sanded the table top, and the raw wood, and painted it with some satin oops white paint. (I had already painted the coffee table with diy chalky paint primer)

    add spacers washers

    The original t.v. tray table had plastic spacers. I tried it without any spacers, but the legs rubbed against each other and made the table difficult to open and close. I ended up adding two washers on each set of legs. Some of the paint wore off where I had patched the holes. They needed to be touched up.

    Here is the before and after of the t.v. tray table, original and new taller standing laptop table.

    This before and after gives you a good idea of the height that was added with the new legs on the tv tray table.

    Grainy late night cell phone picture shows where I do my best work, in front of the t.v.

    PIN IT!

    I’ve been using it for about a week, and I love it. The best part is that the standing laptop table is that it folds flat for storage! Who knew a t.v. tray table would be so handy? Do you think you could get accustomed to standing while working on your laptop? I know of people who have treadmill desks, but for now I’ll just stand and walk in place while working on my new laptop standing table.

    gail

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    Reader Interactions

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    1. Angie

      July 19, 2017 at 4:09 pm

      I love it! What a great idea.

      Reply
    2. chris tucker

      July 19, 2017 at 12:30 pm

      what a stupendous idea gail xx

      Reply
      • Gail Wilson

        July 19, 2017 at 1:03 pm

        Thanks so much Chris!

        gail

      • Carrie Osburn

        July 19, 2017 at 1:29 pm

        That's genius

    3. Nadine Gurto

      July 18, 2017 at 12:31 pm

      Pretty damn ingenious! I have one of these in my living room that might need to be repurposed.

      Reply
      • Gail Wilson

        July 18, 2017 at 11:07 pm

        Thanks Nadine. I use it more than I thought I would. It rarely gets folded and put away. 🙂

        gail

    4. Kate

      July 18, 2017 at 9:55 am

      I need this! My husband and I both get tired of sitting (and we know it's not good to sit too long), so we try to stand to work. It's hard to find a comfortable spot. My husband's been using his on the deck railing lately. If you had some of these in your booth, I bet they'd be popular.

      Reply
      • Gail Wilson

        July 18, 2017 at 11:08 pm

        Kate,

        I hadn't thought about putting these in the booth. Ya never know what will go there. 🙂

        Computer on deck railing? yikes! that sounds like an accident waiting to happen, but happy he's off the couch. 🙂

        gail

    5. GirlfromWva

      July 18, 2017 at 9:08 am

      Very cool. Love how it came together.

      Reply
      • Gail Wilson

        July 18, 2017 at 11:09 pm

        Thank you Nova. I am surprised how much I use it. 🙂

        stay cool, hope your week is going well.

        gail

    6. MaryC

      July 18, 2017 at 9:03 am

      Such a great idea to repurpose something you already had!

      Reply
      • Gail Wilson

        July 18, 2017 at 11:09 pm

        Thank you Mary for stopping by and taking the time to leave a message. I appreciate it.

        gail

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    Hi, there! I’m Gail Wilson, the author and mastermind behind My Repurposed Life. I’m obsessed with finding potential in unexpected places and believe that with a little hard work and imagination, any old thing can be made useful again—myself included! I hope you’ll enjoy the journey and pick up a few tools along the way… literally!

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