Dresser Table
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The weather has not been very cooperative lately. I have an unfinished project to show you today, but I’d like your thoughts about dresser ideas and how to finish it out.
Do you remember this dresser I picked up recently? It was more than I usually pay, but I knew I would get 2 projects out of it, so I felt justified in paying $20 for it.
As soon as I got it off the truck, I started cutting it apart to make the 2 projects.
This is project #1, a kid’s bench made from the bottom part of a dresser. It is still not finished. I’m looking for some fun fabric for pillows, so I’ll know what color to paint the hardware.
Today, I’m going to show you what I did with the top of the dresser.
This is the bottom of the dresser top that I cut off. It needs a base. In order to give it a base I need to beef it up a little so that I’ll have a way to secure the base. I used some scrap lumber pieces and Gorilla Wood Glue.
I wanted this table to be chunky, not dainty, so I used 4×4’s for legs. I used Gorilla Wood Glue and screws to hold the legs in place.
I use a scrap piece of 4×4 block to mark the area, so I’ll know where to put the screws.
After attaching all four legs, I used screws to secure a piece of plywood to complete the base.
To cover up the chipped veneer, I selected some scrap trim pieces I had laying around.
I purposely put the legs all the way to the edge…
. . . so I could use all three drawers as seats (storage) underneath.
This stage was at the beginning of December when we had some warm(ish) weather. Then it turned cold, and I had to store it away.
When the weather warmed up enough to paint, (a couple of days after Christmas) I gave it a quick coat of some DIY Chalky Primer with my HomeRight Finish Max .
I never really liked having the legs all the way to the edge. I didn’t look how it looked so boxy.
When I started working on the drawer/seats, I realized all three of them were not going to fit after all.
Time for plan B
I removed the table from the base, then I removed all four legs. It wasn’t easy to do since I used the Gorilla Wood Glue, but I knew I would never be happy with it the way it was.
This is a dry fit to see if I like the legs—thinking about adding two more in the middle.
Meanwhile, I start finishing off the drawers. I added plywood to the bottom (so I can add wheels). Because it’s going to be for kids, I really didn’t want to hinge it because of fingers getting smashed, and the lid possibly being abused and coming off. I decided to have a lift off lid.
This is right after painting it. I didn’t want to shut the drawers because the were still a little tacky. You can see that I decided to add two more legs in the middle.
The weather turned cold again, so it is in storage for now.
The seats will have wheels. This will make a great table for kids to sit or stand at. I have two ideas to finish it off. One idea would be a chalkboard table, the other being a Lego table. My cousin had mentioned she might be looking for one, so I got to thinking with all the storage this might make the perfect Lego table. We’ve never really had many Legos around here, so I need to figure out how to paint it and finish it off. The dresser drawers sort of look Lego(ish) don’t you think? I’d like to do some sort of Lego handles for the drawers. Have you ever made anything permanent by gluing Legos together?
I plan to cover the lids to make the seats softer. And of course it will be painted. The black is just a primer.
I’m open to suggestions to finish off this table. Can you think of a better use for it? Maybe a train table? What kind of kids table needs a lot of storage?
Hopefully we will have some warm weather soon so I can finish this project.
gail
see more repurposed dresser ideas here
EDITED TO ADD:
It’s a DIY Lego Table
My Grandestson needs a table like this – I would make one end a busy board – he loves the one is PaPa made him for Christmas. He is always twisting the locks, turning on and off the switches and playing with the caster wheels all mounted to the sides of a dry erase/chalk board. then I would paint a “road” on the other half for cars and then all the drawers can be used for the cars and action figures (little people at this age) and balls that little boys want to play with. I think its a fabulous table!!
Clever and great idea!!!
Wonderful Simply Wonderful!! I love it and have a similar item at home waiting for a bolt of creativty to hit me.
Thanks for the strike of lightening. Now I can show my Hunny Bunny what I see. He’s pretty handy.
Thanks for sharing.
Wonderful idea! I read some of the comments above, but as a former daycare owner, I like painting the top with chalkboard paint so the kids, or parents, could use it any way they want. You can get large lego plates, but they don’t need to be screwed down. They could draw roads, train tracks, houses for toy cars. It could be used as an art table with a big roll of paper on the end…I say find a buyer and customize it for them!
I totally agree with you Cindy after reading all the comments on this post and on facebook. So many clever ideas out there.
thank you for your input!
gail
My 2 year old grandson, his baby brother, and parents are living with me so I must vote for a lego or train table. I love the idea of being able to store legos or Thomas the train engine away out of sight! How clever and talented at repurposing you are! By the way, having taught school for over 35 years, I have never understood how anyone in their right mind could be thrilled over the idea of blackboard paint. There is nothing like a steady diet of chalk dust to dull the thrill.
I have a suggestion for the bench…cartoon characters. I’m not sure you can still find it but I have some scrap fabric of Scooby Doo. My grandkids love Scooby Doo so for me that would work. But I do know JoAnn’s has character fabrics for Disney and SpongeBob. As for the table, a craft table for kids is an idea. the crafting tools, markers, crayons, and such, can be stored in the drawers with paper and coloring books.
It is so fun to see what you come up with Gail!!! So very awesome and inspiring! I just read all the comments, there were a million! I think it would be so cute with any of the ideas, but it seems Lego table is the most popular, I know that is what my boys need! You are right the drawers could totally be made into lego pieces, which would be super fun! Can’t wait to see what you do! Hugs!
Hi, Gail.. i absolutely love these two projects,, especially the last one. I like the lego table idea ,, or what about some kind of cool top (roadways, street signs, etc) for hot wheel cars .. lots of ways to go with it.. cant wait to see it all finished.
I so wish I could think up these ideas. Thanks for sharing your work. That $20.00 gave you the material you were able to re-create with, helped out those who benefit from the thrift store and gave joy to those of us who love to see your projects. Thanks so much, Sue Wright
Awesome projects! Lego table would be great, if you could make it a little more universal for like: K’Nex, Lincoln Logs, Erector Sets, etc. or especially for a girl and her Barbie stuff.
Since I have all boys, the Lego table idea is fantastic. If you do it, glue Lego baseplates to the top. Then there is a built in surface to start building on! A 10 in by 10 in plate is $5 at Lego.com, but you may be able to find some used for cheaper. I glued some of these to a TV tray to make a portable Lego table, and my son loves it.
I would buy or make circular knobs for the drawers so they LOOK like giand lego blocks if thats what it’s going to be used for! Also- you could put a very thin frame of some sort around the edge of the table so puzzle pieces or legos or whatever isnt so easily slid off the edge. and ruined. One an 1/8 of an inch or maybe even a BIT thinner would do the trick. I LOVE the idea of that dresser becoming TWO different peices, too. Also- could you have turned the top into a low coffee/coctail table instead? Just an idea. LOVE your blog!!!! xx