DIY Counter Height Craft Table

I am so excited about this project!  My husband noticed how much I had to bend over to cut on the dining room cutting table.  It really put a kink in my back, especially when I’ve got lots of orders for my shop and I’m working every evening.  This table was Dave’s grandparents from their Oregon homestead house.  It’s survived around 100 years and even a minor house fire set by vandals.  Due to it’s age and hardships it’s fairly rickety so I’ve had to take extra care not to harm it further.

This was my craft room/sewing desk/cutting table/Jennuine Design headquarters prior to this afternoon.

There’s leftovers from half a dozen projects sprawled across both surfaces as well as some general mess mixed in.  Laser even got in on the chaos as he was in a settle after putting his feet up on the counter to see if he could scam any food from the sink.

I’ve had this project pinned to my Craft Room Lust board since Ashley at Make It – Love It published it in July.  She used IKEA parts and pieces to build a counter height craft table.  Her version was waay cheaper than any ready made version I’d found so I plotted my trip to IKEA to follow in her footsteps.

So here’s my version!  I made a couple of little changes – she bought the smaller white tabletop, but this longer one was the exact same price and I had the space so I went for it.  I also liked the gray to contrast the white cubes and black baskets. 

There’s not even a misbehaving dog in the background! 

Here’s the products and costs for the parts I used in case you want to make your own:

Expedit cube x 2, $39.99 each = $79.98
Galant table top = $70.00 (the price in this link is $110, but I didn’t get the frame so it’s only $70 – the price must have gone up since July as the smaller white one was listed the same in the showroom)
Capita legs x 2, $12.00 each = $24.00
Total = $173.98

The baskets were from IKEA as well, but I don’t see them online.  They’re vinyl woven on a wire frame and came packed flat.  They were about $12 each, so that added almost $100 to the total, but I can’t see doing this without a storage solution.

I’m 5’8″ and Ashley says she is 5’11”.  I’m pretty sure I’m going to be getting the legs that are 4″ as this ends up being about 38″ high and I think 36″ would be more where I should be.  I’m going to work with it for a while to be sure before I change anything.  I also decided not to attach my table top permanently.  I had some Dritz fabric gripper sticky dots on hand and they seem to be working just fine.  I can take the table top off if I want but it doesn’t slide around while I’m using it.  I’ve got my eye on a couple of bar stools that I might get, but I want to see if I think I’ll ever want to sit down before I do that.

Baskets slide in and out to hide all my supplies and projects and hopefully to keep pet hair and little fingers out.

Here’s my nautical flag banner supplies and an in-progress banner.  That’s everything I use except the bolt of duck cloth.  Room to spare even!

I think the contrast is striking.  I was able to squirrel away all the stuff that was strewn over both tables and I still have room to spare.  I think I’m going to clear out one of the file cabinets so I can use the hanging files there instead of waaaay on top of my wall shelf where they currently are.  Maybe I’ll actually file my paperwork more regularly if I don’t have to haul it down to do so.  I’ll probably come up with some cute way to label the bins – after I fill them all up!

Anybody need fabric cut?  Patterns pinned and cut out?  Anyone?  Bueller?  Cuz I’ve got a crazy awesome cutting table to use now!

This project was featured on:

I’ll be linking up to many of these great parties:

Mondays Making the World Cuter Monday – Making the World Cuter Made By You Monday – Skip to My Lou Craftastic Monday – Sew Can Do Making Mondays Marvelous – C.R.A.F.T. Market Yourself Monday – Sumo’s Sweet Stuff Creative Me Monday – The Southern Institute Tuesdays I Made It Without My Hubby – Shanty 2 Chic Sew Cute Tuesdays – Creative Itch Take a Look Tuesdays – Sugar Bee Craft Edition Shwin&Shwin Wednesdays We Did It Wednesdays – Sew Much Ado Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice – Seven Thirty Three Show & Tell – Blue Cricket Design Show Me What Ya Got – Not Just a Housewife Your Whims Wednesdays – My Girlish Whims Thursdays Strut-Your-Stuff – Somewhat Simple Make It, Wear It – The Train to Crazy It’s Stinkin’ Cute – Sew Stinkin’ Cute Show Off Your Stuff – Fireflies and Jellybeans Making It With Allie – What Allie’s Making Now Pinspirational Thursdays – The ArtsyGirl Connection Fridays Furniture Feature Friday – Miss Mustard Seed Weekend Wrap Up Party – Tatertots and Jello Feature Yourself Friday – Fingerprints on the Fridge Friday Fun Finds – KojoDesigns Weekends Check Me Out Saturday – A Vision to Remember Show and Tell Saturday – Be Different Act Normal Sunday Scoop – I Heart Naptime Sunday Showcase Party – Under the Table and Dreaming A Pinteresting Party – Tutus & Tea Parties Sunday Roundup – A Rosie Sweet Home