Studio Worktable

In a big step toward figuring out permanent furniture for my Studio (one of my 20/2020 goals), Dale and I spent the weekend building my new worktable. I couldn't be happier.

It's a very generous four foot square tabletop that's at counter height. That is a lot of horizontal workspace! My large cutting mat fits on it with ease, so cutting fabric for sewing projects will be a breeze.

Let's start at the beginning. The base of the table consists of two of these cubby units. They are three feet square and one foot deep. Five of the cubbies have a cardboard backing, four are open.

We placed the two cubby units back to back and secured them on the sides with metal braces. It makes for a very sturdy pedestal base with the added benefit of lots of storage.

Next we took two 2 ft x 4 ft shelves, butted them together on a long side, and braced them together with four 10-inch metal strips. This created a sturdy, flat surface for the tabletop.

We centered the tabletop over the cubby units, and drew a line on the underside of the tabletop around the cubby units. That created an approximately 2 ft x 3 ft area. We flipped the tabletop over, then created a lip out of 1" x 2" strips and some "L" brackets. This forms a lip that rests around the tops of the cubby units. The tabletop has essentially become a lid on top of the cubby units!

We finished the piece by ironing melamine edging strips onto the edges to give it a finished look.

We didn't want to attach the tabletop directly to the cubby units because then the entire unit would be too cumbersome to move. This way, when needed, the tabletop simply lifts off, then can be turned on its side to fit through doorways.

Though the table is very heavy, it can be moved fairly easily because we added furniture glides to the bottom of the cubby units. As long as we push the table from the base instead of from the top, it slides on the vinyl flooring very easily. This will come in handy when there are more than two people working at the table and we need to slide it to the middle of the room. (I'm imagining the time when all my daughters and granddaughters will be here together, building a gingerbread village again).

The sides of the table have a twelve inch overhang so that, when seated, there is plenty of room for my legs. For Christmas, Dale is planning to buy me two bar stools so that I can easily craft while sitting as easily as while standing. Once this darn Covid time is over, I'll be able to have my daughters in for Crafternoons and have a nice place for them to sit, too.

The ends of the worktable have a six inch overhang. I'm using that space next to the wall to store large, flat items like my cutting mats, mat board, foam core, and poster board.

Since only five of the cubbies have a cardboard backing, I have four spaces that are two feet deep. Here I can store some of my longer items, like bolts of fabric and rolls of interfacing.

When I'm doing papercrafting and cardmaking, my Guillotine paper cutter and my Big Shot embossing/die cut machine can sit on one side of the table, leaving plenty of room for me to spread out on the other side.

I'm still rearranging my supplies, trying to come up with an efficient use of the space. For the moment, I have all my painting supplies on one side of the table. On the other side, the cubbies are filled with "crafts that are about to happen." For example that's where the supplies for the Grandbaby Craft Kits are temporarily stored. I'm sure I'll be moving things around quite a bit before the work flow feels right. The nice thing about cubby cubes is that they easily move from one unit to another without a lot of fuss.

I am pleased as punch to have such a big and practical work and storage area. I plan to make very good use of it.