Sewing Table: The Adventure Begins...

Over the last year, I have picked up a few new hobbies. I think it is important to give any new hobby a "trial period," in order to judge whether or not it is going to stick. This way you do not get too excited about the prospect of your new hobby and invest too much time, effort, and money into something that might not be your cup of tea. A few months for a "trial period" also gives you time to hate the new hobby because you don't understand it, and then finally... love it because you do.

And so, this is what the last year has been for me in terms of sewing. It didn't take much time to realize that I not only loved my new hobby, but that I was going to need a serious workspace if I were to continue it. It was time to give my dining room back to meal times, and find a new, permanent home for my sewing machine and friends. It did take a lot of time, however, to find a suitable workspace.

That's why we are here today! Unable to find a sewing table that would suit my needs and match my furniture, I ended up having to take on a whole new project to reclaim my dining room table, dining room floor, and half of my guest room.

The journey started at Ikea.com, where I scouted the components for the desk itself. Everything you see here is from their Vika series. My only problems were these:

1.) Would it be sturdy enough for my serger?
2.) Would it come in coordinating colors for my existing furniture?

It seemed it might hold up to the serger, but most of the components I needed only came in white. Ick, no thanks.

I talked it over with a very good friend of mine, who encouraged me to paint the desk whatever color I wanted. Those of you who are familiar with Ikea, are probably aware of the fact that most of their furniture involves some wood laminate. I was doubtful that this sort of material could be painted successfully, but she volunteered to help and so we embarked on this crazy project and ended up with what you see here!
(I will review what steps we took to get to this point later in the blog, for those of you who are considering tackling a similar project.)

My New Playground:


The tabletop came in a black-brown finish, which was a huge relief. If I had to paint the table top, I would be very concerned about the finish holding up through all the work I plan on doing here.

The desk itself has 5 drawers on the left for my sewing notions, all organized with some simple drawer organizers that I purchased at Walmart and Target for nearly nothing.


The cabinet on the right has 2 sections that are the perfect size to fit both my sewing and embroidery machines simultaneously.

The extra drawers on the right are actually for my computer desk, which you can just barely see in this picture. Finally, all my paper and clutter is organized and contained here, allowing me to not only see my desk again but also enjoy being at it.

Now, as I promised above, here are the steps we took to transform this desk. If you aren't wanting to read a wee little tutorial, this is probably your stop. :)

How We Painted The Desk:

First off was a stop at the hardware store. We picked up some Killz2 High Adhesive Latex Primer (get it tinted if you are working with anything but white paint), 2 High Density Foam Rollers and foam roller refills, paint trays, drop cloths, touch up brushes, and Ralph Lauren Bone Black Latex paint- Satin finish. (If I were to do it again, I would consider using a oil based primer rather than latex.)

Once we were home, we removed everything from the boxes. Of course, this being Ikea furniture, everything comes dissembled. If you don't want to paint everything, I would suggest taking a moment to identify all your pieces and which parts need to be painted and do not. Even if you are like me, and prefer to paint everything, it is good to identify your pieces so you can make sure the utmost care is taken with those that will be the most visible. (Small note: I did not paint the drawer bottom inserts.)

At this point, I would suggest taking a fine grit sand paper and sanding down all your pieces. It doesn't have to be an extreme roughing of the surface, but when dealing with laminate I think it would be best to rough up the surface some and give your primer something additional to stick too. After you are done, wipe down the pieces with a tack cloth or wet rag to remove all that dust and residue. We did not sand down our pieces, but I wish we had.

Our first step was to take some rags and dampened them with rubbing alcohol. We quickly wiped down all the pieces to remove any kind of oil or residue that might be lurking and cause problems down the line. I would NOT skip this step, as it is quick, easy, and extremely helpful. Taking more time when starting the foundation of your project is only going to make your life that much easier.

Stir up your primer while you let the last of your pieces dry, and then start priming! Multiple thin coats are better than 1 thick coat, so go easy. Definitely let the pieces dry well between coats. The more time you can give them, the better. I put 2 coats of primer on everything over the course of 2 days. I would let your primer dry for a day or two, if not longer, just to make sure it has really set. The more time you can give yourself while working on something like this, the better.


Now time for more sanding. Fine grit sand paper is great, just lightly sand down the irregularities in your primer. Wash off all that dust with a damp rag. Let your boards dry, and then you can start painting. I took drying times very seriously between paint coats. Everything got atleast 4 or 5 hours drying time between coats or flipping over to do the other sides. Once everything was painted, I let it sit and cure for an entire week. Then came the very careful assembly and a little bit of touch up paint where necessary. I put shelf liners in all the drawers and I am making a little tabletop cover for my desk drawers.


I am having some issues with blocking (paint removal) when some of the pieces come in contact with each other or have other plastic items sitting on them. This was a fear that I had initially about painting the desk to begin with. I have heard that oil based primers and paints help, or you can apply a top coat. I also think sanding initially would have helped, but this is all just speculation. Since I didn't have to paint the tabletop, I am just taking precautions (table cloth, shelf liners etc) to avoid any additional blocking. If it continues, I may end up putting a top coat on. Overall, however, I am happy with my desk. I love it, but I just hope it holds up well!

I hope my experience is able to help anyone out there that is trying to sort through a million tutorials and decide if they want to tackle a similar project!



Now, the sewing begins...