DIY Cutting Table

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Good evening quilting friends!  Tonight I want to share a project that my husband and I completed three years ago because it is still relevant AND useful today . . . my DIY cutting table.  Maybe it will provide inspiration to a need that you have in your sewing room!

In the summer of 2012, we did some rearranging and de-cluttering in our home, and a spot opened up next to our family room where I could create a dedicated sewing and crafting area. This new spot allowed me to enjoy my sewing or scrapbooking and still be part of family conversations and TV viewing.  It also meant I finally had enough space for a real cutting table.

I found a really cute $30 drop leaf table at an occasional shop near our home town.  With both leaves up, it had just the right surface area for a large cutting mat, with a little extra space on all four sides.  However, it was too short.  I\’m only 5\’ 7\”, but I was bending over to do my cutting.  Not an ideal situation!


During the de-cluttering and rearranging episode, we purchased a larger dresser for my teenage daughter.  Up to this point, she had been using this pretty birch dresser which was a hand-me-down from my parents\’ cabin.  We brought it downstairs and had the idea to marry the two pieces somehow, creating a cutting table with storage.  You can see how thrilled my husband looks at the outset of the project.  😉

We ended up removing one set of legs from the drop-leaf table.  We also removed about 8 inches from the bottom of each of these discarded legs.

We attached these 8-inch pieces to the bottoms of the \”good\” legs by using dowels and wood glue.  This extended the height of the drop leaf table.


Then my husband added some bracing and joined both units together!


We usually joke that I have the vision and he has the brawn, but he really came through with some great ideas on this project.  With the hard work completed, all that was left was to paint the entire thing.  I did what you are not supposed to do.   I waited for a cool day, opened every window in the house, laid down a lot of plastic, and spray painted the entire unit.  It worked out just fine! No one fainted or got a paint headache.  I did get a tiny bit of paint mist on the floor, but it actually wiped right up! 😉  A little distressing to the edges, and our DIY cutting table was ready for use!


And here is my cutting table today . . . three years later and I still love it.  I know I would never find anything quite like this in a store!  The back side is high enough that someone could sit on a bar stool and work, but I\’m usually moving around too much for that.


I hope you enjoyed our little DIY project.  Thanks for visiting my blog!

~Taunja

24 thoughts on “DIY Cutting Table”

  7. I just found this on pinterest. What a GREAT idea! My current cutting table is also hurting my back and I'm far shorter than 5'7\”…

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  8. Glad that you liked it and hope you can find something similar to work together! In my opinion, belly button height (ha!) is the way to go, at least for my back. Cutting at this dresser height is similar to cutting at a kitchen counter height. Best of luck to you and thanks so much for stopping by the blog to check it out! 🙂

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  12. Just found your blog. What a cute and functional idea. Are you still able to drop your leaf side down if you want to? So adorable !!!!!

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  14. Thank you!! No, we aren't. It's all solid now, which makes for a great cutting surface, but darn it, that would have been slick. We perhaps aren't clever enough carpenters to figure that out! 😉

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  15. I own this very table that I found at a thrift/shabby chic type shop years ago, and I have the same height problem with it in my room. I don't have a dresser, but you have given me the idea of buying legs at the hardware store to cut the right length and attach to my existing legs. Then paint, and sand. It will look great and work so much better! Thanks!!!

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  17. Thanks for all of your kind comments. I can \”hear\” the excitement in your words. I was so thrilled with how my diy project turned out too. And it was fun to do it together with my husband! It will always be special to me. Yes, please feel free to share. I'd prefer if you'd link the photo up to my blog post. That would be great. Thank you for asking!

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  20. Wood works-regardless of whether it sounds overwhelming toward the beginning, making new furniture for the house (for the family and obviously, for your very own utilization) is really one of the most satisfying approaches to kick off your own DIY fever. Try to consistently begin little. how to do diamond painting

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  21. This is really the equivalent of the kids' arrangement of dried out hued 3D squares. A few painters/specialists further use 'pristine' watercolor paint directly from the cylinder and don't allow it to dry. This is on the grounds that they guarantee the shadings are fresher if the paint isn't allowed to evaporate before it contacts the paper. i love

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  22. Pingback: 25 DIY Sewing Table Ideas for A Cozier Sewing Space
  23. Pingback: An extraordinary DIY project to promote your creativity! – Puppy Girl Designs

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