Repurposing old furniture

I first started seeing and quilting in college. My step mom sewed all my life but I didn't pick up interest until my hall director loaned me her sewing machine over spring break to make a (crappy) cover for my futon. I later got a sewing machine from my step mom for Christmas and I was bit by the sewing bug.

Over the years since then I have improved my skills, bought a much fancier machine, and joined a quilting club. I've made several quilts and recently began sewing and selling bags.  I post a lot of photos on Instagram but thought it would be nice to log my projects and progress.

My friend was giving away her changing table and it looked like the perfect organizational and cutting station for my sewing room. It's just the right height for me and has a drawer, shelves, and a cubby to store fabric and other bits.

It started out very much as a baby changing table:

We had to take it apart a bit to fit it in the Subaru and I hauled the bits and pieces into our dining room, after derby practice one night when I was ridiculously sore and tired. The dining room was as far as I could go. David was leaving town for a week and it seemed like the perfect time to take on a big art project.

I looked up how to paint laminated furniture. Priming it seemed like the way to go. I bought some Kilz and threw caution to the wind by not putting down any newspaper or dropcloths. Ended up getting some droplets on my glasses, a streak of white in my hair, and a few splotches on my shirt, but nothing on the floor!

I found out that you can get small "sample" paint jars from Home Depot in any color they have available, or they will even match some color you bring in. They are, like, $2! I chose a pretty aqua, Caribbean color which will brighten up my sewing room. Jeffrey is supervising.

In order to make space for it and move things around, I had to clean up the place a bit. But this is the in-progress sewing room photo. What a disaster! 

Here it is is, all finished! It looks so much better in there now. 

David is also happy to have all the cutting mess out of the dining room, I'm happy to have a height-appropriate table on which to do it and not have to go up and down stairs every time I need to cut new fabric, and the dogs are happy to have the mess out of the dining room.

Here is Bears very scared of all the commotion.