When we were living in LA, Mr. Lovely and I were making the yard sale rounds one weekend morning and stumbled on this vintage sewing machine table. I was needing a little furniture piece to house my jewelry and accessories, and I thought it might work well. We asked the guy how much he wanted for it and when he said fifteen bucks I just about picked up the thing and ran away with it. I think it was one of those moments when he realized he lowballed me but there was no going back. That sucker was mine.
So we took it home and it lived with us in LA for a while. We left it as it was because we didn’t really have a place to do woodworking in our apartment, but I always dreamed of refinishing it and making an extra drawer where there was just a facade on the front. And that’s what we finally did! (My handy husband is especially handy now that he’s got a whole garage full of tools to work with. It’s adorable.)
Materials
- vintage sewing desk
- extra wood scraps
- sander
- saw
- drill
- paint & paintbrushes
- wood stain & seal
- liquid gilding
- painter’s tape
- screws
Make Time: 6 Hours (plus drying time)
Here’s what we started with, a simple old sewing desk with a fold-out top. It had an awesome shape and design but was kind of scratched up and was just a little boring.
We started by sawing through the front facade of the desk, pulling out the front panel, and putting together a frame to add a drawer. The drawer was framed up with a bottom screwed on, and a base for the drawer was added to the existing desk. It also had those wacky panels that opened up for sewing, which got screwed down and secured to the desk itself.
Then the whole shebang got sanded. Reallll well.
We taped off the top portion and the legs of the desk and added a coat of stain, followed by a coat of sealer. Once that was dry, we retaped and painted the rest white.
I had originally started a search for some new hardware, but after a bit I decided that I really loved what was there and I just wanted a new finish on it. So I took to all of the hardware (including the hinges we left on and the base of the legs) with some liquid gilding. And I totally ended up loving it. Cheap (read: free) fix, and looks pretty swell.
So now she’s all set up and it’s the perfect spot to sit and put my face on (who says that?) and pick out accessories! I love how it turned out, and that it gave that old sewing desk a new life. Gah I just can’t get over those legs — they’re so good.
I get so pumped when I find pieces like this one for a steal. I mean, $15 and a coat or two of paint just ain’t too shabby. xoxo
I have a sewing table very similar. What did you do with the inside of the top when it is open? Did you paint it white as well? It looks like the outside trim is painted white.
Hi Julie, we actually screwed the top down so it’s permanently in place, then painted the outside trim. Hope that helps!
Love this! Great job! I have a piece just like this I am planning to refinish as well! I’m wondering how and where you screwed down the top pieces so that it wasn’t too visible?? Also what kind of paint did you use for the white part? Thank you!
Hi Jessica! We used some leftover paint from our interior walls for the white, so it was an interior latex paint in an eggshell finish. The top pieces were screwed down from underneath on the inside of the table. Just make sure you have screws that are long enough to grab both sections but not so long they’ll pierce through the top!
Ah ha! Thank you! I’m glad to hear you just used some leftover paint – that was what I was hoping to use as well but didn’t know if that would work. And great advice for the screws – thank you! I hope mine comes out just as adorable!
The piece is just beautiful and I just found one today and then low and behold, my Pinterest feed showed your gorgeous redo! Love it!!!
Would like to know more about how you made the drawer. You had to saw off the panel??
Then built a frame- I see that. How did you get the frame reattached to the cabinet?
Where do you get /how did you make the drawer itself? (Pic of drawer open might help)
And where do you find drawer metal slides and attach?
Thanks for any help. So excited!!
Oh, what color stain did you use?