DIY Industrial Table Lamp

DIY Industrial Table Lamp

We have another super easy IKEA hack for you today. In this post we will show you how to take a SINNERLIG pot and a cord set from IKEA and turn it into a DIY industrial table lamp.

DIY Industrial Table Lamp

When Courtney and I brainstorm projects we usually underestimate how long a project is going to take. No matter how simple we think a project is, when we are making something for the first time we almost always run into some sort of problem we have to solve. This is especially the case when we have a short amount of time to work on it.

We wanted to make a DIY industrial table lamp based on a lamp we saw at Urban Outfitters for our library and figured what better time to experiment on making something for the first time than the night before you have to present it on live TV.

On the plus side, we worked out all the kinks and can now share with you the best way to approach this project.

VIDEO TUTORIAL

In the video below we will walk you through how to make an industrial table lamp using an IKEA pot plant and a light cord set.

To see new DIY videos on Thursdays, be sure to subscribe to our channel ⇾


SUPPLIES

MATERIALS

  • (1) SINNERLIG Pot of from IKEA
  • (1) Cord set
  • (2) Wire nuts
  • (1) Light bulb (Edison)
TOOLS

  • Drill
  • 1-5/8″ Diamond coated hole saw
  • 1-3/4″ Wood hole saw
  • 5/8″ Glass and tile ceramic drill bit
  • Sander and 220 grit sand paper
  • Matte spray paint
  • Scrap wood
  • Wood clamps

*This post contains an affiliate link. You can read our disclosure policy here.

DIY Industrial Table Lamp

Here is an outline of our crazy day

    — 10:00 AM —

  • Feeling optimistic, Courtney emailed me a detailed shopping list complete with pictures of the lamp she wanted to recreate and all the supplies need.
    — 04:00 PM —

  • Off work and headed to Ikea before traffic gets bad.
    — 04:05 PM —

  • Made it to Ikea and should be in and out super fast because I know all the secret passageways. Proud of myself for not even stopping for a cinnamon roll on the way in.
    — 04:08 PM —

  • Oh no! They don’t have the cloth cord set we are looking for. Guess, I will try and find and employee in case I am missing them.
    — 04:20 PM —

  • Slight setback, they are out of cloth cord sets but after talking to employee, they helped me find an alternative one that will work.
    — 04:25 PM —

  • Okay, made it to the pots and plants section. I should be out of here in no time.
    — 04:35 PM —

  • Oh no, took two laps around the pot and plants section but can’t find the pot on my list.
    — 04:45 PM —

  • Spent five minutes trying to pronounce the name of the pot I am looking for to another employee because apparently, black pot isn’t descriptive enough. He asks me to type it into his computer to find the name.
    — 04:55 PM —

  • The employee informs me that they don’t carry that pot. Panic is now officially setting in since our entire project is based around this particular pot. Contemplate getting a $1 hot dog to cheer me up but instead head back to the pots section to do one final walkthrough.
    — 05:00 PM —

  • I can’t believe my eyes. Suddenly it as if a ray of light strikes those beautiful pots. I found the hidden stash behind the palm trees. Grateful that I don’t have to tell Courtney I couldn’t find them.
    — 05:05 PM —

  • Well, that was another IKEA trip that took too long. Oh, hello Houston evening traffic.
    — 07:00 PM —

  • Finally made it home after fighting rush hour traffic. On a positive note Courtney has dinner ready. On a negative note “It’s raining Ben” (The Bachelor) on TV starts tonight but we can’t watch because we need to knock this project out. I reassure Courtney we will be done in time for the “final rose”.

How We MADE a DIY Industrial Table Lamp

DIY Industrial Table Lamp
1. First we flipped over the pot and carefully removed the stickers and felt feet.

The fun thing about this project is we are using the SINNERLIG pot for the base which comes in a variety of shapes, giving us options when it came to the style of the light fixture. We purchased a few to test and chose the shape above for an industrial look.

DIY Industrial Table Lamp
2. To turn this pot into a lamp, we needed to drill a hole in the bottom of the pot with a 1-5/8″ diamond coated hole saw. To keep the hole saw centered as we drilled, we found it helpful to use a jig to hold the hole saw in place.

To make a jig, we drilled a hole with the 1-3/4″ hole saw in a board larger than the base of the pot. Then used clamps to hold pieces of scrap wood around the base of the pot to hold the top board with the hole in it center on the pot.

DIY Industrial Table Lamp
3. The diamond coated hole saw leaves a smooth finish but exposes the clay center which is why we needed to paint it. When we pulled off the sticker and felt feet from the bottom, it left three squares of exposed clay.

DIY Industrial Table Lamp
DIY Industrial Table Lamp
4. Through a frustrating and unsuccessful trial run, we found that the red clay absorbs the spray paint more leaving those areas a different color.

To make sure the entire bottom of the pot is a consistent texture, we found it necessary to sand the entire bottom of the pot before spray painting it. For this step we used a sander and 220 grit sand paper.

DIY Industrial Table Lamp
5. Before painting, we drilled a hole with a 5/8″ glass and tile drill bit in the side of the pot towards the bottom for the cord to go through. This step will also expose some of the red clay but it will also be covered up by the spray paint.

DIY Industrial Table Lamp
6. We wanted to give our industrial table lamp a matte finish so we spray painted the entire pot with black matte spray paint.

DIY Industrial Table Lamp
7. In order to thread the wire through the pot, we cut the cord six inches from the light fixture. Then we stripped the wires exposing half an inch of copper on both the white wires and both the black wires.

DIY Industrial Table Lamp
8. Then we threaded the stripped ends of the long side of the cord through the small hole in the pot.

DIY Industrial Table Lamp
9. We pushed the fixture through the large hole and screwed the threaded flange tight.

DIY Industrial Table Lamp
10. Finally, we twisted the copper parts of the black and white wires together and then screwed the wire nuts on each wire to hold them together. Our DIY industrial table lamp is finished!

    — 10:30 PM —

  • Now for the moment of truth, we plugged the light in, flipped the switch and we have light! It was the wonderful sign that our DIY industrial table lamp is complete and it’s bedtime! Oh wait, we still have to make our DIY tiered stand.

DIY Industrial Table Lamp

    — 01:30 AM —

  • After prepping that project, it is finally time for bed.
    — 05:30 AM —

  • Rise and Shine Courtney! Its time to get ready for Great Day Houston.
    — 07:30 AM —

  • As we are on our way to the studio we ponder why we procrastinate on these projects. Is it all really worth it? Sometimes they are so much work and stress.
    — 10:00 AM —

  • The show went great. At brunch Courtney and I discuss how much fun that was and how much we love how the projects turned out and look in the room. We agree we should do it again and start brainstorming our next project. Omelets really do wonders for morale.

DIY Industrial Table Lamp

Don’t let our crazy day deter you from making this DIY industrial table lamp. It is a great weekend project that turns out awesome. We are growing quite fond of these quick and easy (now that we have the process figured out) IKEA hacks.

PROJECT FEATURED ON GREAT DAY HOUSTON

Out DIY industrial table lamp was one of the repurposing ceramic projects we shared on the local live morning show, Great Day Houston. In case you missed it (or don’t live in Houston) you can watch our DIY segment here.

Brent and Courtney Richardson of Gray House Studio on Great day Houston

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DIY Industrial Table Lamp

DIY Tiered Stand

DIY Tiered Stand

Make a DIY tiered stand from from two IKEA plates and a dowel rod to store jewelry or cupcakes.

DIY Tiered Stand

I am excited to share our latest DIY storage project, a DIY tiered stand. One of my favorite things to do is online window shop, find things I like and then Brent and I will come up with a way to make our own version (usually for quite a bit cheaper). Sure, we could just buy it. But where is the fun in that? We have had a lot of fun recently using a glass and tile drill bit and have been looking for ways to repurpose ceramic pieces just so we can put it to good use. Lately, it seems as though tools have been inspiring our projects.

One late night online shopping trip last week, I spotted a tiered stand that I really liked from Urban Outfitters. I knew instantly that it looked like the perfect project to use our glass and tile drill bit and drill through some plates! We are calling this an IKEA hack because we transformed two VÄRDERA plates into a tiered stand.

This DIY project turned out amazing, was so easy to make and required very few supplies. That’s the dream, right? So today we are going to show you how to make this DIY tiered stand to store jewelry, cupcakes, makeup or whatever you fancy.

VIDEO TUTORIAL

In this video below we will walk you through how to make and assemble a tiered stand from two ceramic plates and a dowel rod to store jewelry or cupcakes.

To see new DIY videos on Thursdays, be sure to subscribe to our channel ⇾


SUPPLIES

MATERIALS

TOOLS

  • Drill and/or Drill Press
  • Ruler & Pencil
  • Cup of Water
  • #6 Hex Bit
  • Miter Saw
  • 1/4″ Glass and Tile Drill Bit
  • 3/8″ Drill Bit
  • Centering Punch & Hammer

DIY Tiered Stand
DIY Tiered Stand

How to Make a DIY Tiered Stand

DIY Tiered Stand
1. We recommend putting a few pieces of scrap wood under the small plate before you begin to avoid drilling into the work surface once the bit goes through the plate. Then, using a ruler, measure and mark the center of the plate.

DIY Tiered Stand
2. Next, take a cup of water and pour a generous amount onto the surface of the plate. The water will help cool the drill bit.

DIY Tiered Stand
3. Now, using a 1/4″ glass and tile drill bit and a drill, line up the drill bit with the mark you made in step 1 and drill a hole through the plate.

DIY Tiered Stand
Once you have a hole in the small plate, wipe off the excess water and dirt and then repeat steps 1-3 for the larger plate.

DIY Tiered Stand
4. Using a miter saw, cut the dowel rod into two pieces. The small top piece will be 2 1/2 inches and the larger middle piece will be 6 inches.

DIY Tiered Stand
5. To hold the dowel rod vertical and make it easier to drill into it, clamp it between two scrap boards. We used 2x2s.

DIY Tiered Stand
6. Using a ruler, mark the center of the end of the dowel rod. Do this step for both sides of the longer dowel rod and one side of the short dowel rod.

DIY Tiered Stand
7. Now with a centering punch and a hammer, create a divot in the end of the dowel rod for the drill bit. You will need to do this step for both sides of the longer piece and one side of the short piece as well.

DIY Tiered Stand
8. Using a 3/8″ drill bit, drill a hole 1″ deep in both sides of the longer dowel rod and one side of the short dowel rod.

DIY Tiered Stand
9. Take a #6 hex bit and screw the insert nuts into both sides of the long dowel rod.

DIY Tiered Stand
10. To assemble the DIY tiered stand, take the crown bolt and feed it through the hole in the large plate.

DIY Tiered Stand
11. Now thread the crown bolt into the large dowel rod until it is nice and tight.

DIY Tiered Stand
12. Now screw the hanger bolt into the insert nut that is in the top of the large dowel rod.

DIY Tiered Stand
13. Run the hanger bolt through the hole in the small plate letting it sit on the large dowel rod.

DIY Tiered Stand
14. Finally thread the shorter dowel rod into the hanger bolt until it is flush with the plate.

DIY Tiered Stand
Your completed tiered stand should look like this once it is assembled.

DIY Tiered Stand
If you use a plate that doesn’t quite sit flat, you can add little wooden feet to the bottom like we did to make it balanced.

DIY Tiered Stand
I think Brent is pretty much a genius for figuring our how to make it screw together in two pieces with small holes in the plates. I pitched this idea to him and picked out the plates from IKEA and he worked up the game plan for making it happen. My mind was blown with his awesome solution.

I love, love how this repurposing ceramic dishes project / IKEA hack turned out. It looks exactly like the tiered stand I had my eye on at the store. The great thing about this DIY tiered stand is it is a very versatile storage piece. You can store jewelry in the bedroom or cupcakes in the kitchen or make two, one for each room!

We made ours modern and neutral to match the one I saw in the store because it fits with the style of our home but depending on the plates you choose and the color you paint/stain the dowel rods you make it look however you like.

PROJECT FEATURED ON GREAT DAY HOUSTON

Our DIY tiered stand was one of the repurposing ceramic projects we shared on the local live morning show, Great Day Houston. In case you missed it (or don’t live in Houston) you can watch our DIY segment here.

Brent and Courtney Richardson of Gray House Studio on Great day Houston

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DIY Tiered Stand

How to Paint a Faux Brick Wall

How to Paint a Faux Brick Wall

In this week’s DIY tutorial we share our tips for painting faux brick embossed hardboard paneling. If you want a DIY painted brick wall the easy and cheap way, we’ll show how to get a brick interior wall aesthetic on a budget.

How to Paint a Faux Brick Wall

Today we are going to share how to paint a faux brick wall. We posted a teaser about our technique a few weeks back but now we are going to break it all down on how we made our industrial loft style brick accent wall for our home gym that we love.

An important lesson we have learned during our home renovation process is you don’t necessarily have to have a huge budget to pull off your dream room. You just need inspiration, creativity, perseverance, and in my case, trust.

Trust that when your husband says that he thinks we should use EIGHT different paint colors to paint the wall panels that you know to just let him do his thing because it will turn out great. I’ll admit I had no clue where he was going with it but he is the one with art degree and I should know by now that I always love what he comes up with.

But I am getting a little ahead of myself so let’s start at the beginning. As I’m sure you know by now we are in the process of transforming our spare bedroom into a home gym. We both liked the idea of having a brick accent wall somewhere in our home so when we decided to create an industrial loft styled home gym, we knew this was the perfect room for it.

When we are brainstorming projects for our home we always start out, “Well, if we were rich, we would do this…” in this case our “if money were no option” choice would have been to have someone else come and install brick or our second choice would have been to install these pretty brick veneers.

But we are of course renovating our home ourselves on a budget so our only option for what we were willing to spend was to buy three sheets of embossed hardboard wall panel that looked like brick. Well, kind of looked like brick.

Today we are going to show you how we transformed faux brick embossed hardboard paneling into a realistic looking brick accent wall by painting it with a new color palette. It turned out to be a lot easier than we anticipated and only cost us around $130 for the entire wall.

How to make a DIY Faux Brick Accent Wall on a Budget

SUPPLIES

FYI: This post contains a few affiliate links to products we used to make this project. Gray House Studio does receive commissions for sales from these links but at no extra cost to you. We appreciate you supporting this site. Read our privacy and disclosure policy. You can also easily shop our recommended products here.

Handmade Christmas 2021 Ornaments

2021 Christmas Ornaments
Thanks for supporting our small shop this holiday season!

TUTORIAL VIDEO

STEPS

How to Paint a Faux Brick Wall

1. First, we needed to find our brick embossed hardboard paneling. It turned out the only paneling we could find came in the unattractive combination of red brick and black mortar.

We knew we were going to have to put some work into it to get it to the style we wanted but Brent assured me that if we painted the wall with an entirely new color palette first rather than just painting all the paneling white, that is would drastically change the space into the old industrial loft look we desired.

How to Paint a Faux Brick Wall

How to Paint a Faux Brick Wall

2. Next, we installed our wall panels. We needed three hardboard panels to cover our wall.

We did this step first so we could paint across all three boards at one time making the paint job look cohesive.

We used a jigsaw to cut around the half bricks on all the panels on the inside sides so the panels fit together like a puzzle.

How to Paint a Faux Brick Wall

3. Our goal was to make the wall seamless so you could not tell it was three separate pieces of paneling.

We did our best to line up the bricks as close as possible and then used gray caulk to cover the lines where the boards came together. We used a color similar to the paint we got to paint the mortar.

How to Paint a Faux Brick Wall

4. After we had determined what we wanted our wall to look like, we needed to pick out the paint colors that would be in our new color palette.

To do this we used the Sherwin-Williams ColorSnap app to pull the colors from the screen in our inspiration photo and translate them into actual paint colors we could purchase to use to paint our brick wall.

How to Paint a Faux Brick Wall

5. Once we had the colors available to us on the app, we had to narrow them down to the ones that would form the best color combination for our faux brick.

There are a lot of options so our formula consisted of choosing two mid-tone colors, two highlight colors and two to three accent colors. We also selected a new lighter color for the mortar.

Our New Color Palette:

We bought sample sizes of the paint because we only needed to use a small amount of each color. It was plenty to get the job done and have some of each color left over for future projects.

How to Paint a Faux Brick Wall

6. We started with our two mid-tone colors, Cavern Clay and Moroccan Brown.

We poured the two paint colors on a large piece of cardboard. We chose to use a piece of cardboard because it allowed us plenty of space to roll the paint together and let it mix naturally.

We chose to use a foam roller because we liked the authentic texture it gave the paint when it was rolled across the embossed surface.

Painting a Faux Brick Accent Wall

7. We completely covered the wall with a light coat of both mid-tone colors and then moved on to our accent colors.

For the accent colors we did not cover the entire wall but instead concentrated them to certain areas. We chose to use a bright yellow (Baguette), dark brown (Fiery Brown) and dark gray (Urbane Bronze) for our accent colors.

For this step we got a new foam roller so the lighter color did not get muddied down and poured our paint on a clean-ish section of our cardboard.

Next, we applied our highlight color. We applied it to the wall liberally but if it looked too overpowering in areas, we went back and rolled in more of our mid-tones to tone it back down. We didn’t want any particular section to stand out.

For our highlight color, we used Rare Gray.

Painting a Faux Brick Accent Wall

8. We started the whole process by painting the black mortar a gray color, Dovetail.

But we didn’t mention this as the first step because this actually created double work for us because once we rolled in the other colors, stray paint got into this area.

So we had to come back and touch up the mortar again.

If we were to do this again we would wait until the very end to paint over the black mortar.

Then we could just take the paintbrush and cover this area once. But once we touched up the mortar color, it really changed and cleaned up the look of the brick paneling.

Painting a Faux Brick Accent Wall

9. You could stop there but we wanted to replicate an old industrial loft wall.

Our vision was to have it appear as if the entire wall was painted white but time has passed and now the paint is wearing off.

To achieve this look we whitewashed sections of our brick wall with various shades of white paint.

To begin this process we significantly watered down our Kestel White paint in a paint pail liner. We used a paintbrush to lightly brush on the paint in a pattern similar to our inspiration photo.

With the white paint being very light we could see our entire pattern and then come back with more opaque paint to fill it in. We left some areas untouched on purpose so that these areas would look like the really worn and exposed brick.

Painting a Faux Brick Accent Wall

10. Next, we used our paintbrush and less diluted white paint to cover the parts of the pattern that had more paint and less exposed brick showing through.

Painting a Faux Brick Accent Wall

We are extremely pleased with how easily we were able to transform our wall with our new color palette. The new colors made a huge difference. Check out this before and after of the same wall.

Painting a Faux Brick Accent Wall

Here is what our faux brick wall looks like once we finished the whitewashed pattern.

We are pretty much ecstatic we were able to pull off this brick accent wall for only $130. It is an essential feature in our industrial loft gym.

From a distance it passes for real brick much more easily then it did when we first hung the hardboard paneling on the wall.

It just makes me so happy every time I walk into the room to see this wall. For some reason it makes running on that treadmill so much more fun. And that is what I love about creating unique spaces in our home.

I feel encouraged and inspired with each new project that we complete to see our overall vision come to life. We pour our time, heart and creativity into these projects and it is definitely worth it when we get to enjoy spending time in these rooms.

PIN FOR LATER

A DIY tutorial sharing our tips for painting faux brick embossed hardboard paneling. If you want a DIY painted brick wall the easy and cheap way, we’ll show how to get a brick interior wall aesthetic on a budget.

Rustic Christmas Tree Stand Box

Rustic Christmas Tree Stand Box

We built a rustic Christmas tree stand box as an alternative to a Christmas tree skirt.

Rustic Christmas Tree Stand Box

About a week after we put up our Christmas tree and had it all decorated, we decided we wanted to do something different under the tree. I liked how our white tree skirt looked but was growing tired of how it showed every little thing that landed on it and it was always getting all crumpled up. Mostly because it is Jake the cat’s favorite pastime to lay under it and try and chew on the branches.

Brent’s reasoning is it reminds him of a poodle skirt. Okay… But he admits he hasn’t seen a poodle skirt in a long time. Which I then in return question how old he is that he remembers seeing a poodle skirt. I hope he is just referring to a Halloween costume and not when it was in style. Because then the only logical explanation for that would be he is a vampire. And that would be a bummer because I am not into vampires.

Anyway, we had seen a few examples of Christmas tree stand boxes and really liked how they looked under the tree. For one it would make the tree sit up a little higher and it would better hide our unappealing stand. We wanted it to have a rustic appearance to tie in with our rustic tree topper we got several years ago AND we wanted to put in on casters.

I joked with Brent that we could put it on casters so I could wheel it into each room I am in at the time. Which was met with an eye roll from Brent. But hey if the majority of our house is going to be covered in tile for the time being, I might as well take advantage of it around the holidays.

Rustic Christmas Tree Stand Box

For more practical reasons it could be really helpful to have the tree on wheels when you are decorating so you can roll it out away from the wall to easily decorate all sides. Because whether we like to admit or not we have all accidentally fallen into the tree or at least had a really close call trying to reach around to to hang an ornament in that “perfect” spot. Then you can just gently roll it back against the wall when you are done.

Or if you are one of those lucky few that I have been reading about that have an entire closet dedicated to storing a Christmas tree, you can just wheel it right in with ease. Every December and January I am tempted to ditch the coat closet and turn it into a Christmas tree closet because I dread the tedious task of setting up and taking down the tree and the whole stuffing it back into the box part.

2022 Personalized Christmas Ornaments
*** Thanks so much for supporting our small shop – Moon Rock Prints – this holiday season! ***

So this week we set out to build our own version of a rustic Christmas tree stand box. You can follow along with our project in the video below or the steps below that. We have also included the plans for our rustic Christmas tree stand box if you want to make your own.

How We Made A Rustic Christmas Tree Stand Box

SUPPLIES

FYI: This post contains affiliate links to the supplies and tools we used to make our rustic Christmas tree stand box. As an Amazon Associate Gray House Studio earns from qualifying purchases. This is at no extra cost to you. We appreciate you supporting this site. Read our privacy and disclosure policy.

TUTORIAL VIDEO

PROJECT PLANS

Rustic Christmas Tree Stand Box Plans

Get our Rustic Tree Box Plans

When you purchase our rustic Christmas tree stand box plans you get a 6 page PDF with a detailed materials list, a cut list, dimensions for each piece, and building instructions – all for only $3. We appreciate your support of Gray House Studio!

STEPS

Be sure to get our rustic Christmas tree box plans to help with this DIY project!

Rustic Christmas Tree Stand Box

1. My first step was to measure our existing tree stand to determine the size of our box.

I took that measurement and using a tape measure marked the width on two cedar 2″x4″ boards.

It is a good idea to give yourself a little extra padding to make sure your stand will fit all the way in the box. Using a miter saw, I cut the two cedar boards to the size we needed.

Rustic Christmas Tree Stand Box

2. Once I had them cut, at the ends of the boards I measured and marked the center. Using that mark as a reference I cut off the corners of the board at a 45 degree angle with the miter saw.

This created an arrow shape on both ends of the board. I did this for both boards.

Rustic Christmas Tree Stand Box

These pieces formed the corners of our box.

Rustic Christmas Tree Stand Box

3. Next, Brent marked the center of each of these boards and used a square to draw a line on the top and sides of the boards indicating how the boards needed to fit together at a 90 degree angle.

Rustic Christmas Tree Stand Box

4. Using a drill and two 2 1/2 inch decking screws, Brent attached the two boards together.

Rustic Christmas Tree Stand Box

5. Using the extra piece of cedar 2″x4″, I cut four smaller pieces at a 45 degree angle on the miter saw.

Rustic Christmas Tree Stand Box

6. Brent used 2 1/2 inch decking screws to attach the small pieces I cut to the ends of each board to make all the corners of the box the same height.

Rustic Christmas Tree Stand Box

Now we had our x base assembled.

Rustic Christmas Tree Stand Box

7. Next, Brent used the miter saw to cut the cedar fence planks down to the length we needed in order to create the frame of the box.

Rustic Christmas Tree Stand Box

8. I wanted the planks on the side of the box to be more narrow to Brent used a table saw to cut each piece in half.

Rustic Christmas Tree Stand Box

9. Brent used a staple gun that holds 1 1/2 inch finishing nails to attach all the planks to the base and also a center support. To achieve the look we were going for we alternated between using light and dark planks.

Rustic Christmas Tree Stand Box

10. Once the box was complete, Brent flipped it over and attached casters to the bottom using 1 inch screws.

We used two different types of casters, swivel casters on the back and rigid casters on the front.

Rustic Christmas Tree Stand Box

11. For an extra special touch we added wooden snowflakes to the front and back of the box.

Rustic Christmas Tree Stand Box

Here is our completed rustic Christmas tree stand box on casters!

Rustic Christmas Tree Stand Box

We are so happy with how it turned out. It was a very quick Christmas decor project that not only makes a statement on its own but also goes great with our rustic star tree topper.

Maybe next year we will branch out and create some rustic ornaments we can add. Hopefully we will get an earlier start decorating next year.

If you already have the situation under the tree covered, this box could also make for a cute storage solution for blankets.

PIN THIS PROJECT

This simple DIY Rustic Christmas Tree Stand Box is a great way to disguise boring a boring tree stand! Check out how to make a rustic Christmas tree stand box on casters as an alternative to a tree skirt. A video tutorial is included and plans are available to assist in the building process.

DIY Work Table

DIY Work Table / MALM Dresser Hack

For our latest IKEA hack we transformed the MALM dresser into a work table for our studio. Today we are sharing all the details about our DIY work table and MALM Dresser IKEA hack.

DIY Work Table - IKEA MALM Dresser Hack

Some DIY home projects we spend a lot of time planning before we begin and other projects pop up on our radar quickly and we are so excited to jump right into it and make it happen that we just have to figure it out as we go. For our latest project, a DIY work table, we took the latter approach and it turned out awesome!

Our formal living room (the room next to our library) is still sitting empty these days and we are in desperate need of a place to keep our “messes” contained (the downside of exploring creativity – lots of clean-up is involved) so we decided to finally start working towards making the front room our studio area.

We needed a consistent work space with storage as well as a large table top so we decided to build a piece of furniture that would satisfy all our needs as well as fit our industrial-rustic-eclectic style.

The project turned in to an IKEA hack because we decided it would be easier to use the IKEA MALM 6-drawer dresser as the base of our work table. But we needed to make a few modifications to it first to fit the aesthetic in our home.

DIY Work Table - IKEA MALM Dresser Hack

We had a rough idea of what we wanted the table to look like so we headed to IKEA looking for the pieces for our table. We needed the table to have storage and preferably large drawers which is why we choose the MALM 6-drawer dresser in black.

DIY Work Table - IKEA MALM Dresser Hack

We went in looking for either a wood or laminate gray table top. After looking at all the options we ended up choosing the SINNERLIG dark cork table top. The thick cork was different than anything else we had seen and we liked how the color and texture fit with the design we had in mind. Once we had our two pieces from IKEA we started finalizing our concept for our studio table work space.

2022 Personalized Christmas Ornaments
*** Thanks so much for supporting our small shop – Moon Rock Prints – this holiday season! ***

How We Upgraded the IKEA MALM Dresser into an Industrial Work Table

SUPPLIES

FYI: This post contains a few affiliate links to products we used to make this project. Gray House Studio does receive commissions for sales from these links but at no extra cost to you. We appreciate you supporting this site. Read our privacy and disclosure policy. You can also easily shop our recommended products here.

STEPS

DIY Work Table - IKEA MALM Dresser Hack

1. First we assembled the MALM dresser as normal per the instructions.

DIY Work Table - IKEA MALM Dresser Hack

2. We needed the dresser to not only be taller but also to be able to move the table depending on the project so we added casters to the bottom of the piece by screwing blocks of wood to the base of the dresser and attaching casters to those blocks of wood.

DIY Work Table - IKEA MALM Dresser Hack

3. Since the table will be in our “studio” which is next to our library we decided to bring the industrial style to our work table so we took the same black pipes we used on our shelves to attach the cork table top to the top of the MALM dresser.

By raising up the table top with the pipes, we made the table bar height so we can sit at bar stools while working. Currently, we are just dragging in some from the kitchen but we hope to eventually have designated bar stools for this space.

DIY Work Table - IKEA MALM Dresser Hack

4. We needed the drawers for storage but didn’t want them to be visible from the entryway so we flipped the dresser around so the back of the dresser is facing the entrance of the room.

DIY Work Table - IKEA MALM Dresser Hack

5. We obviously didn’t want to leave the back of the dresser exposed so we covered the back of it with distressed wood planks using our weathered wood technique like we did on our reading nook wall and our coffee bar base.

This feature really made the work table feel complete and like an entirely different piece than the IKEA dresser we started with. I just love those worn wood planks. It really ties the piece in with the rest of our home.

DIY Work Table - IKEA MALM Dresser Hack

6. We ran into a snag because the dresser was a few inches longer than the table top. If it were the other way around it would have been fine but this dilemma left us puzzled. We spent almost an entire day bouncing ideas back and forth on how to make the top balanced with the bottom.

DIY Work Table - IKEA MALM Dresser Hack

7. We came up with a solution to build a mounting frame to attach two wire baskets to the side of the cork table top. We found two wire baskets at HomeGoods where we can store smaller supplies that we use frequently. They matched our table perfectly.

DIY Work Table - IKEA MALM Dresser Hack

DIY Work Table - IKEA MALM Dresser Hack

8. We were able to make a frame out of scrap wood we had from previous projects to hold the two baskets. The boards were cut to be the same thickness as the cork table top. After staining the boards, clamping the frame together around the baskets, and letting the glue dry the baskets were ready to attach to the side of the cork table top.

DIY Work Table - IKEA MALM Dresser Hack

Now the front of our work table is technically the back of the dresser

DIY Work Table - IKEA MALM Dresser Hack

And the back of the work table is where the drawers are located which makes it easy to store and access all of our supplies.

We are extremely pleased with how our featured piece in this room, our DIY work table, came together. It not only has multiple purposes but we love how it looks when it is not being used as well. We are calling this one a success!

Learn how to create a weathered wood look using brand new boards like we did for the front panel of our DIY work table.

PIN FOR LATER

For our latest IKEA hack we transformed the MALM dresser into a work table for our studio. Today we are sharing all the details about our DIY work table and MALM Dresser makeover.