End Table Transformation = Play Workbench

Now that the Play Kitchen Project is finished I can move onto my next Christmas/Birthday/Crazy Idea!  I make lots of pretty, frilly, sparkly things for my little girl, but I feel like my little man kind of gets left out of my "projects" sometimes.. that is unless he starts wearing headbands and tutus and his dad might not be ready for that just yet!!!  So I decided I wanted to make my little builder something fun, and channeling my best "Bob The Builder" manta... I decided to give it a whirl... "Yes I can!" I loved the DIY workbench so many people have posted on Pinterest, but I knew I had to put my spin on it somehow.  So I went in search of the perfect piece of not so perfect furniture and found an end table with a warped top and water damage for $2!!!  It made my day.. OK let's be honest probably my whole week.  It meant no more digging through smelly thrift stores and that I could finally get my crazy ideas out of my head and into action.  Sorry I forgot to take a picture of the BEFORE, but trust me it was a sad little end table.  So I sanded it down and was ready to start, but what to do with the top. It is pressed board so I couldn't sand it down to fix the problem or I'd just have paper flying everywhere... so while I was at Home Depot buying black spray paint and a piece of peg board... I walked past a bin of yard sticks and instantly thought I had found the answer to my problem!  And at only 60 cents a piece... it only cost 6 dollars to re-do the top and I still had some yard sticks left over.  I first cut a bunch of pieces in different lengths then glued them down with E-6000 glue totally at random.  Once everything was set I used a jig saw to even up the ends. This is the finished workbench!

The pegboard, once again a VERY patient Home Depot salesman cut for me.. then I spray painted it along with the gold hardware that came on the end table silver which I had left over from the play kitchen and nailed it on. The actual table I painted glossy black and then "roughed up" with a sander to make it look "rustic".

The chalk board is a dollar store certificate holder that I painted with chalk board paint and then I glued a few of the extra yard stick pieces together to make a frame.

The tools I found at Ross which were the inspiration for the black/silver/orange color scheme and all the little hooks came from Walmart's tool section.  The magnet board is a tray from the dollar store that I spray painted black and then I "borrowed" a couple of washers from my husbands tools and glued those onto magnets so my little guy could have a place for his "plans".

And finally the tool belt is just some pockets and pieces from old khaki shorts destined for donation that I sewed together.. using the belt loops for tool loops.  Nothing fancy, but I think he will like it!

For now this is hiding in a closet waiting for my little guys birthday... hopefully it will be a big hit! And hopefully you give this a try too!

Good Luck, Lindsey