My Search for the Perfect Craft Table: Modifying IKEA’s Norden Gateleg
This isn’t a sponsored post or anything (I wish!), I just wanted to share the results of my search for the perfect craft table. That won’t sound post-worthy to some, but I know many other crafters are just like me and love that sweet, sweet high that comes from perfecting your workspace.
I’m fortunate enough to have a small spare bedroom as a home office. But, it is small and as the years have gone by, I’ve filled it with all the furniture it can hold. For crafting, I usually ended up working at the dining room table or dragging out a foldaway card table. Finally I decided it was time for a permanent crafting solution for my office. But, what?! I was out of space. Obviously I needed something collapsible that I could shove out of the way when not in use, but I wanted something more sophisticated than my flimsy card table.
Years ago I considered adding a craft table, but at that time I had more room than I do now. I remembered one of the candidates from my research then: a foldaway Martha Stewart craft table which was carried by Home Depot. It would have been perfect for my current needs, but unfortunately it was no longer available anywhere. Figures. So I scoured the internet for anything similar. That’s when I ran across the Norden Gateleg Table by IKEA.
Add some wheels and it is basically the same thing as the Martha Stewart table. Apparently the rest of the world is blessed to live near an IKEA, but not me. They wanted $200 (the cost of the table!) to ship it to me, so I actually went on a road trip just to buy this thing. I was terrified after all that effort I would get it home and there would be something wrong with it.
No issues though, thank goodness! One of my big reasons in selecting this table was that it measured to fit exactly into the space behind my door when collapsed, but, I didn’t end up doing that. When not in use, I just leave it out and folded down, scooting it around wherever I need it to be (or not be). It’s so slim, it takes up almost no space.
Scooting is pretty much going to be impossible without wheels though. This table has six drawers and once loaded down with craft supplies, it’s pretty heavy to push and pull even with the wheels on my thick carpet.
I purchased six wheels from Lowe’s (four for the main legs and two for the gatelegs). These were labeled 2″ stem casters with a mobile weight rating of 80 lbs. each. There were already holes in the bottoms of the table legs. My husband had to drill them out a bit to make them wide enough for these stems. Then he used a rubber mallet to secure them into the holes.
Additionally, I added rubber bumpers to each of the drop leaf corners to keep the sides from smacking wood onto wood when I drop the leaves down.
With these two minor modifications, the Norden Gateleg Table made the perfect craft table for me. I would recommend these additions if you are considering it for yourself – they certainly make life easier.
If you’re looking for something unobtrusive, mobile, and collapsible with storage capabilities too, this table can’t be beat. I’m incredibly happy with this selection for my small craft space.
If you have any recommendations for craft tables, please leave them in the comments!