DIY Baby Changing Table

Sewing Machine Base Becomes Changing Table

I’ve always loved giving old or antique items a new lease on life by transforming them or re-purposing them for use as something other than what they were originally intended. Never one to walk away from something that had potential or pass up a good deal, I’ve collected numerous odd items that many others would likely consider junk. A perfect example - the dirty, old singer sewing machine base that was picked up for next to nothing at a flea market then left to sit in my garage collecting more dirt and taking up space until I could find a use for it.

When I became pregnant and began the fun process of setting up and decorating the nursery for my soon-to-arrive bundle of joy, the perfect use came to me. My baby was going to need a change table. Rather than buy a typical (and in my opinion, unattractive) changing table, I would build one myself using that old singer sewing machine base.  Here’s how I did it…

Building The Changing Table

Basically, I put a table top on the singer sewing machine base, then built a box that fit around it and was supported by the top.

The sewing machine base was scrubbed thoroughly with water, soap and steel wool. When dry, I gave the decorative metal a fresh coat of black paint. Constructing the top was easy and only required the purchase of a few inexpensive items.

Materials & Tools

1/2″ thick MDF
Wood Screws - various lengths
1″ x 6″ Pine Boards
Corner Braces
Wood Filler
Cordless Drill
Chop Saw / Cut-off Saw
Tape Measure
150 Grit Sandpaper
Carpenter’s Glue

Steps Taken

1. Determine size of table top - width & depth. Example: Width = 26 inches, Depth = 19 inches
2. Determine length of pine boards - width x 2 and depth x 2, add an extra 1-1/2″ to each width to allow for overlap when constructing the box, plus an additional 1/16″ to each width to allow placement of the box over the table top. Example: width = 26″ + 1-1/2″ + 1/16″ (Total Width = 27-9/16″)
3. Buy MDF cut-to-size or purchase sheet and cut on table saw.
4. Buy Pine Boards cut-to-size or purchase longer lengths and cut to length with chop saw / cut-off saw.
5. Position MDF on base, use drill and 1-1/2″ screws to secure MDF to wood supports on top of sewing machine base. Screw down from top. (I put 3 screws into each wood support.)
6. Construct box using a basic butt joint.Width pieces will overlap depth pieces. For added stability, glue then screw. Use 1-1/4″ wood screws. Sink screws slightly below surface.
7. Cover screw heads with wood filler.
8. Lightly sand the box smooth.
9. Stain and polyurethane or prime and paint box as desired.
10. Mount corner braces - Inside each corner, two inches up from the bottom edge of the box, mark the mounting positions for the braces.With bottom of brackets even with the marked mounting positions, screw the side flanges of the corner braces to the box sides - brackets should be positioned with the flat, triangular part of brackets down.

    

11. Fit box down and over table top. Gently push into place until the flat triangular sections of the corner braces are resting on the table top.
12. Screw bottoms of corner braces to the table top.

Once the changing table was completed, I made a soft liner and bumpers to protect my baby from the hard surfaces. Unfortunately, at the time I made this change table I didn’t have a digital camera to record the steps that went into its creation. When I did finally get a camera I was much more interested in the little person who was using the change table than the change table itself. The closest I can get to showing you the end result is this picture I created using a combination of Google SketchUp, Microsoft Paint and Photoshop - sorry about that.

As you can see in the photo below, everything worked out beautifully!