Hidden Workshop

I recently become a daddy ! That is definitively a good news. The bad news is that I had to quit my hobby workspace to change it into the baby's room. I wanted to keep a personal place to work on my hobby projects (mainly electronics). This place have to be nice viewing because it will not be in a dedicated room of my flat, and it also has to be children proof (espacially for dangerous tools).

My solution is to put (near) all my stuff in a single furniture.

In this instructable, I will show you how to convert a classic furniture into a nice hidden workshop. In other words how to keep compatible geekly life with familly life !

Looking for an old (by good quality) furniture. Nowadays, it is easy to find one for cheap because these 70's style furniture are out of fashion.

I found mine for 40€ (50$). Dimensions are 170cmx128cmx50cm.

Realize some drawing to organize the redesign of the furniture.

For mine, I wanted a workstation with two computer's screen but also a big enough place for electronic soldering and other various handling task. Because computer's screen take a lot of place, I think about a system to flip up a screen in order to get more space when I don't need two screens. To get a large place, I will have to delete the middle stand of the furniture.

According to your plan, saw, cut and sand your furniture in order to adapt it to your need.

I deleted the last "floor" of the furniture. I cut the middle stand. And I removed the leg to reduce to total height.

Now, it's time to paint it !

As, most of the furniture are made with laminated wood, you have to use a special paint for the undercoat. For the other layers, you can then use classical paint.

I painted all the outside in white, and I let the inside with it's natural color.

After an undercoat and a white layer, I wanted to add some decoration and details (a tree with bird and cages). The easy way is to use wall stickers. But I don't want to use it because there are very expensive, they don't have a long lifespan, the visual aspect is not very nice and it is quite impossible to find a sticker that perfectly fit the size of your furniture. So instead, I decided to directly paint the decoration.
I started by designing the decoration with a drawing software like Photoshop. I get inspiration from wall stickers website and composed my model with different stickers. Because I am a bad drawer, I use the technique of the video-projector to project to drawing on the furniture. Then, it help me a lot to outline the model. After that, it is very easy the paint it with the appropriate colors.

After painting, I add some hardware details.

• I washed the handles (CoCa-Cola is good the remove the oxydization)
• I added some hardware stuff to consolidate the furniture
• I added a drawer to enlarge the working space.
• I added a pivoting screen support

Maybe the most important step: organize your workspace according to your needs.

For me, I use it for computer programming and DIY electronic projects. I need a computer, some soldering tools, screwdrivers, storage box, USB gadget, measurement equipment and box for electronic components. I had a look on other workshop organization instructables to get inspired. Magnet are wonderful to keep tools organised and accessible. For electronic components, I use storage box and large paper envelope.

A good light is an also important point for a workshop. I used led strip, and to add some fun, I chosen RGB led with a music IR remoter controller:

• 5meters RGB Led strip: 10$
• Music IR remoter controller: 6$
• Power supply (12V/72W) : 10$

Because I removed the foot of the furniture, the seat is now at a non stand height. So I built my own pouffe seat from the armrest of a old couch. I flipped the armrest and add 4 legs. I then added some wood to consolidate it, and I covered it with textile for a better visual aspect. Because the armrest was hollow, I can tidy some stuff inside.

The total price is about 150$, including the furniture, the paint and additional hardware stuff.

If you like my work, please give me your vote !