Scavenger Chic

Upcycled Vintage Sewing Machine Drawers

• By Joan
• October 13, 2021
• 1 Comment

Upcycled Vintage Sewing Machine Drawers

Last week I shared with you the bar cart I created from some vintage sewing machine drawers, the drawer holders, a shutter and some old oak hardwood flooring.

I ended up only using 2 of the 4 sewing machine drawers I had on the bar cart, I thought it was beginning to look a little cluttered, so I still had 2 additional drawers leftover.

For storage on the bar cart I had inserted wood dividers into the drawers.

I also spray painted the insides of the sewing machine drawers,  French Blue by Rustoleum. 

I thought I would like the pop of color on the bar cart, but  I didn’t.  I ended up repainting the insides of the drawers that I used on the bar cart black…

… but I still had 2 drawers leftover.  I still liked the blue, just not so much on the bar cart.

For this project, I’m going to leave the insides of the drawers blue, but I’m using white chalk paint on the outside surfaces.

If you like the scuffed, I’ve been used a bit, tossed around,  rubbed off, scraped and scratched look, lightly sand the edges and corners of the drawers.

Finish with a clear wax designed for chalk paint.

I wanted to add feet to my drawers but the original drawers did not have much to attach to.

Measure the inset portion of the drawer and transfer those measurements to a scrap piece of 1 inch lumber.

Sand the edges and make sure your insets fit the bottom of the drawers.

Stain the bottom wood.  So much easier now before you attach and are worrying about whether you’re getting any stain on the white paint.

These little casters are my new feet.  These four had the perfect length stem, long enough to fit inside the bottom piece but not so long that I would have to drill thru the drawer.

The other four had no stem and just screwed directly to the bottom piece of wood.

Use wood glue or builders adhesive to attach the bottom to the drawer.

Weigh down the drawers with something heavy and leave to dry overnight.

Yes, that is a rusty jack, and no, I do not know what I’m going to do with it. 🙄

Caster feet.

Now what can you do with these painted vintage sewing machine drawers?  How about a cutlery server for your next party?

Or storage for art or desk supplies.

Use chalk painted Mason jars and now the sewing machine drawers are the perfect vase to display your seasonal flowers.

Or you could take the drawers and use them as shelves. (Of course without the little feet) These were not sewing machine drawers but flea market finds from 2017.

Until next time, stay inspired.

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