Easy Suitcase-Table DIY

I kind of started to find joy in building stuff and since I found that red suitcase in a second-hand shop for really not much money, I decided to do a little up cycling project, so there it goes: my self-built suitcase table. I might add, that I haven’t been doing so many building-project yet, so it’s really easy to build and if I can do it, so can you.The advantage of this project is that it’s quite cheap, I spent maybe 20€ on it, and I think it’s pretty cool to reuse stuff others do not need anymore. Furthermore, it’s not only a table but also a place for storing things, since I placed the screws in a way that still let’s you open the suitcase.

Like I said, I'm pretty new to this so there is probably a hundred better or different ways to do this project but still I think I came up with a good-looking result and maybe it motivates you to try new stuff because the most important thing is to be curious and having fun doing whatever you find worthy trying!

Suitcase (I think this can be done with any kind of suitcase, the only important thing is that it’s a hard case one and you should also use one with a flat surface so that you can actually use it as a table.)

Screwdriver

Screws (I used 4,5x50 ones)

4x Round Bar - 50cm length with a 35mm diameter (I failed to take a picture of those before having gotten to work so there's only a photo when they were already screwed in place but I guess you'll figure it out)

2x (Pine) Stripwood-50cm length, 20x20mm

3x (Pine) Stripwood- 32,5cm length, 20x20mm

Black Spray Paint

Sanding paper (80)

Scissors

I might add, that the measures for the stripwood apply for a suitcase with 52cm length and 35cm width - you CAN use those measurements for your own suitcase if it ist larger than mine but the would probably have to put your table legs more central and not at the edge of the suitcase, so it would all still fit together. I just can’t guarantee for the stability then;) Or, if you want to put your table legs on the edges the way I did, you would just have to use slightly longer or shorter (depending on your suitcase) bars, that shouldn’t be too hard I guess.

First, you cut your stripwood to the size you need it to be (in case you didn't get the right size at the store) and sand it slightly, so that the spray paint will stick to it better. Next, you apply the black spray paint to all wooden pieces you have. You can use other paint as well, but with the spray paint it just works so much faster. Leave the wooden pieces somewhere outside to dry.

While you let the paint dry, you’re going to drill the four holes for your screws on the bottom side of your suitcase, that will hold the table legs in place. Just turn the suitcase around and get to work. Make sure that the placement of the holes matches the length of your stripwood, otherwise everything's going to be unstable and crooked in the end. In my case that would mean that I place my holes on the lengthy side 50cm apart, on the broad side however 32,5 cm apart. That means you should have an rectangle in the end if you imaginarily connected the holes with a pen. (I hope that explanation makes sans, sounds pretty complicated but doing it is more than easy). Make sure to find out your center point on the suitcase bottom and measure the lengths for your holes from there to get an even result.

If there is a layer of fabric inside of the suitcase, I recommend to cut that away first, so your screwdriver doesn’t get all tangled up in it. When you drilled the holes, next thing to do is do get your round bars and screw them in place, one leg for each hole.

Next, get your 50cm-length stripwoods and place one underneath the two legs in the back and one underneath the two legs in the front. (Just look at the pictures for further explanation in case you need it). Screw them in place, one screw into each table leg. Now the whole thing should be pretty stable already but to add to that, we’ll now get the three pieces of 32,5cm-length stripwood and screw them in place. They are supposed to connect the back-part and the front-part to each other, I placed one into the center and the other two 14cm left and right to the center piece. That way, the weight of the suitcase is divided up onto a bigger surface.

That's already it. If you like, you can add a fabric inside of the suitcase to hide the screws but that’s no must of course. Otherwise all I have to say is have fun rebuilding and I hope you liked this instructable. If that’s the case, I would really appreciate a vote in the „Tables and Desks Contest“- thanks in advance everyone and happy building!