I recently found an old suitcase in the garage of my Daughters new home.  The previous owners had left it behind to be thrown out. My head went straight into overdrive thinking “What can I make with this”.  My first thought was a suitcase table.

I knew I had lots of legs laying around in my workshop that I had harvested of old free broken furniture, So I went with the Suitcase table idea. If you do regular DIY and want to keep your cost low this post may help you. These are the methods I use to find free materials for all my projects. 

How to Make a Suitcase Table

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Find a Vintage Suitcase

You need a vintage suitcase to make this project, these can be found a thrift store. Another good place to look for suitcases is on Facebook marketplace.  This was the suitcase that I started with, which had a canvas feel to the surface.  You start by cleaning up the suitcase with a cloth, warm water and detergent.  Do not soak the surface or it will become soggy.

Adding the world Map

A few years ago, I ordered 2 of these world maps online but I never had the correct project to use them on.  This suitcase table was the perfect project. To flatten the map, you may need to iron the back using a hot iron with no steam. Here is a similar map if you like the look of mine.

Using some mod podge or suitable decoupage glue add a thin even layer to the suitcase then smooth the poster down with your hand.  I found it better to do small areas at a time to prevent the poster from getting too soggy, which will cause the paper to tier.

The poster that I used was a bit small for this project, so at the back, I had to do some patchwork.

To clean up the edges around the locks you can use a craft knife to cut away the excess paper.

As hard as I tried to put an even coat of glue, I did have a couple of small bubble in the map once it dried. To get them to stick down to the suitcase again, I used so glue in a syringe and poked it into the bubble and pushed it back down again.

Sealing the suitcase

To protect the surface of the suitcase you can now seal the surface.  You can use mod podge, but I find this method expensive for such a large surface. This case was sealed using 2 coats of clear water-based polyurethane. The first coat should be applied very thin, so you don’t soak the paper.  Using a foam paint roller works well. You can paint the locks and handle if you chose, I wanted mine to look old to match the suitcase.

Making the stand

My first idea to make the stand was to cut a piece of wood the size of the base and just attach the legs which I did.  But this did not work, the table was so wobbly, it bounced around at the slightest touch.

My second attempt was to put the base inside the suitcase, but this was not much better. I am mentioning my failures, so you don’t do the same mistakes I did.

What finally worked was to add extra wood to the bottom before I added the base. This allows the legs to be screwed deeper into the wood giving more stability to the table.

Covering the inside of the suitcase

A few years back I made a chaise lounge using world map fabric and had some leftover.  It was not a perfect match because it was a lighter world map fabric but it would be inside the suitcase. All the fabric was attached using a hot glue gun. Start at the top and add glue along the seam, fold the fabric under and smooth out onto the glue. This will keep all the seams tidy, or you can iron the seams before you glue them. Next, you can glue the fabric to the sides of the suitcase.

You can now add the base to the bottom of the suitcase using the hot glue gun.

Cut the last piece of fabric to size and glue the front seam first, add some hot glue at the bottom and push the fabric into the glue.  Repeat this step across the bottom and back up to the other side.

To keep the fabric secure across the bottom and sides, add some hot glue where the two fabrics join.

Painting and ageing the legs

These are the legs I repurpose from an old dresser that was beyond repair.  You can use an orbital sander to remove all the old paint.

Paint the legs whichever colour you want. I only had white chalk paint at the time which was not the best.  The colour was too bright and new looking to match the dated look of the suitcase.

To give the legs a more aged look I used some dark wax over the white chalk paint.

Fitting the legs

To fit the legs, you can drill a pilot hole from the bottom into the wood inside the suitcase.  Be careful not to drill all the way through and snag the fabric in the drill.

Next, screw the legs in place with screws long enough to go into both pieces of wood inside.  This will also keep the wood inside from moving if the hot glue does not hold over time. You can see the difference in the colour of the legs with and without the dark wax in this image. Just pretend my workshop is tidy. lol

Complete suitcase table

The inside would be great storage for books or even a bar stand.

Some more great projects for you

Have you ever heard of Unicorn Spit Stain and glaze? If you haven’t you are missing out. This product is an awesome coloured stain that can be used on many surfaces. Chair Makeover

Unicorn spit stain and glaze is stunning when added to glass and it is so easy even a child can do it.

If you are looking for any of the items used in this project, please consider using our links. By clicking on the links we will earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.  Which helps us come up with new and exciting ideas to share with you.