Rather than push my son to draw and write, I look for ways to make drawing and writing accessible and fun. One day, I found a roll of paper in a junk pile. I knew I wanted to create an art table somewhere, in the house, but where, and how? It was the middle of a pandemic, so it had to be done with stuff from around the house. I took mismatched large cup hooks from my cupboard, found a dowel that fit through the hooks, and set to work on my Buy Nothing Group coffee table. If you’re going to put holes in your coffee table, it helps that it was free.
My paper roll is 18″ long, so I cut my dowel to 24″. If you’re working with a different sized paper roll, a good rule of thumb is to space your hooks 2″ wider apart than your paper roll, and cut your dowel a good 6″ longer. Make sure your cup hooks are large enough to hold your dowel. My dowel is 1/2″ thick.
I use chalk to mark where my hooks go, 20″ apart, on the underside of my table. I drilled two tiny pilot holes.
I screwed each cup hook into a pilot hole. Then, I ran my dowel through my paper roll and popped both ends into the hooks.
Hack: Does your dowel slip out? Try a binder clip on each end!
The coffee table turned DIY art table was a success! I installed it and said nothing. Later, I found Goosebumps inspired artwork.
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