Projects: Lego Table and Auction Basket

Here's a recent project. Ben's school had an auction last month and our class decided to put together a Lego Gift Basket - classroom parents  generously donated building sets. I was in charge of making the seat/pouf and Lego table. 

I picked up the table at our local thrift store for $5. It was looking forlorn and in desperate need of some TLC. 

I sanded it down, gave it a nice paint job, and then glued down these Lego baseplates in the form of an island surrounded by water. 

 Ready for pirate play! Or a beach vacation! Or a shipwreck! So many imaginative possibilities.

The pouf took a bit more time. The pattern I used is roughly based on this one, with small modifications to the height to make sure that little knees could properly fit under the table.

Basically, sew a cylinder, do some math (pi!) to make a circle that will fit the top, sew that on, stuff it, and then put a sturdy base on the bottom. This last step is optional; most poufs have fabric tops and bottoms, but I needed mine to function as a sturdy chair so a floppy pouf was undesirable.

I used 1/4" plywood for the bottom disc.

A quick note about gear: recently I've really enjoyed using a very light pair of rubber gardening gloves when doing any project that requires tool use or wood handling. They certainly won't protect from saw cuts but I find that I've cut down on my splinter count and general wear and tear on my palms.  

Once the pouf is sewn and the base cut, the next step is to stuff it. Most folks use beanbag pellets or cotton batting but I found that something with less give was necessary to provide a firmer seating experience. I used an old (clean!) duvet covered by an outer layer of cotton. 

Foam around the outside of the wood provided additional cushion. 

Afterwards I simply hammered the fabric to the wood using upholstery nails and added furniture feet. Project completed. 

Ben made me swear that I'd win our own basket at the auction but I was promptly outbid by a parent that clearly loves their child far more than I. :) Sorry kid. 

Built-in Trundle Bed

Hello! We got back two months ago from our big trip (details of which can be found here) and I promptly set about deconstructing the bunk beds in Emma's room. 

Let me be clear about one thing: I love bunk beds; they are great in small spaces or for fitting multiple people in a room. They make a ton of sense for almost everyone out there. 

But not for me. I had come to loathe these beds. There are two reasons for my extreme disdain:

1. We purchased them under duress on a tight timeline before our trip and I always felt they were too dark and hulking for the room, plus they fit poorly in the weirdly-shaped alcove. 

2. I run an Airbnb and I nearly broke my neck every three days climbing up on that bunk to change the sheets. 

So project Numbero Uno upon returning was to post these babies to Facebook Marketplace, stat. 

Here's a good view of the alcove without the beds. Take special note of that heat register; it would cause me a lot of grief down the road. 

My first task was to paint the room. Over time I've come to regret painting each room a different color; now they're all getting the same basic grey, although we still have a few rooms that haven't quite been brought into the color fold. I am also no longer willing to mess around with painting my ceilings a different color than the walls. Grey from top to bottom. 

Chris painted these walls back in 2010, a few weeks before the arrival of our first child, and three weeks after breaking his hand in Mexico. It was a rough month. 

Post painting, I covered the floor in plastic sheeting and began building. Because we still occasionally post our house on Airbnb, I needed to get the same number of beds in this room: two twins. The plan was to do a regular bed for Emma with a trundle stashed away that could be pulled out for occasional use. 

I began by first building the trundle. 

It's hard to tell in the photos, but that heat register is an inch wider at the bottom than at the top, meaning that the trundle stuck out perilously close to the edge of the alcove. Things were getting tight. I had a scant 1/2" for the trundle faceboard. 

Next up was the main bed frame. I attached the frame directly to the wall studs; this thing is solid as a rock. I also learned that trying to drill through carpet will cause said carpet to unravel 12" across the floor but that's a story for another time. 

Frame plus trundle. Slowly coming together. I used 2x4s for the main frame and 1/2" particle board for the mattress foundations. The outer frame and table top got fancy 1/2" plywood instead of the particle board.  

The trundle is complete. Working on the table top and closet door.

The headboard and footboard got the cottage look: horizontal 1x4s nailed to the frame. 

For the record, I really hate the sanding process. So. much. dust. 

Ben gives it a test run. 

Paint: same grey as the rest of place (Subtle Touch by Behr, which, if you want my honest opinion, has a touch too much purple but it's the color we chose for the upstairs hallway and everything is now following suit. I'm too cheap/lazy to repaint the entire place.). 

The trundle face and closet door get some fancy trim. 

More sanding before the final coat. 

DONE. Hardware and lighting have been added. Closet door has been hung. 

These aren't great photos (dark Seattle Fall days don't help the ambient light situation) but we're scheduled to have updated Airbnb photos done in the next few weeks so hopefully we'll have some pretty pictures to show on the website soon enough. 

In the meantime, our little girl is loving her new big and plotting all the sleepovers she's going to have (haha, sorry kid, not until you're like 14...)

The rest of the room is a little bland, which is partly by design. Airbnb guests don't want a bunch of personalized clutter in their rooms. Fortunately Emma can messify a room in about 3 seconds flat; she is currently asleep with a pile of books, dolls, and legos vying for space in her new bed.

xo, 

Sonja

Emma’s Nursery: In a former life

We’re getting ready to post pictures of Emma’s nursery but first I thought I’d include a few pictures of the space, back when it was as guest room and then, later, Ben’s nursery.

Here was guest room layout:

This was right after we moved into the house. It was actually my favorite room as it had nice cheery yellow walls and plenty of light.

Ick. Poor choice of curtains. The pea green isn’t really working. But it was the first time I’d ever dyed anything and I was determined to use it, despite hating the end result.

The bed was located in the space currently inhabited by the crib and chair.

And the new dresser lives where the old dresser used to live. We also had these gorgeous wood floors that we sadly covered in carpet because they were so beat up and squeaky. But the good news is that they’re still there so if the next owners want wood floors, all they have to do is peel back the carpet.

Randomly, both of these pieces are in Emma’s new room today. Except the plant bit the dust (aka I accidentally killed it) so I had to buy a new one.

Here’s the layout for Ben’s nursery. Emma’s is exactly the same.

The bench is different. Ben was loathe to give this one up so it followed him into his current room. Different curtains and bunting, too.

Same dresser. Some of the same artwork.

And this is what we did with the big wall. It looks completely different today. (That decal never would have lasted with Emma). Wait till you see it tomorrow.

xo,

Sonja