Custom Built Furniture

I finished up a piece of furniture I've been working on for awhile this weekend. It fills that awkward space created by having the TV cabinet in the corner at an angle. And it gives us a tiny shelf, a little more space for puting toys away. And the top is a shelf/seat in a pinch. It also has a little triangular shelf up top to fill in the triangular gap (I am realizing at this point that my pictures are a bit lacking oh well) which gives us just a little extra surface space that Henry can't reach (a bit pointless to put his little toy horse up there but I'm sure it will come in handy for other things later).

I made it out of an old Ikea slat bed that I rescued from my neighbour's garbage, some leftover pine laminate for the shelf, a wrecked coffee table top for the seat, scrap 2x4 for the structural pieces, and an old trench coat lining for the fabric. All I had to buy was the foam for the seat. And I ruined any chance of it being considered a bit 'eco-friendly' by slathering it in stain and urethane that I had to buy as well. While I was breathing in the fumes while staining I did vow that I would look into more environmentally friendly methods for the next thing I make. Might have to stick with painted furniture.

I'm very pleased with how it turned out. I wasn't sure that any kind of furniture would be able to fill that funny corner without looking crowded. And I think I came up with something simple enough that I could make look good and something quite useful. Henry's toys are just slightly more 'put away' when they're thrown in the basket on the shelf as opposed to a basket on the floor. And I think I totally pulled off the shelf/seat.

Henry likes it too.

Henry's First Chair

I finished a chair I've been working on for Henry. It's made from 1 and a half 2x4s so material cost is low. And it was fun to make. But as I was making it I was thinking of all the ways I could make it better. But that's ok since Henry will probably want more than one chair at some point. I've already started work on the second chair which will have no screws showing!

Here he is sitting at a darling little Ikea desk that my mum found on someone's curb for us.

My first real piece of furniture - an end table

I just finished up my first real piece of furniture that I made all by myself. And I really like how it turned out, now I have a million ideas about other pieces of furniture that I could make in this style.

It is great because it didn't take too long to make and it's all cheap wood but still solid. The leg pieces are 2x4 material and the top is a bit of pine laminate left over from when we made the shelves. I used a jig saw, drill, and router to do the carved out leg and I was surprised at how quickly it could be done (other than stupid sanding of course).

I wanted a very tiny table that I could move around the living room for when I want to sit in one of the spaces where there's nowhere to put my drink close enough to me. Sometimes I just don't want to lean over to the coffee table, I want something beside me. This table is perfect for that.

Foot stool

I've wanted a foot stool to keep near the front door for putting shoes on for ages, even before I got pregnant. But I was never sure that my idea of how to make it would look good. So when I came across much simpler instructions in this book Handmade Modern, I definitely wanted to make it. I was able to find foam and upholstery fabric that I liked at Len's Mill Store and bought the legs at Home Hardware. It was a quick simple project that was fun to do with Kevin. And it is perfect for sitting down while I put my shoes on.

Picnic Table

Kevin and I worked the past two evenings on making our picnic table. We followed this guy's instructions
http://www.sticksite.com/picnic/
so it was pretty easy. And it just uses 2x4s so it probably cost us about $50 for all the supplies. And it is a really nice adult sized picnic table. And we got to put it under our big maple tree which is my favourite place in the backyard. So now we can choose to sit there to eat instead of the patio sometimes. And we can move the table into the sun when it is chilly too!
Here we are eating our lunch at the new table today.

THE Chair

Well I finally finished the big woodworking project we've been doing at school. It isn't actually the most time consuming or most difficult thing we've done but it is definitely the most awesome. It turned out really well and I love it.