Welcome to DIY Friday, a monthly show-and-share where we all swap our money-saving DIY tales. Want to join in the fun for next time? See how here. In the meantime, here’s my DIY for the month…
In the not so distant past, my two children shared a bedroom.
But then one day, my little guy, age two at the time, decided his nightly bedtime ritual required lengthy discussions with his stuffed monkeys.
And my big guy, then age six, cranky in the face of anything that disrupted his sleep, decided his only course of action was to yell and moan and whine and cry, for several nights months straight.
Hence, the shared brotherly bedroom needed to come to an end. We made arrangements for EeBee (the big guy) to move into his own room.
But moving him into his own room meant filling it up with his own furniture. And since he only had a bed to his name, we had some work to do.
Given our teeny budget for furniture, I considered scouring thrift stores for a desk and a headboard I could refinish. But with my limited time frame, I figured the simplest answer was to build these pieces myself.
So I scurried down to Home Depot, bought one piece of plywood, had them slice it up, and ended with three pieces of functional furniture.
Piece 1: DESK
To make the desk top, I stained and varnished the plywood with supplies I already had on hand. I formed the chevron pattern with Frog Tape, then painted it in using a small container of white sample paint.
If you haven’t used Frog Tape already, oh man, you’re missing out. Clean, crisp paint lines all the way. It works much better than that blue stuff.
The desk base is made of a wooden cube I had already, painted with some leftover house paint.
The desk top is secured to the back and side walls using two lengths of 1×2 wood bought in the scrap section of Home Depot for 75 cents. I screwed the 1x2s into the studs, then set the plywood on top, with the cube supporting it on the left.
I wanted the option of disassembling this desk, so I used several pieces of Velcro to attach the plywood to the 1x2s and cube base.
Item 2: HEADBOARD
We needed a headboard that had a place for the big guy to set his cups of water and maybe an alarm clock. So I came up with this simple L-shaped design.
This headboard is as basic as you see it. The vertical plywood piece (stained and varnished) runs down to the floor, and is secured to the bed with four heavy-duty screws and bolts, with the bolts being on the inside of the bed frame, and the screw heads on the outside of the plywood.
The little plywood edge (painted white) is secured to the vertical piece with simple L-brackets from beneath.
EeBee quickly discovered that the headboard ledge is a great place to line up his Lego guys right before bed. Every kid needs one of those.
Item 3: SHELF
This one was more of an afterthought. When the desk and the headboard were finished, I still had one plywood piece left.
So I went back to Home Depot and had them cut it down again. Using brackets I already had, I fashioned a little under-counter shelf to house our stacks of mail and charging gadgets.
And after all of this, I still have another strip of plywood sitting unclaimed in the garage. I’m thinking…art canvas?
Here’s what I spent for everything I didn’t already have in my DIY collection:
- Plywood – $42
- Scrap 1×2 wood – $0.75
- Screws & brackets – $8
- White paint – $2.50
- Frog tape – $4.50
Total Cost – $57.75
So, you probably didn’t believe me when I said building my own furniture was the simple solution, did you? Are you a believer now? I’d love to hear how you’ve come up with furniture solutions on the cheap. I know there are several savvy-favvy ones of you out there with stories to tell. Do share!
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Time to swap. Check out these great DIY posts by all of you.
- Five Minute Hair Using a Sock. Seriously! by Shopping Detox
- Creating a Custom Party Centerpiece by Careful Cents (this one uses plywood too!)
- Acne Skin Care on a Budget by Face and Fitness
- DIY Vanilla Extract by Mike and Molly’s House
- How to Make a Hogwarts Acceptance Letter by Debt Free by Thirty
A big thanks to everyone who participated in DIY Friday this month! We’ll be back with another edition on February 3, 2012. You can submit your DIY posts at any time.
January 6, 2012 at 6:06 AM
You are amazing. I love the chevrons.
January 6, 2012 at 7:12 AM
Love it!
January 6, 2012 at 7:23 AM
I love that furniture!
The desk paint colors are so much fun. Do you have any advice for getting vibrant paint colors to stick to plywood really well?
January 7, 2012 at 1:38 PM
Yes, I do have advice. Whenever I paint any piece of wood, whether it starts out bare or I’m refinishing it, I always go the extra mile of sanding and priming it first. I use a 220 grit sandpaper to smooth the rough spots and rough-up any finishes on there already. For primer, I like KILZ brand. It can be a pain to take these extra steps, but it pays off in the end.
Another tip: I mix Flotrol with my paint to eliminate brush strokes. And egg shell and semi-gloss sheens typically go on better than a high gloss one.
Thanks for asking. :)
January 6, 2012 at 8:18 AM
Our kids are begging us for new beds. Their feet are sticking out over the edge of their twin beds :? It seems like a huge thing to make the headboards but you make it look so easy! (BTW-we have the same blue blanket for our bedding)
Thanks for the link!
January 7, 2012 at 1:40 PM
Target for the blue bedding, it was the perfect find for us.
These pieces really were simple to build. A little labor intensive with the staining and varnishing, but the only tool I needed for construction was a drill. Good luck with your new beds. You must have some tall girls!
January 6, 2012 at 3:21 PM
Looks so great! You’re good at this type of stuff! Frog tape is the love of my life, by the way…
January 7, 2012 at 1:41 PM
I’ll never go back. It’s more expensive, but so much more worth it.
January 6, 2012 at 5:53 PM
That desk is so awesome. It’s SO perfect for a little boy. You’re very clever when it comes to building furniture – kudos :)
January 7, 2012 at 1:42 PM
It really is perfect for his room. He doesn’t use it as a desk yet (hence no chair), but I’m hoping he’ll be encouraged to as he gets older.
January 7, 2012 at 12:48 AM
Way to go on the furniture! A site I am loving (but just don’t have the power tools yet) is Ana White. She offers a site with free furniture plans so you can build your own pieces. Right now, I am loving the thrill of decorating my house in damn-near 100 percent thrift store scores! Love the seek and discovery!
January 7, 2012 at 1:43 PM
I love thrift store hunting too, I just don’t have the time to do it these days.
January 7, 2012 at 4:37 AM
Love the desk! It is super cute. Also have to agree with you on the Frog Tape. Way better than the blue stuff.
January 7, 2012 at 1:44 PM
Thanks, Lisa! I can’t wait to have more projects that require Frog Tape.
January 7, 2012 at 3:56 PM
Am totally loving that desk! You are so creative :)
January 8, 2012 at 2:46 PM
Awesome colors on that desk, Lindy.
January 10, 2012 at 4:27 PM
Good for you! That is awesome. I love what you have done. It looks fabulous!
January 12, 2012 at 9:48 AM
The desk is really creative. I’m amazed you were able to get such consistent lines.
We did a similar “left-overs” approach for shelves in the basement. Our built-in bookcase came with way more shelves than we could ever use. I bought some vertical/adjustable brackets and put them up so we could have a wall-mounted TV without any furniture underneath.
January 12, 2012 at 3:10 PM
You just plain ROCK! That room is fabulous!!!!
November 1, 2012 at 8:21 PM
Thanks so much for considering my bathroom shelves a highlight! Made my day. :)