Projects | Prudent and Practical

November 30, 2009

Dresser Drawer to Designer Dog Bed

Filed under: crafts — Tags: crafts, DIY, projects, saving money — K @ 11:59 PM

Reggie is the heaviest of our five animals. He’s only 26 pounds, but that hasn’t stopped our couch cushions from getting squished. He likes to lay on the back rest. He loves cushions, blankets, pillows, cheapo dog beds – anything that he can “nest” on. Oh, and let’s not forget the LoveSac. The dogs aren’t allowed in the basement because that’s the cat’s refuge, but since we got the Sac, he sneaks downstairs to nap on it. He “makes a bed” just like the cats, but it’s hilarious because he’s much bigger than them.

So for Christmas, I wanted to make Reggie-bear something special. Something just for him that he could lay on…. So I pulled out my giant 3-ring binder of clipped articles and found just the thing. A dog-sized armchair!

Here’s what you need to get started:

(Above: If you don’t have a spare dresser drawer, you can make one out of scraps)

(more photos to be added later this morning…)

Take a drawer and knock out the bottom and sides

Make a new bottom that extends past the drawer sides

Screw 1×1′s or 1×2′s onto the inside of the drawers (the bottom/cushion will be attached to these)

Mark a line 1″ from the top of the sides all the way around, on both the inside and outside of the sides

Staple one side of foam to the outside line, staple the other side of the foam to the inside line. (Now you have rolled arms!)

Cover each side individually with upholstery batting (I didn’t have any so I used 2 layers of medium loft quilters batting). Spray adhesive is your friend here…

Now take a big piece and cover the whole thing with the one piece. (This helps get rid of lines and gives you a good work surface for the next step.)

Cover with fabric! This is where the tack strips come in handy, giving you a nice seam edge.

OK! The arms and back are done!

Now for the seat cushion…

Grab the seat bottom. Measure and cut out more 2″ foam. Spray adhere the two together.

Spray adhere batting to the foam, wrap around and staple on the bottom.

Spray adhere fabric to batting, wrap around and staple on the bottom.

Yay! The seat cushion is done!

Set the cushion in the arms/back piece. Flip over and screw through the 1×1′s or 1×2′s from earlier.

Attach the legs according to directions. (I painted and stained mine).

There you have it! A designer-looking dog bed made in one day from a dresser drawer!

And all the animals had to come check it out…

(Below: Can you tell she’s “the queen” ?)

This article is happily shared with readers at DIY Day @ A Soft Place and Transformation Thursday @ The Shabby Chic Cottage! If you’re new here, you may want to subscribe or check out what I’ve been up to lately!

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November 23, 2009

Dingy Desk to Dora the Explorer Escritoire

Filed under: DIY — Tags: bargains, crafts, DIY, free, projects — K @ 11:59 PM

One of the trending topics in the blogosphere is that of handmade items for Christmas. I never really thought anything of it – I like making stuff and I usually give one big project to a family member. This year, instead of one big item to one person, I’m planning on multiple smaller homemade items. I started off with a gift for my 2-1/2 year old niece.

My dad is really good at finding and picking up decent stuff that’s been thrown out. On a recent visit, he brought me a vintage wood and metal school desk. I loved and then dreaded the thought of another diy project when I already have a binder full of to-dos, so there it sat in the garage for a few months. While talking with him one night, he asked, “Well, why don’t you fix it up for Ella?” And during a conversation the following week with my mom, I found out that they were planning on fixing Ella up with a Dora the Explorer room – complete with a new big-girl bed. Ding! That was it – I’ll make Ella a big-girl Dora desk! She loves reading and learning and doing big-girl things so this will be perfect!

The Dora color template exists of vibrant colors:

Purple
Orange
Pink
And I threw in Lime Green, because it’s my fave color and it’s looks good with the above colors
Brown – you know, Dora’s big hair…

After stripping the wood…

and sanding it down…

My plan ended up being:

Outdoor Brown by Krylon – everywhere else (the metal parts of the desk)

Metallic Purple by Rustoleum – Desktop and seat (backrest)

Pink Berries by Rustoleum – Seat (buttrest)

(At this point it looks cartoon-girly, but not Dora, so….)

Dora “stickers – which I couldn’t find anywhere so I bought a $3 book at WM, cut pictures out and spray-adhered them to the desk. I didn’t trust my inkjet to print them out.

(Ok, it’s getting somewhere, but it needs something else…)

I printed off a “Dora” font that said “ELLA” and made my own stencil.

I then used lime green and hand painted the alphabet, 1-10, her middle name (which is mine too ), and a couple swirlies.

And there you have it, the one and only personalized Dora Desk created from a free vintage desk, a book, and some paint!

Thanks for visiting! If you’re interested in recipes you can check out my food and recipes pages. If you want to know what diy projects I’ve been up to this week, visit my front page!

This article is happy to be shared with the following carnivals:

DIY Day @ A Soft Place

(And giving credit where credit is due: Dora the Explorer and all her buddies belong to Nickelodian!)

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November 16, 2009

Movie Room and Table Painted

Filed under: DIY — Tags: basement, DIY, home improvement, projects — K @ 11:59 PM

The last week has been full of projects (and shopping)! We’ve accomplished three projects and have more to come this week.

1 – After a few late nights and a lot of touch ups, we have the basement painted! We have ivory on the top and red on the bottom. Both are Pittsburgh Paint’s colors. We left a white strip in the middle to see what it would look like. We love it but think it needs a little oomph so we’re heading to our fave home improvement store to pick up some molding that we will paint white.

A tip for those who haven’t painted a dark color on a light wall: take into account that you’ll need to paint 2-3 times. The first layer of paint looks very splotchy and uneven. The second layer covers up any light spots and the third painting is for touch ups. (I think the same could be said about painting a light color over a dark wall.)

Every house has their weird and quirky things (I could write a whole post about this ) and the basement has been no different from the upstairs. The most recent thing is the installation of the 2x4s. My understanding is that the 2×4 has a 4-inch depth. The 2x4s in our basement are turned so that it’s a 2-inch depth. D speculated that it added square footage – 6 square feet to be exact! The studs are not on 16″ or 24″ centers and seem to be randomly scattered throughout the walls. This has caused a slight problem with where the projector will sit. We’re trying to figure out what to do.

2 – We have a super retro little side table that has had faux maple wood grain – yuck! I think the modular-ness of the table will look great in the room, so I have painted it black. It looks like it belongs in the basement now!

3 – D and I built a frame for around the projector screen. This is helping to keep the projector on the wall. It will also hold black curtains and a valance.

We are so impressed and excited with the progress so far – recessed lighting, paint, screen frame, and a table. It’s made a huge difference! The room now feels warmer and much more up to date.

The quest is on for finding some decent used cabinets. Every once in a while something pops up on Craigslist, but we let it slide because we don’t have a hauling vehicle (aka: truck or van) and everybody wants you to haul it. I’ve also checked for carpet and tile on Craigslist. The carpets are remnants (we need 12′x30′) and the tile is ugly so far.

While D was at the game on Saturday, I ran around shopping. I have all the materials for a Christmas gift for the dogs (more on this in the next couple days!), bought six large frames for movie posters, and black imperial velvet to make movie screen curtains. The best part about about it was that most of the stuff was on sale. It’s going to be a busy week!

I’m happy to share this post with:

Three or More Tuesday @ The Gypsy’s Corner

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November 11, 2009

Martha Stewart’s Christmas Workshop

Filed under: General — Tags: crafts, DIY, entertainment, food, free, holidays, projects, random — K @ 11:30 PM

Hi all! I just got an email (newsletter) from Martha Stewart.com! The Martha crew is doing a 6-week workshop to help you prep for the holiday season.

The topics will include…

Martha’s best holiday tips
Handmade gifts, stockings, and ornaments
Treats, menus, and party ideas
Expert tree-trimming and wreath-making techniques
Hostess how-tos and a magnificent holiday menu
Time saving strategies
A gingerbread-house contest and photo contests
And many more ideas!

According to the email, more than 100,000 people have already joined, including me. I’m a fan of Martha Stewart and can’t wait to see what wonderful tips and projects she has in store for us all.

The fun begins November 16. Please visit the signup page to get in on the action!

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November 9, 2009

Basement Remodel Begins

Filed under: DIY — Tags: basement, DIY, home improvement, movies, projects, saving money — K @ 11:50 PM

Winter is approaching. Since we’re spending more time being indoors, D and I decided to get a start on the basement. Iowa winters can be harsh so the main objective is to turn the basement into something fun ~ a movie room! This is not going to be a nice television downstairs room. We are going all out (almost) on a budget and can’t wait to both share the results with you and use the room as well. And embarrassingly, it’s messy now because we’re in the middle of a project ~ I love how projects come together near the end

Here’s the main idea:

Red and ivory with black accents. Since we’re on the verge of putting it up for sale when the economy gets better, we didn’t want to go the traditional home theater room route by making it floor to ceiling (and including the ceiling) black, navy blue, or hunter green. That freaks me out just thinking about it… it would be complete turnoff to potential buyers. Keep in mind that this is a long and narrow basement room, not a dedicated theater room. We wanted to make it fun and functional, yet intriguing to potential buyers. And if it doesn’t sell for a while, we have something to enjoy!
Replace old globe lights with recessed and add more lights
Replace old, dirty outlet covers with new wood ones
Paint the walls – ivory on top and red on bottom, separated by a chair rail molding
Get rid of self-stick duck wallpaper border
Update the furniture – one new piece, slipcovers for the old couch and love seat, paint our modular/retro side tables
Move the projector screen to another wall – 120-inches of movie goodness!
Make a decorative cover for the projector screen casing and sew up some black velvet curtains
When we can find a good deal, we will be replacing the dark, splotchy brown carpet with a lighter carpet and tiles near the basement entry. Eve has unraveled the carpet at the laundry room, so the tile will solve her bad habit, while giving us a floor for…
Installing a 5-foot wet or dry bar by the laundry room
And finally garnishing with our favorite movie posters and memorabilia!

How do we plan to do this?

We already have the projector screen and D made a projector three years ago – he really loves DIY projects!
We purchased the paint and recessed lights on sale through Menard’s.
We purchased one slipcover on clearance through Target.
We purchased our new piece of furniture, “The Big One” LoveSac off of Craigslist for less than 1/3 the new price.
D purchased surround sound speakers and a receiver on clearance online.
I am looking to purchase a granite slab and cabinets off of Craigslist for the wet/dry bar.
I need to call in a plumber to see if he can do a drain or pipe or something to make a wet bar. If it’s going to be to extensive or expensive, it will just be a dry bar.
I plan to purchase the movie screen curtain fabric through Hobby Lobby or Joann’s when it goes on sale.
Carpeting and tile are still up in the air… we’re hesitant to spend that much money, but it will really improve the look of the basement. The room is 36′x12′ so we plan to have 30′x12′ carpet and 6′x12′ tile. We have no problem installing tile, since we have tackled that one before, twice. (Our kitchen doesn’t look like that now either!)

The Project Commences

We started with the lights. The weather’s (uncharacteristically) nice now, but will soon become chilling. Turning off the basement light breaker means turning off our thermostat upstairs – yes, our house is wired extremely weird – and turning off the heat for a loooong time, while D works his arms off.

Of course there are a few surprises. A “nest” of wires just tossed up in the ceiling. Multiple wires coming together but not in a junction box. And of course, you’ve got to love the 3-way lights: because somebody couldn’t walk reach 3 feet to turn off a switch. This means a lot more time and care go into making sure that certain wires are connected to the right place. And a quick note ~ I really wanted to change the drop ceiling to drywall a while back. We were told by a realtor that making the change in our town would not help sell it, so we left it. So as much as I dislike the stuff, you can see in the photos how much we have benefited from it.

So, what projects are you up to this week? What’s the biggest project you’ve tackled? Do you like LoveSacs?

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