Amber

DIY Simple Wood Crate Side Table


We've reached another big milestone in our house! No more baby gates! In a hurried frenzy of productivity this past Wednesday while the kids were at my parents house, I began organizing toys, cleaning out storage space, labeling bins and took down the gates that barricaded the play room. We will slowly begin transitioning it to a more official living room and play room combination—I'm already loving it and the kids were beyond thrilled at their official household freedom.

Many of the toys that were in the play room stayed, and I just moved things around to create a reading corner, a kitchen corner, a space for Harrison to play with his cars and used the train table as a sort of coffee table in front of the love seat and recliner (I dragged the latter down from upstairs all on my own!). I also plan to leave less toys out and use bins and bags to organize and store them so the kids only have out a few things at a time. My quad mom friend, Amber, does this with great success, which helps minimize the mess and clutter in her house. But more on that and the new play room later! For now, I needed a quick and easy side table to throw into the mix as I was feeling brave and wanted a place to put a lamp, drinks and stash books and magazines so adults could both relax in there and also easily read to kiddos that climb up in our laps.



no more baby gates!
I was out running errands that morning and spotted wooden crates at Michaels when inspiration struck. With my 40% off coupon, the crate was only about $8 and change. (Even Wal-Mart isn't that cheap, I think their's are $10.) My errands happened to take me by a second Michaels so I stopped by there to grab wood glue and a second crate with the coupon, since you can only use the coupon on one item per visit, and headed home.

The small paint pots are from Target, which is their own paint brand, and the sponge brushes are cheapies from Wal-Mart. I threw them away when I was done because the wood tore them up a bit. And after all my work I realized that I probably could've saved myself some time and effort by just spray painting the crates but oh well!

I painted the turquoise on the inside first then followed up with the darker blue. Then I went back with a smaller brush to correct any mistakes where the dark color got on top of the turquoise. There's still a few spots I'll need to touch up, especially on the sides that I glued together that are missing paint. I didn't bother for it to be perfect as I wanted a slightly rustic look. Some of the boards inside the crates aren't fully saturated with paint since I wanted it that way. I also just let it all dry before putting it to use, but might spray it with a sealant later on. And for now, I like the brighter colors for the play room but can always repaint later!



A liberal amount of wood glue, a set of clamps and some Coke boxes for weight and the whole thing was done! It was dry by the time I finished rearranging the play room so I brought it in and added a spare lamp from the guest room, some food magazines and tot-friendly books.




It's provided the perfect place for me to set my tea and a magazine when I need to rest for a few minutes in between potty training, which we are doing full force this weekend!! More on that later! For now, I hear a toilet seat slamming and must investigate...
...time for more wine!

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