Savvy storage solutions
Fresh off the gift-receiving season, the home can become filled with clutter. And despite our best efforts with purging and hiding and tucking, sometimes we still wind up with “stuff” we have no place to store and with kids and their bounty of toys and games and books. So, short of very politely telling people “no gifts, please” for the kids, you just have to come up with practical and savvy storage solutions so all those special gifts from all those special people find a place in the home.
Faced with this very dilemma I came up with a really cost-effective way to get plenty storage for the toys, while utilising little space as well as creating a useful piece of furniture. Using inexpensive 3/4 inch-plywood I had a toy box storage nightstand made, that housed all the toys and games that needed to be tucked away and, when covered with a beautiful tablecloth, actually looks like an exquisite nightstand.
The table: was made by attaching a 30-inch round (the top) to an 18″w X 18″d X 30″ h box. The box houses a large amount of toys so the storage problem is solved. And the tabletop houses a beautiful lamp, picture frame and other accent pieces usually stored on the nightstand. I left the table unfinished because, for the purposes of beauty and aesthetics, I would cover it. This I did by making a quick and easy, yet beautiful, tablecloth.
The tablecloth: was very easy to make, once you have the right material. What you do need for a table this size in order to fully cover it and not have to join the fabric is 90 or 110-inch wide fabric. I found this beautiful 90-inch wide patterned antique satin at Joseph’s for only $350 per yard. I also used it to make the matching bedding to coordinate. To make the tablecloth, you will need enough fabric to make a square, so for a 90-inch wide fabric, 2 _ yards and for a 110-inch wide fabric, 3 yards. You will then simply fold the fabric evenly in 4, tie a string to a pencil and mark a semicircle from the inner corner. Then cut away the open ends. You can finish it by hemming it or you can further dress it up by hemming it with satin ribbon or piping cord.
Another great storage solution that’s even better because it’s free is to recycle an old packing crate like the one pictured here. Add casters/wheels so they move about easily and help keep toys, bedding, books, or whatever you like, out of the way. So fight the clutter with smart and savvy storage solutions.