Left up to me, nearly every project stalls. Not so when Billy Webb takes the lead. My handy (and handsome!) husband knocked out this little playtable in a snap.
It turned out perfect!
But let's start at the beginning - Ikea. Originally, I was fixated on purchasing the Expedit - clean, crisp, with lots of storage - I knew I wanted it in our playroom. Hidden toys is a gift! Well, don't you know after an in-person examination I realized the dimensions were all wrong and it was too tall for a useable play surface. Nuts. It pained me to do so, but I had to walk away. Alas, a timely and intuitive visit from my lovely sister earlier that day (hi, KAS!) had me suddenly rethinking the Expedit and play table as one. Table and storage together. Now, to find such a beast.
Our budget is small, the room smaller, so dimensions were key {*confession: I overthink everything and get hung up and minutia*}, so given all that, I wondered if we would find a match. Well, shame on me for ever doubting Ikea. Especially, when you have a master-craftsman husband {*advice - girls, forget the bad boy, find yourself a handy man and you're set for life!*}. So, after a lengthy, discussion and debate over one size or the other {remember my 'tick' about minutia...} we grabbed a simple white table top ($19) destined for greatness.
Here's a breakdown of what happened next.
Billy Webb purchased an 8-ft piece of white melamine shelving from Home Depot ($13), cut it to the dimensions we settled on {more lengthy discussion by me, isn't he lucky?!? :) } and screwed it together. He offers his take on melamine, "melamine is cheap, durable, easy to clean and both sides are finished. Also, one edge is finished so it's ready to use, no painting, edge banding, etc."
Then, he brought the constructed base in and after a mock installation, was worried about stability. Safety first. So, we decided to add some "feet" to help prevent tipping. It's only a matter of time before Monster Max uses the table as a launching pad. So, using more melamine, Billy Webb cut the feet with a bandsaw and routed the square edge off, but he mentions, "you could use a jigsaw to cut and sandpaper the edge to get by".
Then it was go time. He screwed on the feet, made a few measurements and markings and installed the top. Easy, breezy.
Feet -
Tabletop -
(supervisor)
After about an hour's worth of work, at 11:30 on Monday night, our table was done. Voila! Custom-made, perfectly sized for $35. Isn't it darling?
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