Ikea Fjellse Hacked!

So, I finally hacked the bed. Well, almost. I’m considering adding nail head trim around the front, then possibly framing it, and then it’ll be finished. It isn’t perfect, but I’m happy with the way it turned out. One more project crossed off my ever growing to-do list.

It wasn’t a long process, but I spread it out over 2 days. I think it took a total of 4 hours, and that includes all of the cutting, painting and fiddling with my staple gun. There are a few tutorials online, so I’ll just share my process, and show what I would have done differently.

What I used:

• screwdriver
• spray glue
• wood glue
• foam
• batting
• mending plates
• furring strips 
• paint
• primer
• clamps (since I was working upright)

• OSB (I cut my piece with a jigsaw…it was far from perfect, and really didn’t make a difference)

The top measured up almost perfectly, in the picture below, the OSB isn’t attached, just leaning against the back.I knew that the foam and batting would be forgiving so I didn’t worry about making the straightest lines in the world.

If I were to do it again, this is the part I would do differently.

I should have corrected this immediately, but I decided to push on, and see how it developed. It doesn’t look terrible, but the sides aren’t an even thickness from the top to the bottom.

I do love the paint color though, and it looks even better after the second coat.

This room is starting to come together, and I have to say that I’m very pleased with the progress.

Until the next time,

signing off.

Masterful Paint Fail

Today I learned how NOT to paint laminate furniture. I decided to prime the bookshelf in my super hero’s room in preparation for my Mythic Paint order to arrive. So, this is what I did.

Step 1

Remove all dirt, dust, and debris from furniture.

Step 2

Step 3

Wait for paint to dry.

You should get something that looks like this:

Lessons Learned: Sand before painting, and use an oil based primer, because trying to cut corners makes your paint peel.

Elle V the Builder?

I’ve always been pretty handy. Ask my mom, she’ll tell you. I was her go to fix it and put it together person for many years up until I moved.

So when I came across the Ana White site, and saw a community of mostly women building their own furniture, I said to myself, “Self, you can do that too!” And so I did.

I used the plans for her vegetable bins, but modified them slightly. They’re very similar to the ones I wanted from Land of Nod. Overall, I’m happy with the way it turned out.

I started building the shelving unit for the super hero’s closet. So far it’s been sanded and primed, but still needs to have the Kreg jig holes filled,  and be covered with a couple of coats of paint and poly. Oh, and there’s also that massive hole where one of my knots fell out

At this point though, I have to say I’m proud of myself. It was my first project, and it went fairly smoothly. But there were a couple of hiccups.

For one, a few of my boards had small cracks in them. Luckily only the ends that I didn’t end up using split. I placed my order online, and let the people at Lowes choose my wood for me. Next time, I’ll know better and choose my own.

Secondly, I did all of the cutting with my jigsaw. I do not recommend that unless you have a very sturdy hand. I wasn’t brave enough to use my circular saw this time, so my cuts are uneven, but it’s going into the closet so I’m not too bothered by it.

I still want  to build a similar piece of shelves to sit on top of this piece, and another with deeper cubbies, for this one to sit on. Then this mess containment system will be complete.

That’s all for now!