Garage Sale Redo: The Ikea Trofast Shelf Part 2

The time has finally arrived, the reveal of the Garage Sale Idea Trofast Shelf.

If you recall in my last few blogs, I have been looking for a way to add more toy storage to our house. I originally built this open bookshelf, but it has proven to not be enough storage needed for all the toys we have accumulated over the last almost 2 years. 

With the second child coming, I knew we would need something else. That was when I saw this beauty of a organizer at a garage sale for $5.  (Garage Sale Redo: The Ikea Trofast Shelf)

However, I did not like how it fit with the bottom piece--it was just not wide enough and looked very funny. I decided to add some side shelves to the Ikea Trofast Shelf (here is the tutorial DIY: Building Furniture Side Bookshelves) and ended up with something like this:

After the shelves were added, I sanded and primed the Trofast Bin Shelf.

Then I painted it to match the lower unit. (Please ignore my super messy shop, just one the thing many things on my to-do list to organize!)

 I attached it to the open toy box and filled it with the bins.

It was complete!! We have lots of extra toy storage and a place for books to go!

Also, as an added bonus I found out that I had some baskets that fit the top of it perfectly, so even more toy storage!! (Just so you know, half of the bins are empty and the baskets are empty, just room for more toys someday!) 

Anyways, it's amazing what you can find at garage sales and what you can build with just a little extra work. I hope I have inspired some of you out there to go treasure hunting at garage sales soon! Until then, happy building and painting!!

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DIY: Building Furniture Side Bookshelves

This is sort of a continuing to my previous blog of the Garage Sale Redo: The Ikea Trofast Shelf. Last week I picked up this Ikea Trofast storage unit at a garage sale for $5!

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I had an idea, let's just throw this on top of the current toy box and use it for the extra storage. However, when I put it on top, I didn't like how the width did not match the toy box width below. 

I came across this photo on pinterest and thought it was a great idea to add to the sides to make the width match!

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Here is my little DIY on how you can add these shelves to really any furniture you have around your house, whether it's an Ikea Trofast shelf, dresser, nightstand...whatever you can think of:

You will need:

Pencil

Tape Measure

Jigsaw

Miter Saw

Countersinking Bit

Wooden Plugs

Sand Paper

Drill

Screws

Nail Gun

Wood Fill

1'x6" boards (length determined by your width of furniture and number of shelves)

Trim boards for the front or 1"x2" boards (length determined by your width of furniture and number of shelves)

Now this DIY will take some calculations on your own. You will need 1"x6" boards, but the length of the boards will be determined by your number of shelves you would like. 

For one shelf you would need:

2 pieces cut 6" Tall

1 piece cut the width of the side of your furniture

When it comes to the trim boards for the front, you can use whatever you want (as long as less than 1" thick.) You just need to buy the length needed to cover the front of the shelves. 

The Steps:

I wanted three shelves, 2 on one side and one on the other.

I cut the sides of my shelf using a miter saw. I made 6 pieces that are 6" tall. 

Next to add some decoration, I wanted to put a curve in my sides using a jigsaw. I measured a mark on one side at 2 inches and 4 inches on the other corner.

Using a paint can, I traced a curve between the two marks.  

Here is my path that the jigsaw will follow.

Cut the 1"x6" boards to the width needed for your furniture. 

Using your miter saw, cut the curve on the sides of your shelves. (This was my first time ever using a jigsaw. I saw it in the box and decided to give it a try. At one point I was having a hard time getting it to cut and I STUPIDLY, stuck my hand under the board! Luckily with my cat-like reflexes I escaped cutting the tip of my finger off and just cut the side pretty deep. It's a lesson why not to do woodworking when you are tired from being 35 weeks pregnant. Turns out it wasn't cutting well because I had hit a knot in the wood.)

You should end up with the sides looking like this: 

 Now you will assemble the shelves. Make marks on the side pieces 1 inch from the edges.

Using a countersinking bit, drill your holes.

Attach your sides to your bottom shelf with screws.

 Here are two of my almost built shelves:

Using your wood plugs, fill your holes where you countersunk the screws.  

Now you want to work on your front of the shelves. Measure the width of your shelf and choose what substrate you would like to be on the front.

 I had some old 1" trim so I decided to use it up on this project. I cut three pieces of the trim to the proper width for each shelf.

Using a nail gun, I attached the trim to the front of my shelves.

I turned out cute, but the trim is so thin that the nail gun cracked a few of the ends. Hindsight, I should have used finishing nails and a hammer.

No biggy-- I just covered up the cracks with wood fill and filled the nail holes.

When your shelves are built, sand down all your pieces.

Attach the shelves to your furniture. In my case it was the Trofast shelf. Attach them from the inside of the furniture out so you can't see the screw heads. Make sure they are level!

It was easier for me to turn my unit on the side to attach them. 

And here is the final product with the shelves....now just to paint and continue on the previous post of Garage Sale Redo: The Ikea Trofast Shelf

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Garage Sale Redo: The Ikea Trofast Shelf Part 1

It is sort of a heartbreaking day when you realize that your kids toys are taking over your house. When you finally move into a home, you dream of the perfect living room. In my old house, I had the perfect living room---organized, cozy, beautiful:

Of course this picture was before kids and we have moved since then. Our new house (which it is anything but new, try 1970s house) has a horrible layout. I have no place for toy storage, so the living room had to be sacrificed to be both the living room and the toy room. There goes my dream of the perfect living room! 

I decided a few months ago that rather than to fight this battle, I would try to combat it by providing some sort of storage option for the toys. Months ago I built this handy little open toy box  and it has been a lifesaver!

Unfortunately, due to a few awesome deals of Little People and Legos, we are running out of room in the toy box already. 

I have always had plans to add a top unit to this toy box when this time came, something much like this:

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However, I haven't had the time or the energy (4 weeks till Baby 2.0 is here!)  One day I came across an Ikea Trofast storage unit at a garage sale for $5!

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I had an idea, let's just throw this on top of the current toy box and use it for the extra storage I was going to build. 

However, when I got home and put it on top of the unit, it looked a little funny.

I think it looks funny because it doesn't match the width of the toy box and the stair-stepped shelving makes it look strange. So I set off to correct the issues and hopefully end up with something that looks like it's a one piece unit.  

I came across this photo on pinterest and thought it was a great idea to add to the sides to make the width match!

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Anyways, that is my plan. I can't wait to show you the results, but first I will give a little DIY on how to build these side shelves...that you could add to your own Trofast shelf, dresser, or whatever else you can imagine!

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DIY: Easy Nursing Pillow Cover (No Zippers)

I know I promised that the next post on the nursery would be the reveal of the finished product, but I did this very short DIY yesterday and decided it would be nice to share. Really this isn't part of the nursery, more of an item I will use in the nursery. Here's the story of the super large nursing pillow:

This is not a Boppy Pillow. I have a Boppy Pillow but I let my Mom borrow it for some kids she watches during the day. Well, she was in need of another one since I will be needing mine back in 7 weeks and I ran across this nursing pillow at a garage sale for $10. It is HUGE!! About 23"x24" in size. It may not look that big in the photos, but trust me it is.

It was basically brand new, but had no cover on it. I think whoever it belonged to at first probably never had a cover so never used it. I brought it home and washed it, planning on giving it to my Mom so I could get my other pillow back. However, I decided to see if I liked this pillow better....and I did! I always thought the way my Boppy Pillow fit on me, just didn't fit with my rocking chair size. I really didn't use it that much. This thing, being really large, works great with my large rocking chair. 

I decided to keep it, but needed a cover for it. I looked all over the internet for a pillow of this size and still didn't find one. It's not homemade, it has tags that it was made in Mexico but no other markings on it. I decided I needed to make the cover myself. 

Now I am not a sewing expert, so this was a large task for me. I mean I made several things in high school (a dress, a blanket that folded into a pillows, stuffed animals) but honestly I have forgotten most of my sewing skills. I usually just fake it the best I can.

I started by tracing the shape of this pillow on some butcher paper to make a pattern.

I cut out the pattern and placed it on some extra material I had from the curtains.  

I pinned it in place and cut out the material to be about an inch larger then the pattern. (In hindsight, I probably would have cut the material to be 2 inches larger then the pattern, but my pillow is fat!) 

I don't remember how to do zippers and honestly didn't want to deal with them, so I decided to make a cover that has a sort of "pocket" that the pillow can go into. To do this I needed to cut the other side of the pillow into two pieces that for sure would overlap. For ease of following this DIY, I will call this the overlap side.

I took each piece of the overlap size and stitched the opening back 1 inch to make it appear more finished.  

When done you will be left with two pieces, with a nicely sewn finished opening for the pillow: 

Take your first overlap side (the side you want to show on the outside when finished) and pin it to the front side of the pillow. The colored sides of the materials should be facing each other. 

Pin these two sides together. If one side happens to be slightly larger then the other, no big deal. Just make sure the edges touch and let the material gap in the center. It will help with the fluffiness of your pillow. 

Sew the sides together. (Just a note-- Because you will be sliding your pillow in and out of this opening I triple reinforced my stitching on the opening to prevent ripping it out when fitting the pillow in.)

 Pin on your next overlap side of the pillow. Make sure the two overlap side pieces do in fact overlap.

Sew the second overlap side on and you will end up with a cover that looks like this:

Turn the cover right side out.

 You should have a nice little overlap that you can squish your pillow into.

I would be lying if I said it was super easy to slide my pillow in. This pillow was so fat I probably should have cut the material to be 2 inches larger then the pattern, but it still worked just fine!

That is it! The super easy nursing pillow cover that can fit any nursing pillow! It took me about 30 minutes to make this pillow cover and if you are an expert in sewing it will probably take you less time! I can't wait to use it!

Happy sewing!!

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