This is the story of how I made an old table into a new fun place for my kiddos to play.
The issue:
We had a table that we WANTED to use that was big enough for two kids to sit side by side and play on, but we did not have room and the table was too tall to use in its original state. We had a little table in the playroom that only had enough room for one kid
[see: photo number 1: The Too-Small Table.]. The issue is that we have two kids now, and it wasn’t going to get any easier to make them share the one space. We need room for two, at least.
For a few years now, a large table has been standing in my garage or spare room collecting random items that belong nowhere else [see: photo number 2: The Crud-Collector]. It was a nice table, but too big or inappropriate for any other purpose in my house. It came to live with our family after a long career in the training room of a certain undergraduate pilot training base in northern Oklahoma where it was replaced by a new and different model. It was free, and that made it for me. At one point, it was my craft table. It was also a desk at one point, and a wrapping station at another, and was even a barbecue buffet table at another point. It was a great utility table, and for that reason alone, I chose to not sell or donate it along with other pieces of furniture around my house. I knew it was going to have a purpose. It found its new home this past month when we turned it into a kids activity table! Read on for more on how we resolved these issues, and created additional storage, by upcycling the storage table into a table for two!
How:
- I went outside and removed all of the junk off of the big sturdy table, and brought just the table top inside. I put the big heavy legs off to the side, for when we want to use the table at its full height again.
- I flipped over the table, and unscrewed the leg-runners (that’s what I’m calling them. see: Photo 3.]
- While online, I drooled over these storage bins at Land of Nod, but choked on the $130-$150 price tag. I went in search of a like-but-less-expensive option, and fund it at Target [see photo 4]. These two-part storage bins were only $40 on the day I arrived! I got two, and spent less than $100. Savings? Over $150! True, these may not be as strong as the ones from LON, but we are a military family [read: our stuff gets moved around a lot], and this is for a playroom… So I was happy.
- I assembled the two storage bins with a three year old and a one year old “helping” me. It was an adventure..
- I put them back to back, facing outward, underneath my table top [see: photo 5]. Wa-La! Table for 2? Yes, please! I moved my two Ikea chairs over and put them side by side (with wiggle room!) underneath, filled up my bins, and smiled as I walked away with two big baskets to use somewhere else! [see: photo 6].
Cost to me: $80. Savings: over $150, and whatever I’d spend on therapy from having to break up a kazillion fights between my kiddos for the ONE space at the other table.
In the event we have even more children around, I can put chairs on the other side of the table after it’s pulled away from the wall. If we get to the next house and this honkin’ table won’t fit? The two storage bins can stack! See! Versatility, form, and function. Just. My. Style!
