Category Archives: ikea
Ikea furniture
I wrote this at the end of September but have only just got around to taking the photos.
At the beginning of the year we decided to get rid of the bed in the spare bed room, (thank you Sue Ryder for coming to pick it up) and get a sofa bed to replace it, with the idea that it would make it easy to set up when we have guests. While we were walking round Ikea (for the bits for my cutting table) we found some sofa beds, after a quick facetime to Simons Mum to check she would be able to get off it we decided which one to get.
So on our week off in September we decided to order it, only to discover that it couldn’t be ordered on line and we would have to go into store even though we wanted it delivered. So a trip to Ikea was planned, there were a few other bits we wanted, a couple of mirrors that also wouldn’t fit in the car and we needed some storage boxes for the bedroom.
I have never been to Ikea and them have every single thing that I wanted and this trip was no different. In this case they had plenty of the bed frames (probably over 20) and the mattresses (two sizes) but no covers, surely you should have enough covers for the frames, and at £60 each you wouldn’t have thought too many people would buy one in each colour. Also where is the forward planning on the part of the stock system? they were getting more in, just not until the end of November.
That’s my complaining done, while we were umming and urring in front of the mattress isle (with four cats we really didn’t want to leave the mattress uncovered) I suggested that if we went back and took some measurements I could probably make a cover for it, even if it wasn’t as padded and snazzy as the bought one
here are the measurements and the nice little diagram I made.
I used some fabric I bought early on in my stash acquisition, I didn’t quite realise what it was, the listing said “blazer fabric” so I thought trousers, skirts, it must have been really cheap I must have bought 10 meters of the stuff, it is horrible, it is heavy and it doesn’t hold a crease, however it is perfect to make a sofa bed cover.
Most of the pieces for the cover are rectangles, there was a rectangle for the the seat and front and one for the seat upright and the down the back ( i cut that as one piece) the side piece is also in two parts, a rectangle for the seat, and one running down the back with a curve on top.
Luckily I remembered to add the seam allowance to my measurements and all in all it took about two hours, I think there is already a catch in the fabric but at least it isn’t on the mattress. and I managed to get rid of roughly 3 meters of fabric.
Sewing Table
Hello, Easter weekend and Simon has decided that the first thing he want to do (get out of the way)is my new Cutting table, as I remarked in one of my previous posts we had all the bits they just needed to be screwed together.
We didn’t actually have all the bits, but a quick drive to B&Q fixed that. We bought the base, castors and fixing blocks.
I had already put together the Kallax units, Simon just went round and tightened up all the joints so they were all flush with the top.
He set the units up on a spare peice of wood that we had so he had a firm base to work with as the end unit wasn’t quite as wide as the two units together he centered the one on the end, now he says he wishes he had lined it up with the front, his original thought was to make it reversable.
after some careful measuring he screwed the base on so that all the units were held together by 1/2 inch board.
Then we had a discussion as to whether we should screw the wheels on first or just turn it over, he decided to put the wheels on first we decided on 6.
Simon enjoying a cup of tea before continuing the build
After turning the unit over onto it’s wheels, Simon straped the two pieces of the top together
As Simon had decided to use corner brackets to attach the table to the base units he decided that this could hold them together. He had initially thought to use another bit of board to hold the structure together but looking at it on its wheels he thought it would make it too high.
Simon added a couple of white fixing blocks to give the top added stability and there my new table was all lovely and screwed together.
I can pull the table out when I want to walk all the was round, it’s a bit hard to start but once it gets moving it is all right, the only thing we aren’t sure about is if I’ll be able to use my sewing machine on it. The table is great for standing at and cutting out patterns which is what I wanted it for, I was fed up with kneeling on the floor, but might be too high for sitting at, but as I pointed out to Simon there is plenty of room at what is now my new computer desk (old sewing table) for me to put my sewing machine on if I find it is too high to be comfortable.
Musings
Hi, I’m not sure where march has gone, like a lot of other people I know, I have spent part of it ill, not flat on your back can’t move ill but generally sore throat, blocked nose can’t get up the enthusiasm to do any thing ill.
We, that is Simon and I have spent the last week at home on leave, we began our ‘holiday’ by visiting my Sister in Derbyshire, I think it was Simons excuse to drive his new car or an excuse to see my niece who turned two the beginning of the month.
It was a lovely weekend, we arrived late Friday night, and sat up talking for a couple of hours, then up early Saturday morning, my niece was a bit snuffly and cuddly, but apparently that is best for cuddles. we took her present with us, as soon as she saw The Gruffalo’s Child DVD she lost total interest in anything else and toddled off to the living room to put it on.
We went to Calke House for lunch, if you like stuffed animals it is a must see, there are lots of other things to see but I thought it particularly sad at the state the upper floors had been allowed to get into with peeling wallpaper and blown plaster, the weekend we went they had a lambing day, Simon was over the moon, apparently he loves lambing.
The rest of the week we have spent throwing things away and tiding up, Monday I threw out six bags of rubbish and Wednesday we took about 15 bags of stuff to the local charity shop. The upshot of this week is that we are both happier with the state of the house and I nearly have a new cutting table.
I’ve discovered that the older I get the less inclined keep stuff I am, a lot of the things that have been removed from the house this week a couple of years ago I was adamant that I couldn’t do with out them, now I can’t wait for them to go.
I can show you a pictures of my new cutting table which Simon hasn’t completed yet…all the component parts are here they just aren’t screwed together. While surfing the internet, I came across Horn Furniture, while it looks good it is hideously expensive. I also came across pictures of three Ikea Kallax units put together with a top and sometimes wheels on the bottom, after showing Simon he said “I can do that.”
The upshot is that I lost one chest of drawers and a computer desk and gained a cutting/ sewing table.
I’ve moved a single book shelf unit to sit with the others, it just clears the light switch,
and moved my existing sewing table into the corner vacated by the computer desk and book case,
taken apart my expedit units, the 4 hole unit sitting next to the table and the 8 hole unit sitting on its side were the sewing table used to be, my new cutting table is taking up the space emptied by the chest of drawers.
Although it has just as much furniture in it, the room now has more storage space and because it is all lower the room seems bigger.
Fluffy is making use of the extra carpet to put fur over a lot bigger area..
As you can see by the black and pink bags, I’m still tidying up.
I’m hoping to actually get some sewing done soon, it might just be a another Gerties Shirtwaist dress but it would be good to get something done.
What about you, are you less attached to things the older you get?
Musings of a Craft Enthusiast 