Young House Love

Home Decorating & DIY Tutorials

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Cutting Down A Table To Make A Kids Table

The walls of Clara’s big girl room are dry and the few items of furniture that we have (mainly just a daybed, an old side table, and two small wooden thrift store chairs that I don’t think we’ve even shown you yet) are back in the room. So here’s how it’s looking now:

Furniture Back2

Totally done and magazine ready, right? Just kidding. But it’s a huge improvement from this so we’re psyched.

Cleaning Playroom1

The new wall color is awesome. Pardon these not great pics of it (Monday’s pics did it more justice). In person it’s subtle and warm and cozy but not too yellow-y or peach. And since it’s not too bold or compete-y, it’ll allow us to layer in a ton of other colors. Highly recommend it.

Furniture Back4

Oh but since the title says something about table tweaks, here’s the scoop on that. Wait, first a little info on the chairs. We got them for $8 each at a thrift store in West Virginia on our way back from redoing Granny’s bathroom way back in September. Then we just tossed them into the cluttered playroom and hoped we’d see them again someday. Haha. Now that it’s all cleaned out, it’s like discovering an extra room in your house. Amazing. Anyway, I think we’ll paint the chairs a crazy bright color (red?!) and keep the table crisp and white.

Speaking of the table, remember when it used to be a side table in our first house‘s den?

Pedestal Old Living Room

It was actually a side table from Target that we tweaked by adding a larger top and then painted white a few years back (originally for our bedroom, then it moved into the den once we found a TJ Maxx ottoman that worked better in the bedroom).

Johnatwork

It actually hasn’t found a home in the over-two-years that we’ve lived in our current house, so the poor thing has just been sitting randomly in the corner of the sunroom or the basement. Poor little listless side table. Until now. We realized that thanks to those two thrift store kids chairs the table would make a cute little spot for those chairs to saddle up to, but it was too tall to work as-is. See how it towers over the other kid-sized table that we made for the living room here?

Pedestal 1 Too High

Well, it was nothing a little sawing couldn’t solve. After unsuccessfully finding any screws to free up and remove the stem from the top, John sawed it off with a reciprocating saw and then went back with his Dremel to clean up the part we’d be attaching it back to later (so it was nice and level).

Pedestal 2 Cutting Bottom Off

Trimming the 4-inches off of the stem proved challenging given the angle of the base. John’s first attempt looked something like this. He’s the first to admit that it wasn’t his finest work.

Pedestal Ready To Cut

Especially since it resulted in a not-so-level cut.

Pedestal 4 Not Level

So he went back, remarked a level cut line around the stem on all sides, and then carefully shaved it down a bit more with his Dremel, being careful to stick to that line on all sides as he went.

Pedestal 5 Cutting Level

Much better. But it was about a 1/4″ shorter than we originally intended. So we had to throw it away. Just kidding, that quarter of an inch doesn’t matter, thank goodness.

Pedestal 6 Level

With everything cut, he used his Kreg jig to make some pocket holes to reattach the stem to the base. Sure the pockets show a bit, but it’s so far under the table base that you won’t see them unless you’re under the table on the floor (Clara does that sometimes, but we don’t think she’ll mind ’em, haha).

Pedestal 7 Kreg Jiggin

Now it’s nearly the same height as Clara’s drawing desk in the living room, see? (Note that this shot was taken while laying on the floor, so you can barely see those little pocket holes).

Cut Down Table

Now Clara will have a table for coloring/play doh/dolls/Gin Rummy in her room with her two thrift store chairs (which I fully intend to paint bright red as of right now, but you never know when I’ll change my mind).

Furniture Back4

So that’s what we’ve been up to in Clara’s big girl room. I’d call it 7% finished. Haha.

Furniture Back5

The blanket is my favorite (from a Joss & Main sale about a month or two ago). And the two tie-dye-ish pillows are from West Elm. I want to add more pillows of course (wouldn’t navy look cool on there too?).

Furniture Back6

Oh and the pink C pillow was from the same Joss & Main sale as the blanket. Isn’t it cute? Clara is OBSESSED with her big girl bed. The doc said not to switch her until she’s uncomfortable in her crib or climbing out of it (the girl climbs into it but never out – go figure!) so we’re happy to keep her contained to her crib where she happily snoozes… but man oh man, she sure looks cute in this bed. And someday she’ll get to officially move in.

Furniture Back7

Until then it’s a pretty fun playroom…

Furniture Back8

… which beats the heck out of the junk-room that it has been for the last two years by a long shot. She says hanging her head in shame. Oh well, better late than never.

We’re still sorely missing some major elements in here, so here’s what’s on the agenda:

  • painting those chairs a bright happy color
  • bringing in a dresser (we’d love to find something secondhand)
  • making/hanging some curtains
  • adding a rug
  • hanging art on the walls along with a few other 3D objects that we have in mind (how’s that for cryptic?)
  • installing a new light fixture
  • hanging a mirror at Clara-height somewhere in the room (she loves making funny faces and laughing at herself)
  • turning that junk closet into an actual clothes closet/reading nook
  • adding crown molding (along with tackling the other un-crown-molding-ed bedrooms on this side of the house)
  • adding accessories like more pillows, storage bins for toys, etc

You know we’ll keep you posted as we inch along! What are you guys painting, tweaking, and cutting down these days? Anyone else finding thrift store chairs or converting old Target tables? Spill it.

Comments

  1. Constance says

    I love it so far! Especially the neutral paint color for a kids room with focus on excessories. Such a great approach. I know you guys are always super on top of Clara’s safety, but have you given any thought to the front-facing corners of the day-bed? This is me speaking from experience with my own and visiting kiddos playing and falling into/onto very similar things :) Ideas or leaving as-is?

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      We’re thinking we might turn it around to face the wall in the beginning (so she’s caged in and can’t roll out) but then eventually we’ll turn it out again and either put pads on it if she seems to have an issue with those corners or just leave them as-is. There are corners on things throughout our house (the console in the hallway, the buffet in the dining room, the corners of the peninsula in the kitchen, etc) so we’re careful with Clara but we also recognize that there are things in the world that they can bump their noggins on. One thing Clara has taught us is how resilient she is! Haha. We used to worry she was made of glass, but now we joke that she’s really made of rubber :)

      xo
      s

    • Constance says

      Sounds good! I’m probably alert to it as our rubber-bumper little ones have had tons of spills and bruises, but also two little girls with split eyebrows from similar stuff. We joke in our house that if there’s no blood or need for stitches then it’s all good :) Have fun with the room!

  2. Brandy says

    Are you still planning on using the ombre dresser from the book in Clara’s room? I could have imagined you saying that was your plan though. :)

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      I think we had talked about that but then moved it into our bedroom with the TV on it (still not hooked up, haha!) so we’re thinking a long and wide dresser with 6+ drawers might be more helpful than a tall one that she can’t reach the top of. So that’s the new plan!

      xo,
      s

    • Brandy says

      That’s cool for us readers…another project from you guys. I’m so excited to see her room come together!

  3. Karen F says

    Looks great! Don’t worry, I think we all have spaces in our houses that become “junk rooms” or whatever…just the rest of us don’t have pics of our house on the internet for everyone to see! (thank goodness for that!) :)

    Question – you mentioned bringing in a dresser…would the one from Clara’s nursery not work in here? Or are you bringing in an additional one? Because that dresser you refinished is SO gorgeous!

    Also, random tip (and you may already be doing this) – when you’re ready to transition her to the big girl bed, you can try having her take naps in there first before she ditches the crib completely.

    It’s coming along great, guys! It’s so funny to be discovering this completely new space in your house after all this time!

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      We think the nursery dresser works best in there as a changing table for possible future baby, so instead of robbing it from there we’d rather just get one for her big girl space without disassembling the nursery since we hope to use that for another child someday :) And thanks for the nap tip!

      xo
      s

    • Katrina says

      I second the suggestion for having her nap in her big girl bed before she moves from the crib. It worked like a charm for our daughter!

  6. keisha says

    Weird truth: this post has severely wow’d me this a.m. Maybe it’s the clutter before-and-after, maybe it’s the redo on the table, maybe it’s the cute little girl jumping on the gorgeous daybed, dunno. Just love all of it!

    Reply

  7. Sarah C says

    So exciting! Part of me can’t wait to see it all finished (the impatient part) but the other part of me loves seeing it come to fruition step by step.

    I love bright red for the chairs, but ever since you said navy blue pillows I thought that would look cool on chairs too…maybe too dark though.

    Reply

  8. Kelly V says

    Not “too flesh-y?” Would you say that if the the color were a rich chocolate brown? Crayola did away with using “flesh” as a name years ago, for good reason. Please consider a more inclusive description in the future.

    Reply

  9. Malorie says

    Love the color scheme! Those chairs are great, maybe just paint the back side of them the poppy red color and leave the sitting-side natural, they would look so chic! Also love the thought of adding nave, or a deep teal or emerald ;)

    Reply

  10. Shauna says

    You guys hoodwink me every time you start a new room project. Each time I think “My God, how could those colours possibly work together?” In this case it was more “Sheesh, that’ll look like the horror of a bedroom my friend had in the 70s!” And then you get me good–it’s ALWAYS fresh and chic and classy. You’ve got such great colour vision! Really like where this room is going.

    Reply

  11. Carrie says

    Hi guys! Looks like a fun start. Just wondering why Clara’s current dresser won’t work in the room? It’s totally awesome. Do you have other plans for it, or just storing it for now (now being when you actually move her to this room)? Thanks!

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      We think the nursery dresser works best in there as a changing table for possible future baby, so instead of robbing it from there we’d rather just get one for her big girl space without disassembling the nursery since we hope to use that for another child someday. Especially since I see them super cheap on craigslist all the time so it won’t be an expensive addition- and it’ll make our whole house feel like it’s coming together instead of taking apart one space to complete another :)

      xo
      s

  13. Noel M says

    Have you thought about adding a dropped down bit of crown molding from the ceiling and painting a foot or foot and a half of bright color up there? Maybe using it as a shelf or display ledge and allowing neutral-ness on the bottom but capturing the fun/young/bright spirit of your awesome kiddo with a little color splash near the ceiling?

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      That’s a fun idea! We actually mentioned on Monday that we considered adding some color to the ceiling (after we hang crown molding) so that could be fun too!

      xo
      s

  14. Cassidy says

    Yes paint the chairs red! How fun! I love painting random items for my kids’ rooms too (lavender dresser for my daughter, orange chair at my som’s desk), it’s such a fun pop of color!

    Reply

  15. Katja @ Shift Ctrl ART says

    I love the changes you have made so far. The red on those chairs will be amazing. Love all the plans you have outlined so far.

    I am at that next stage here. Turning a big boy bed room into a tween room. You know, with a tween who has a couple of opinions of his own. Like nixing a cool moose head. Ha ha… but then coming up with a better idea himself. Then yesterday he did not want me to paint his bed white… Clients!! I tell you ;)

    Reply

  16. Carrie says

    Adorable so far! That bed is such a great piece, and I can’t wait to see what color you paint the chairs.

    Have you been to Hope Thrift yet? We just uploaded a bunch of pictures on the Facebook page! Check them out, or stop by sometime :-)

    Thanks!

    Reply

  17. Abby J. says

    I love the colors! The red and pink just work so well together.

    These days they make cribs that convert into toddler beds (with or without guardrail) and then later into twin size beds with the addition of a conversion kit. We’re contemplating one for our incoming bean.

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Oh yes great tip! We thought about one of those as well (back in 2010 when we got our crib) but we thought we’d rather use the same crib for our possible future kiddo as well (and if it’s in use as a toddler bed or larger bed we’d have to buy a crib all over again). But it’s definitely a great solution if you’re only having one child or just want each kid’s bed to stay with them as they grow :)

      xo
      s

  18. Ashleigh says

    Looks great so far! And I love the Gin Rummy reference. I remember the adults staying up late playing that when our family would get away to the mountains. Still don’t understand how to play though.

    Reply

  19. Kara says

    Great progress! Clara looks so tiny in her big girl bed!

    Thanks for reminding me about that table top redo you guys did! That could be a feasible solution for a side table I need :)

    Reply

  20. Evan says

    Ever since you painted Clara’s bedroom I’ve been trying to see my apartment, which is pretty much the same color, in a new light. Wouldn’t it be awesome to see it as milky-tea-Alaskan-sky instead of lazy-NYC-landlord-not-white? Unfortunately no luck changing my perceptions yet :/

    Reply

  23. Steph says

    I can’t believe Clara will be 3 in May and she’s still content in her crib! I wish my son would have done that. He started climbing out of his crib at 14 months! :)

    Reply

  25. Amy says

    Obviously, you should listen to your doctor and not me — but your doctor’s advice does not seem to be consistent with the current AAP standards on cribs. According to that guidance, Children should be removed from cribs once they are 35 inches tall. (Maybe Clara isn’t that tall yet…) Here is a link to the AAP guidance: http://www.healthychildren.org/english/safety-prevention/at-home/Pages/Choosing-a-Crib.aspx?nfstatus=401&nftoken=00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000&nfstatusdescription=ERROR%3a+No+local+token

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Thanks for the tip, Amy! The doc explained that many children taller than that height can climb out of a crib and fall (Clara never climbs out or even attempts to climb out). So based on that the doc suggested leaving her in her crib until she shows any signs of trying to climb out (or signs of being generally uncomfortable in there). But as of now she sleeps a solid 12 hours and loves it. John’s sister transitioned her son into a bed and his quality of sleep is suffering (he’s waking up in the middle of the night to play & read, and taking hours to fall asleep) so we’re glad to go with the doc’s recommendation :)

      xo,
      s

    • Amy says

      I think Clara will probably be a good sleeper no matter what. My child transitioned seemlessly (although she was used to sleeping on a cot at school) and my sister and my best friend had similar experiences. Don’t let your in-laws experience scare you.

  28. Deb says

    looking great!! Ever thought of painting the legs of the chairs and leaving the natural color of the chairs? or just painting part of the chairs? The natural color of the chairs looks fabulous! My room was pink and red growing up and I loved it.

    Reply

  29. Rebecca says

    We’re doing our daughter’s big girl room right now too…with a tight timeline because the new baby is coming in April. I can’t wait to see what you guys do. It looks great so far.

    Reply

  30. Justine says

    I was interested to read that your/Clara’s doctor said to leave her in her cot until she’s no longer comfortable in it. Our little boy is nearly four and still happily sleeps in his cotbed (with the side still up); the fact that he sleeps for 11-12 hours a night means we’re in no hurry to switch him out! He’s shown no inclination to climb out (though, as Clara does, he tries to climb in); he sleeps in a bed when we go on holiday/stay at Grandma’s, etc, but even after that he’s never asked to sleep in a ‘big boy’ bed at home. I just hope we don’t scar him for life!

    Reply

  32. Nicole S. says

    What happened to the artwork and pillow cover you got from Ikea oh so long ago that was earmarked for the BGR (Big Girl Riom)?

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Oh yes, good memory! They’re sitting in to-be-used-question-mark pile (which currently resides in the guest room next door)! I’m sure we’ll end up using some things in here, finding another spot for others (ex: we thought about hanging that art in her current nursery since there’s still a bare wall to the left of her crib) and some old items in that pile will get craigslisted, etc.

      xo
      s

  33. Andrea says

    I love that you make reading nooks in Clara’s closets! When I was a kid I made little reading nooks in every closet I had and used them all the time, I thought “closet reading” was only my idiosyncrasy, glad to see it’s not! Can’t wait to see how the “Big Girl” room turns out :-)

    Reply

  34. Bella says

    Hey :)
    I just wanted to suggest you put like some clear paint on top of the table that you can wipe off or add a plexiglass top in case one day she starts drawing on the table or sticking stickers on there (she is obsessed with them isn’t she?) :)

    I am currently decorating our new one bedroom apartment and still have furniture that i don’t want to toss even though it’S stacked on top of each other although it has only been like three months (and we don’t even have pictures or curtains yet haha)

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Oh yes, great tip! We’re planning to put some of the same BM Advance paint that we used on our cabinets on there, so it’s super scrubbable and durable :)

      xo
      s

  35. Leah says

    It seems like you guys do a fair amount of shopping on Joss & Main and I know you’ve curated for them before. Are the prices really a steal? I compare it to Gilt and I sometimes find that the prices on Gilt can be matched (or bettered) by some quick internet searching. I’ve done that a couple times with Joss & Main and had a similar finding.

    Can’t wait to see the room progress. Love the color palette (good work Clara!).

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      I agree with you, you definitely have to compare! Sometimes they’re lower and sometimes they’re not. I’ve noticed they sell items that tend to pop up on overstock and even in places like HomeGoods and Hobby Lobby, so I usually go to actual stores (like HG and HL) to avoid shipping but if I don’t see what I want there and it’s on J&M and I do a search and it comes up higher everywhere else I spring for it. For example, this blanket and pillow only came up in the original shop where they’re sold/made for more money, so I jumped on the J&M sale.

      xo
      s

    • YoungHouseLove says

      We had a giant yard sale and an auction for charity with lots of book stuff that was in there. We have also craigslisted some things, and a little bit of the extra stuff has moved down to our basement to be stored out of the way (like the extra frames, etc).

      xo
      s

  37. LM says

    Just curious – what do you call this room when talking about it with Clara? Obviously in your posts you switch back and forth between playroom and big girl room (which makes sense since both are currently true), but I’m wondering if she knows it will be her big girl room, and if she’s excited to sleep in her big girl bed or if for now it’s just another place to jump. I’m not a mother so I don’t really know how these things work, but when I used to babysit the little boy stayed in his crib until he was 4! That seemed a bit old to me – he was so heavy to lift out!, but he rarely mentioned wanting a big boy bed so I guess it was fine.

    Thanks!

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      We call it her big girl room. She says cute things like “when I go on the potty all the time I’m a big girl and I will live in my big girl room.” It’s cute! She loves to play in there but still loves sleeping in her crib more :)

      xo
      s

  43. Heather Beals says

    I’m so jealous Clara stays in her crib still! My twins crawled out at around 16 months and I’ve got twin mattresses on the floor now with a baby gate on the door. I can’t wait to make a nice room for them!

    Reply

  44. Liaa says

    I have a question about the paint color. Youu guys didnt mention anything about the color having a subtle hint of grey. Is that the pictures making it look grey, or would you say grey is in it? My mom will not board the grey train, but i told her you described it as milky tea!

    Reply

  45. brett says

    Since you asked… I wouldn’t paint those chairs. I think the light wood looks great, and I think they will look cheaper if they’re painted (more like their plastic cousins). At least move that item to the end of your to-do list so you can see everything together and then do it. I know S is a whiz with a can-o-paint, but I beg you to hold off :)

    And I have to ask – where in WV did you stop? We have a weekend place in Hardy County and I want to scope out some places to find treasures!

    Reply

  46. Kristin F says

    Love the neutral walls, wish I’d done that with my kids rooms as I always went with the color they wanted big and bold on the walls, then had to tone it down with the bedding, curtains, etc.! No wonder my 14 yr old told me she wanted white walls the next time I paint her room. :)

    I hope you don’t mind, but I have two cents as a long-time mom to share. One, I also had a mirror at my daughter’s height when she was Clara’s age. Nothing ever happened. I believe (and this is just my opinion) the best way to keep kids safe is to TEACH them rather than bullet-proof every room/item in your home. So yeah, I said “no” or “don’t touch” a whole lot, and (lightly) smacked little hands when they didn’t listen, but my kids have yet to break a bone, have stitches, get sick from drinking something bad, etc. Two, I would take advantage of Clara being excited to be in a big girl bed and move her in there ASAP. Leaving the crib can be a traumatic thing, especially since she isn’t clambering to be out of it. But some kids just are just easy going and would stay in it until they go to college! So maybe offer to let her sleep in the new bed one night and see how it goes. She may say no, and there you go. But if she says yes, and stays in it all night, it may be time to move her in. Again, just my two cents!

    Reply

  47. Heidi G says

    Two years isn’t so bad. We’ve lived in our house for nine years. We’re just now finishing the basement, which will be used as a playroom for our quickly growing boys. Only now it will be more of a big kid/teenage playroom with a pool table, wii/TV/DVD. And lots of room for Legos.

    Reply

  49. Val says

    I love the little cafe table set-up! How’s that for using what you have, right? And it’s sweet how that little table has been in your home for so long and has had so many different incarnations.

    Reply

  50. Julia says

    haha! love that the kreg-jig got in on the action for this project! I am starting to think I need to buy my husband one – maybe that will help motivate him to help me plow through our project list!!

    Reply

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