July 17, 2011

Mrs. Roomba Finally Has a Home

For a long time, I have been thinking of building a set of tables or ottomans to flank our dresser and hide the Roomba, and I finally got around to doing that. I need somewhere to put the bedspread and pillows at night and I wanted a skirt on it to cover the Roomba's lights at night.

I thought I could build it out of scraps, which would be a good thing since I also wanted to learn to do some things I've never done before and I would hate to buy material and then mess it up. And there were mess ups. The frame is anything but pretty, but who cares as long as it is sturdy and covered with fabric?

So I have the requisite BEFORE picture:
And the AFTER picture:

And a few during pictures:
I used a biscuit joiner to put the legs and rails together. My supervisor liked to watch glue dry.

Final clamping. Or so I thought.

When I started nailing the plywood top onto the base, one of it's joint's broke open. I guess that's what I get for using a piece of plywood that was in the attic for twenty years. So I joined it back together and made an extra brace - just in case there is another place like that.

Last step before upholstering the top and adding the skirt was to make sure the Roomba could get out and back in again. Success!

I also had enough leftover fabric from the bedskirt to cover the ottoman, and I also had some foam rubber and batting so didn't have to buy a thing. It would look better covered with upholstery fabric, but since I was learning here, I didn't want to spend any money on it. It's a tad too long, but I just didn't feel like ripping out the hem and redoing it right now. I also didn't have any cording, so made do with some batting folded in half. I will definitely buy cording if I ever recover this.

Soooo, what's in your scrap pile?

Photobucket