Ottoman Tray Top

Awhile back we sold Sunshine's log bed and replaced it with a bunk bed. We then swapped her nightstand for our dresser/hutch thing, brought in the bench from our room, and added River's crib. It's a bit crowded with the crib, but Sunshine really wanted him in there with her and we weren't going to argue with that. There's plenty of time when they're older for them to have separate rooms. For now, they're still young enough to enjoy a little sibling togetherness.

I rearranged the room several times before deciding on its current layout. The only downside to this layout is the lack of nightstand for Sunshine to stack her books, water bottle, and glasses on.

We used the ottoman (we sold the lavender chair awhile back to buy a rocking nursing chair) for awhile, but stuff inevitably slid off. I couldn't let things keep ending up on the floor, so I came up with an alternative.

I made a simple tray with an edge that sits on top of the ottoman. It won't slide off the ottoman and items on top won't slide off of it.

This was a pretty easy build. I used the second table top from an old printer table (the first was used in our Christmas tree crate) and a 1x4. I cut the table top down to fit the ottoman, then cut the 1x4 into a square, mitering the corners as I went. Some wood glue and a short visit with the nail gun later, and it was ready to be caulked, sanded, and painted.

the table top and the 1x4

checking the fit of my mitered edges

finished and ready for painting

I was working on some other projects at the same time, so I used the same white paint for all of them: Annie Sloane Chalk Paint in Pure White. I finished up with a couple coats of furniture wax and let it sit overnight.

Sunshine will still have to be careful about River grabbing things out of the tray, but it'll be easier for her to move things away without them falling off.