Floating Bedside Tables

One positive effect of this never-ending winter weather (Spring - where are you????) is that it has allowed us more time to focus on projects inside the house. This past weekend we freed up some floor space in the bedroom by building and installing floating bedside tables.

Our current bedside tables are cheapies that I'd refinished for a Pinterest challenge. They're sweet and I love the colour, but they were too low for our bed. And since one of the dogs likes to sleep on the floor beside the bed, we thought it would be nice to give her some extra space to stretch out.

We went very streamlined with the new tables, to match the bed frame and to make the room seem as large as possible. The dimensions are 18"W x 14"D x 7"H, with drawers that are 16.5"W x 12.5"D x 5.5"H.

They're built from sheets of pine shelving boards - four 16" x 48" boards were enough for two frames and two drawers. They are both basically boxes, with sides that are joined with countersunk screws. The frame is open at the back so that it can fit over the mounting board that is anchored to the wall (see below on details for hanging it). The face of the drawer was attached with finishing nails.

Wooden guides were attached to the insides of each frame that match with grooves in the side of each drawer. These guides help with drawer movement and keep the drawer from tipping forward when open. Tom cut the grooves in the drawers on the table saw with a dado blade, and then cut the matching sliders from leftover wood. The sliders are attached with glue and finishing staples.

Once the frames and drawers had been built, I sanded them smooth, and then stained them with one coat of Minwax stain in Jacobean, and then two coats of MW stain in Red Mahogany. I was trying to get as close as possible to the colour of the bedframe without it being too matchy-matchy. Once the stain was dry I waxed the pieces with MW finishing wax and buffed them with extra fine steel wool.

The handles on the drawers are a straight bar style, brushed steel, and 11 inches in length.

To mount the tables to the wall, Tom cut a piece of 2"x 6" lumber to match the inside dimensions of the table frame (16.5" x 5.5"). This board was mounted directly to the wall (on the studs) with 3 inch countersunk screws. For some reason I didn't take a photo of it, but you can reference these floating shelves to get an idea. The table frame "box" then slid over the mounting board and was screwed in on all four sides with countersunk screws.

The tables are mounted on the wall 3 inches higher than the top of the mattress to make it easy to reach the lamp and see the alarm clock when we're in bed.

Here's a before and after of the tables once in place. The only bad thing with a floating bedside table is that the lamp and clock cords are visible. We could shorten up the cords but there's no hiding the outlet.

So far the dog isn't willing to sleep under the floating nightstand, but she has managed to fill up the extra space (mostly with her long giraffe legs and random toys).

And then sometimes she just takes over the bed instead.

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Industrial-Style Dog Feeding Station

This week's project at the Turtles and Tails household involved upgrading the dog feeding area. If you recall, last year we built plumbing pipe open shelving in the dining area. We decided that we wanted to carry the look over into the kitchen and give the dogs an upgraded spot for eating.

This is what their feeding area looked like before. The raised buckets - available here - have a carrying handle and built-in bowl areas in the lid. I stenciled their names on the buckets a few years ago and we liked to pretend that they always go to the correct bowl because they can read. It's all quite serviceable, we were just looking for something a little more rustic and easier to keep clean.

We were lucky enough to have some old lumber given to us recently. These 10" wide boards (1.5" thick) were originally the sides of a waterbed. A quick run through the planer to remove the lacquer and scratches and they were ready to go. Each "shelf" ended up being 8.5" x 22.5" x 1.25" thick.

We started by taking the dogs' bowls and tracing them on the board and cutting out holes with a Rotozip. 

Important: You'll want to cut your holes slightly smaller than the circles you traced so that the edge of the bowl rests on the wood and holds it in place. 

After puttying any imperfections and sanding everything smooth, I stained the wood with Minwax's Jacobean stain and then waxed it with 2 coats of Minwax's dark finishing wax. Another tip: To get a silky-smooth surface, finish by buffing the wood with extra fine steel wool.

The framework to hold the shelf to the wall is made of everyday plumbing parts.

For each shelf we used:

8 - 2" length 3/4" nipple pipe
2 - 4" length 3/4" nipple pipe
2 - 6" length 3/4" nipple pipe
4 - 3/4" floor flanges
6 - 3/4" 90 degree elbows
2 - 3/4" tees
2 - 3/4" caps

The framework was assembled and then painted using Rustoleum's Flat Black spray paint. Once the paint was dry the pipes were reassembled with the shelf and mounted to the wall. Make sure you either hit a stud with your screws or use anchors as you don't want the shelves falling down.

We also made a stand for the water bowl using the same wood and plumbing pipe. We considered mounting it to the wall (with support feet at the front) but decided it wasn't necessary. And the different style breaks up the look.

The dogs were unsure at first (and Sasha went to the wrong bowl the first day), but since then it's been business as usual. The new setup takes up much less space, leaving a clearer path from the hallway through the kitchen. And cleaning up the water spills and dog hair is so much easier. 

Here is one more before and after:

Air Vent Camouflage

Sometimes it's the small changes that make the biggest impact on how you feel about a room.

Our main floor is hardwood throughout in a very dark tone. In the kitchen there is a large air return vent nearly in the middle of the room. It's white and sticks out like a sore thumb. When we get around to renovating the kitchen it will be relocated, but for now it's the first thing you see when you walk in the room (besides the beautiful island where the blue box is below).

One day last week I decided to spray paint the vent to match the floor. After giving it a good scrubbing, I painted it with Rustoleum 2X spray paint in Espresso.  It's back in place now and blends in nicely with the floor colour.

I was so happy with the results that I decided to paint the register covers as well though Tom thought it would be better to just buy new ones since the old ones were so rusted. He bought brown ones, but the colour wasn't quite right, so I gave them the same treatment as the air return vent.

Patio door vent:

Living room vent:

So much better! Why didn't I think of this a long time ago?