Bedroom Category
Choosing how to paint your child’s room can be a lot of fun. Working together to paint the room can be a bonding experience for all family members. One of the fun ways you can paint the walls is through sponge painting. Sponge painting is fun and easy and you really don’t need a lot of extra materials or brushes. You don’t need to hire a professional to produce work with a great finish. In this article, you will learn simple steps on how to sponge paint your child’s room.
Step 1. Gather all the materials needed before you start. For this kind of project, you will need 2-3 large sponges. Two different kinds of latex wall paint. You can choose to have subtle sponge design or you can also choose to make it bold. As a tip, if you would like to have it in subtle colors, choose paint colors that are in the same hue. For example, you may want to choose old rose and carnation pink. If you want it to bold and contrasting, you can choose yellow and red. You will also need the following: scissors, gloves, paper plates, painter’s tape, sheets to protect the floor, and water.
Step 2. Using scissors cut the sponges to remove any hard edges. You may shape them in any form that you like.
Step 3. Put tape on the walls or any part of the surface which you do not want to sponge. Place the protective covering on the floor. After all, you want to enjoy the room as soon as possible. After painting you wouldn’t want to spend extra hours removing paint from the walls or floors.
Step 4. Put the darker color of paint on a paper plate. Wet the sponge and wring it so that there is no excess water. For another insightful tip, if you would like to have a better finish, you can also mix the paint with glaze. In addition, the glaze will also allow you to work with the paints for a longer period of time. If you decide to paint with glaze, you can use a 60/40 ratio.
Step 5. Take the sponge and dab it in the darker color. Dab the walls keeping the edges of the sponge close together so that the shape of the sponge will be unnoticed. Try to work within a small area so that you can get a good finish. You will want to dab over much of the base color but still allow for the base color to show through.
Step 6. Let your work dry when you are satisfied with your work.
Step 7. Put another color of paint on a different paper plate and start the process once again with a clean sponge.
Step 8. Continue the process with a different colored paint. If you would like to mix the colors together, you can begin sponging with the new color even if the first color is still wet. This will allow the colors to mix together therefore producing another color.
When you suddenly realize that your baby is already big enough to move into his or her own bed, you will have the option of buying a toddler bed with its own railings. After all, the railings will not only be for your child’s safety, but they will also work for your own peace of mind. Then again, buying a toddler bed will mean that he will soon outgrow it and you will have to buy another bed; as such it might be much wiser to buy a regular-sized single bed and just build the bed rails yourself. After all, building your own bedrail also means you have unlimited options for the design.
Step 1. Set your table saw rip fence to 4 inches. Be sure to measure from the inside edge of the fence to the center of the blade. For the depth, set it at about 1-1/2 inches. Make 2 pieces each from two pieces of 8-foot length of clear pine measuring 1 x 12 inches. This will give you two pieces measuring 4 inches wide, and two pieces measuring 3-1/2 inches. Set the 3-1/2-inch-wide pieces aside.
Step 2. Measure the rip fence and set it at 1-3/4 inches. Rip the two pieces of 8-foot x 3-1/2-inch clear pine. You will use these to make the spacer blocks as well as the vertical rails for your bedrail. Get measurements of the height from the top of the side rails of your child’s bed frame to the floor; for bedrails that rise about 18 inches over the mattress, add 24 inches to the height you measured.
Step 3. Using the crosscut guide on your table saw, cut the two pieces of clear pine with 4-inch width to this dimension; these will be the sides of your bedrail. Set the width of your bedrails by deducting 8 inches for the width of the side pieces; cut two pieces of the pine for the top and the bottom of the rail.
Step 4. Lay the pieces for the side bedrail flat, putting the bottom and top pieces flat between them. Flush the outer edges of all the corners. Put wood glue to the ends of the pieces, using clamps to hold the sides fixed in place on the bottom and top of the frame. With a framing square, check that the frame is aligned, and then tighten the clamps. Leave the glue overnight to dry, and only remove the pole clamps after the glue has dried.
Step 5. Cut 8 pieces of spacer blocks measuring 4 inches long from the 1 ¾-inch wide rip pieces. Also make 6 vertical rails of the same dimension for the side pieces.
Step 6. Pre-drill each end of the vertical rails and the spacer blocks. Put wood glue to the vertical rail and have it aligned against one edge of the bedrail frame. Use 1-1/4-inch wood screws to screw the vertical end piece to the bedrail. Spread wood glue to the spacer blocks, and have them set flat on the vertical end piece at the bottom and top of the frame, flushing the edge of the spacers and screwing 1-1/4-inch wood screws to them. Do the same for the rest of the spacers and vertical rails, with the final vertical piece aligned against the edge of the bedrail. If necessary, cut a special spacer to complete the project.
Preparing for a new baby in the family is not only fun and exciting, it can also get challenging for new dads. In addition to buying necessities like the baby’s clothes and other supplies, getting the nursery up and running is just as important. Many moms-to-be already spend weeks planning the paint job they want the dads to finish before the baby is due. Of course, the planning does not stop with painting the nursery pink or blue: soundproofing is another important consideration to make sure the baby gets plenty of restful, undisturbed sleep. The most important thing to consider when soundproofing a baby’s room is the door, which you can easily modify with the right tools. In addition to making it soundproof, fixing the door also means you can help keep the nursery from unwanted drafts.
Step 1. If the door is hollow, replace it with a door made of solid wood. This is because hollow doors transmit more sound than do solid doors. Alternatively, if you are not able to replace the door, you can choose to glue some wood panelling on the inside of the hollow door; this added panelling will help in absorbing any extra sound.
Step 2. Make sure the hinges do not squeak. There’s nothing more frustrating than spending an hour putting the baby to sleep and then have her awaken in a bawling, foul mood simply because somebody squeaked his way in the room. First, close the door and then tap the pin inside one of the door hinges to get it out of the hinge. You may use a hammer, a long nail, or a Phillips screwdriver to do this. When the pin has already risen up out of the hinge, take it out and apply petroleum jelly; put it back into the hinge, and do the same with the other door hinge.
Step 3. After you have eliminated the squeaky hinge and dealt with sound absorption issues, consider adding a door sweep at the base of the door. This will help block the sound that comes in through the opening. It will also help get rid of potential drafts. You can also find other spaces where sound might get in by turning the lights on outside the baby’s room; stand inside the room with the lights off, and check where the light is seen around the door. Any place where the light can be seen will be places you will want to consider covering up, as these are entry points for sound.
Step 4. Install a door closer to ensure that the door will automatically close on its own. When you purchase a door closing system, make sure it comes with a way to set the closing speed and strength to your preferences. Set the closing system to a quiet mode, wherein the door will close slowly without a slamming sound. This will also get rid of the chance of anybody accidentally slamming the door, as well as reduce the sound usually made by the closing of a door.
The new baby has arrived, and while you are busy enjoying the new addition to your family, perhaps other people in the neighbourhood are not too keen about listening to the bawling every night. If you live in an apartment building with thin walls, it becomes even a worse scenario, as you cannot exactly keep the baby quiet. While soundproofing may not have been at the top of your list when you remodelled the nursery, thinking it would be best for the baby to get accustomed to noises while he sleeps, it now sounds like something you have to get to as soon as possible—if you want to avoid more complaints from your neighbours. Is there a way to soundproof a nursery without doing a major overhaul, and without spending a fortune? Indeed, the following steps should help you tone the noise down to a tolerable level:
Step 1. Before you attach anything new, consider where the crib is set currently. Is it set against a wall that is shared with a neighbour? If so, move the crib away from the adjoining wall and transfer it towards an interior wall. This will do wonders for the travelling of bawling volumes.
Step 2. How much furniture is in the room? The physics of sound is that the less items there are in a room, the chances become higher for sound to travel and make echoes. This means that a relatively bare room will cause sound to travel more, thus creating more noise. While you would likely want your nursery to look spacious with only a few pieces of furniture, with the problem of noise, it is perhaps time to get more things into the room. If you do not already have an armchair, get a fluffy, cozy one and push it into one corner of the room; shelves or tiny tables and chairs, particularly those made of wood, will also help.
Step 3. How much fabric is in the room? Furniture pieces are not your only choice for muffling noise in the nursery; curtains and other fabric items also help. Perhaps you may opt to switch from vinyl blinds to thick draperies. Cushions and throw pillows also help absorb noise. Why not set up a corner to act as a reading or quiet corner for when your baby grows up and starts crawling? You may also opt to hang canvas mounted on frames on a shared wall, as this can help muffle the noise. An area rug also offers a big help, as do rubber mats. For an area rug, opt for those made of wool instead of cotton, and tufts are preferred over flatter ones. If you can afford wall-to-wall carpeting, that would be even better.
Step 4. If these still won’t work, you might want to consider installing egg trays on the shared walls, though these would require more concealment so as not to destroy the décor of your baby’s room. You might choose to cover up your work with draperies or other decorations, but hopefully you will not even have to resort to these more serious soundproofing items!
If you have little kids in the house, chances are, jumping on beds will be a common sight in your daily routine. If your beds are new and the mattresses are thick enough to withstand the jumping, you probably will have no problem except to make sure they don’t fall off and hurt themselves. But what happens if one of the slats gets broken beneath the mattress? Don’t worry, you may not have to spend a fortune on a new bed, as these slats can be easily fixed with your own do-it-yourself skills.
Step 1 . Examine the slats to see which ones were broken. Whether it’s one slat or two, you will need to replace the slat with a new piece of wood. Even if the slat is only cracked, it is best to change it and not just glue it. Some people wonder if there is a type of glue that is strong enough to hold the slat back together, but experts advice against it, as glue will never be strong enough to support a bed slat.
Step 2. Measure the length of the slat you need based on the broken wood slat. As much as possible, remove the broken piece and take it along with you to the local hardware store so you can be sure to get the right thickness.
Step 3. Consider the weight that the bed will be supporting. If the broken bed is a kid’s bed, and if your child is already old enough not to jump around as much, you can get a 1 x 3 piece of wood. This is enough to support the weight of the child. If the bed is an adult’s bed, a 1 x3 will likely not be enough; in that case, get a 1 x 4. This would also actually be a better choice, since it is usually not certain that you could definitely keep your kids from jumping on the bed again. An important point to note is that these sizes, despite the 1-inch thickness in the name, typically actually measure three-fourths of an inch in thickness; this is why you have to bring along the broken slat. If you want to save on money, you can find scrap pieces from the scrap bin at the local hardware store.
Step 4. Alternatively, you can opt to do a process called “sistering.” In do-it-yourself lingo, this means attaching a sort of splint to the broken piece. You can do this by gluing the cracked portion of the wooden slat together. Then get a piece of wood that is about the same length and width. Bolt, screw, or nail this new wooden slab to keep the broken piece in place. In terms of bed slats, this would translate to bolting or nailing the new piece of wood underneath.
Step 5. Another option would be to get a piece of plywood to put over the wooden bed slats. This serves to distribute the weight evenly across the bed, and it may be a good fix for most beds.
When a family gets larger than initially expected, the usual course of action is that children share bedrooms. But what happens when the new baby arrives and the nearest sibling is already a teenager and needing privacy? Or when the shared room is already too small for the number of occupants? Most households still have one option available, and that is to convert an existing storeroom into the bedroom for one of the children. While it may seem like a daunting task, being organized from the very first will help make it a more easily attainable reality:
Step 1. Analyze the size and shape of the storeroom. Most storerooms are very small, but can still be converted into a bedroom for a young child. In fact, knowing how to maximize space might mean that your child can even grow up into his or her teens in that very same room. Note down the dimensions of the room so you can plan your layout.
Step 2. Before you begin hauling things out, already have what you envision drawn on paper. It could be a rough sketch, but its main purpose is to give you an idea how the final outcome should look. Part of your planning will also include finding a place for the things you used to store in that room.
Step 3. Clean out the storeroom. On a side note, it would be best to schedule a garage sale soonest, as there are likely plenty of things in that room that would be better off disposed. Be sure to take out every single box, as you would need an empty space to work on. When everything is out, give the room a thorough sweeping and mopping. Also, spraying everything with disinfectant and insecticide a few days before you start might be a good idea, as you are not sure what creatures have been living in that room for the last five years.
Step 4. When the room is clean, gather the things you would need: if you intend to change the flooring, which is advisable, you can opt for vinyl tiles as they are easier to install; for walls, you can choose between wallpaper or wall paint. You might also need sealant if you find any leaks on the ceiling or walls.
Step 5. Install the new flooring first. Follow the directions on the packaging of your vinyl tiles, starting in the center of the room. Be sure to clean off excess adhesive so that your floor will look bright and new.
Step 6. For wall paint, cover up your new floor with newspaper and mix up the color you want. If your child is old enough, he or she can help you paint, but make sure you put an appropriate face mask to protect him or her from the fumes.
Step 7. While you wait for the room to air out, find furniture that can fit into your storeroom. Typically, single beds can fit snugly. If you have carpentry skills, you can turn a single bed into a loft bed so your child can still have living space underneath her bed. Alternatively, you can opt for a sofa bed that can be converted easily into seating when not used as a bed.
An excellent way to make most of a small room is to add a loft to an existing bed. Not only will this increase floor area but will also create a cool look for your bed. Sure, you can go and buy a loft bed in the market but if you want your loft to be just the way you want it, you can just go and build it yourself. Follow the steps below if you wish to add a loft either to your own or to your kid’s bed:
Step 1. Before you prepare your materials, see to it that you pick wood that is of the same kind and quality as the one your existing bed is made of. You should also make some measurements to find out what dimensions your construction wood should have. Basically, you will need four 8 ft. long construction woods (4x4s), a 4×8 sheet of ¾” plywood, and three pieces of 2x6x8s lumber.
Step 2. To build a bed box that would fit a 38”x76” twin mattress, cut two 2×6 lumbers to 78 inches and another two to 37 inches. Once the frame of the box is finished, it should measure 40”x78”, just enough to accommodate the mattress. Attach all four boards together using drywall screws.
Step 3. Take the plywood and cut it to the measure of the bed box. The plywood should serve as the base of the bed. Connect the plywood to the frame by placing drywall screws around the perimeter at two feet intervals.
Step 4. Take the 4x4s and make them into posts that will hold your loft bed. Attach them to all four corners of your existing bed using drywall screws. With the help of a two or three friends, lift the bed box and position it on top of the four 4×4 posts. Drill holes through the four corners of the bed box and through the 4x4s. Using lag bolts attach the posts to the box. Do this on all four corners of the bed.
Step 5. Your new loft bed should be securely in place now but to further strengthen the foundations, you may want to attach three to four 2x4s from one post to the other. This will serve as a ladder and support for the bed at the same time.
Step 6. If you wish to make a separate make-shift ladder, measure the distance from the loft to the ground floor and cut out two 2x6s that will serve as the ladder posts. Loft ladders usually have four rungs, so cut four 2x6s to 2 feet each. Attach the rungs to the ladder posts using two deck screws on each side.
Step 7. Once your new loft bed is finished, it is up to you whether you’re going to add more embellishments to it or not. Some homeowners add desks or dressers under the bed for their kid’s use. However you wish to accomplish that, be assured that there are endless possibilities.
