When you are small, it helps to have furniture you can climb up on -- and it's even better when your feet can reach the ground. Create a low couch to tuck into a corner of a bedroom or playroom as a kid-size conversation pit or reading nook. Since kids outgrow pint-size furniture, save money by recycling an old pallet and a quilt and some fabric from the back of the closet. Does this Spark an idea?
Instructions
1. Hunt for for a freebie or buy a heat-treated wood pallet -- the best to use for the corner couch is a square pallet. Look for an HT stamp and check the treatment used for any ISPM 15-stamped pallet. That stamp means the wood has either been heat-treated or chemically fumigated with methyl bromide. You don't want chemically treated wood; methyl bromide is toxic. Use heat-treated only. Sand the wood well to remove any grime or splinters.
2. Draw a diagonal line from one corner of the pallet to the far corner in the same direction on both sides. Cut the pallet along the lines on each side with a circular saw. Keep the nicest half for the triangular couch.
3. Paint the entire platform with at least two coats of high-gloss enamel in your chosen color. Attach locking casters to the three corners of the underside of the couch with screws. The casters allow you to move the couch easily and lock it in place.
4. Remove planks of wood from the other half-pallet by cutting them from the frame. Trim the boards so they are all the same length and then sand them. These will form the sides and back of the couch -- it looks a bit like shabby Mission-style furniture, or a picket fence.
5. Screw the boards to the side edges of the pallet platform, spacing them evenly and leaving the front of the platform open. Screw a piece of 2 X 4 to the top edge of each line of boards as a top rail. Paint the sides.
6. Cut dense foam to fit the triangle platform and cover it with an old quilt stitched into a cushion cover. Include an industrial zipper along one side of the cover for easy removal. Heap handmade pillows and sock monkeys on the corner couch for a soft, bolstered backing.
Tags: corner couch, methyl bromide