Design*Sponge » Blog Archive » before & after: miriam’s trunk + blair’s calling card board

today’s first before & after project comes from d*s reader miriam. for ages miriam been on the hunt for a toy chest and finally found this old military footlocker at a thrift store for $3. “grossed out” by the state (and smell!) of it, miriam ultimately decided she “wasn’t going to let [her] kids anywhere NEAR it!” so she measured the old footlocker and skipped down to her local home depot to buy some sheets of plywood. so, with some wood glue, a nail gun, hinges, and a little elbow grease miriam made her own trunk! she sanded and painted the inside, used quilt batting as padding, and a sturdy duck cloth for the upholstery. and then- for a little extra kick, she stenciled on a pattern from lena corwin’s printing by hand book. the total cost of the project (including the wasted footlocker): $30. great work, miriam!

[have a before & after you'd like to share on d*s? just shoot me an email right here with your pictures!]

CLICK HERE to see blair’s calling card board makeover after the jump!

this simple but fun before & after comes from blair at delight by design. she decided to make an impromptu calling card board out of corks and some awkward shelves in her kitchen. the wine corks fit perfectly and made for a quick calling board that wouldn’t damage the wooden shelves underneath. great work, blair!

I can’t tell by the foto but I hope the toy box has the child safety hinges that keep the lid from falling on little fingers. You can add the safety hinge to any toy box without removing old hinges and they are available at hardware stores.

You need a Child Safety hinge NOW!!!
They can be found at Home Depot on the isle with all the kitchen cabinet knobs.
Installs in less that 10 min and your child will thank you for protecting them from a head injury or smashed fingers.

Please advise this talented mother to put a hinge on the top of this lovely toy chest to prevent the lid from falling on a child. My neighbor’s child was killed when the lid fell on the child’s neck.

hi guys,

the owner has been informed about the child locks. if anyone wants to discuss the topic further they can do so directly with the project owner- d*s comment sections are not a place to attack or guilt anyone into doing something after they’ve already been politely informed.

for those of you trying to leave repeat comments under different false names “demanding” action on the child locks- your comments will not go through. the owner has been informed and attacks will not be tolerated, or published, on design*sponge. i find behavior like that as inappropriate and unsettling as some of you find the lack of a child safety hinge. so let’s keep everyone’s feelings in mind and take a deep breath before you leave a comment that seeks to frighten or threaten anyone.

grace

Thanks so much for featuring my chest, I appreciate all the POSITIVE feedback! For all those who think I’m horrible mother, you’ll be relieved to know that I had already planned to install a safety hinge, but jumped the gun and took the photos before it was installed! I guess I was a little too eager to share the project!
To Dinah, I completely agree about bold color ect! This chest will go in our living room (due to limited space in our small rental), and so it needed to be harmonious with that area. But I plan on something really crazy for the kids nursery!

The trunk looks very nice. However, as a mother of 3, grandmother and great-grandmother to many, many more…although the continuous hinge is a great idea, there is nothing to prevent a small child from getting hit on the head or smacked on the fingers…they make child-proof hinges just for that reason. Also, lots of newspapers could remove the smell of the orig. one; TSP and then Lysol could have removed anything detrimental to a child and could still be used for a flower box or plant box.

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