Friday, February 28, 2014

How to Maximize Lost Doorway Space for a Giftwrap/Ironing Station

There are so many parts and pieces involved in giving a gift.  

Where Did I Put the Gift Tags?
Oftentimes, all but the gift needs to be stored somewhere. Where do you keep all your wrapping paper, ribbons, bows, gift bags, tissue paper, gift tags, scissors, tape and pens? If you're anything like my husband Bret and me, these items have grown to take up more real estate in your home than you ever imagined possible. 

A Place for Everything and Everything in its Place
Well today, I'm proud to say we have taken an under-maximized doorway in our home office, and made it into a giftwrapping and ironing station! While I've never actually Googled such, I thought this might be unique enough to share how we did it--in case helpful to others looking to solve similar challenges.  

The first step was to gather all the containers we had relating to gifting...and there were more than you might think. We had one 17" x 24" x 7" tall storage container each for gift bags, tissue, gift boxes, packing materials, and ribbons/bows/gift tags. Then we also had three 9" x 15" x 25" tall storage containers for rolls of wrapping paper. Yikes! There was not one place to fit all this stuff together, so we occasionally would buy more rolls of paper, gift bags or bows than we needed--simply because we never had a clear snapshot in our heads of what supplies we had and what needed restocking.  

Plus, all this was stored in the far reaches of our basement and not convenient at all, so a few of this and that had migrated upstairs to our guest bedroom for easy access. After nearly 25 years of marriage--and the natural sprawling of related elements which seems to occur when an ideal solution has not been found--this giftwrap storage challenge had become one which really needed to be addressed.  

The Initial Plan
As many ideas do, this one popped into my head when I was doing something totally unrelated in our office one day--looking for my dream job! As I write this, I'm currently between jobs after my position was eliminated following a subsidiary merger, so I spend my days sifting through dozens of job descriptions, filling out online applications, writing cover letters, sending out resumes, preparing for interviews, networking, reading articles, watching how-to videos, developing social media content, and learning all I can to stay up-to-date with the latest trends in my various areas of expertise. I often can be found at all hours of the day and night obsessing on this journey, so it's no wonder my subconscious needed a break and veered off to solve this household dilemma!  

As I sat at the computer, I looked at the closed door, remembered seeing a shutter on Pinterest re-purposed to hold magazines and thought, "Hey, we could do something like that to store our tissue paper behind that door."  

Our First Idea Wasn't the Last 
This was just the beginning of the idea waterfall, and not where we actually landed. I asked my husband to join me on a couple trips to Habitat for Humanity's local ReStores in Omaha, and we soon had a folding wooden door with blinds (in lieu of the shutter we never found), an old drawer, hinges, a cabinet door and a couple pieces of scrap wood. We ended up with the solution shown below, and the only thing I would change is I'd forget the shutter thing altogether. The door fell apart when we cut it, we spent too much time trying to match and glue slats back in, and it ended up only being used for a decorative facing piece.


Over the couple weekends we worked on this project, we later made hardware store runs for a matching drawer pull and two cabinet handles, a smooth cabinet handle to be use for a decorative foot, 12" of chain, a double spring hook, a banister spindle, and another small hinge. However, if you're thinking of doing this, you'll also need these items we happened to already have: 14 mug hooks, 15' of elastic, 2' of 1"-wide wood trim, glue, two rubber bands, a large loop-top screw, two smaller loop-top screws, four door hinges, caulk, padding, heat-tolerant upholstery fabric, staple gun and staples, several clear plastic collapsible containers, wood screws, washers, screwdrivers, clear zippered suit cover and a hanger.

See the tutorial below for more detailed information.

Giftwrap/Ironing Station Step-by-Step
Step I:  Visit a local ReStore or Thrift Shop for a drawer and cabinet door in a size it can be used as a lid for the drawer.




















Repurposing used goods keeps costs low!

 

Step II: If there are grooves in the cabinet door, you may choose to fill them with caulk, to ensure a smooth surface for covering.


Caulking cleans up easily with water and a pot scraper
.

Step III:
Use three-to-five layers of cotton quilt batting and a thick heat-resistant fabric to cover the cabinet door.


Step IV: Make a plus shape set of two slits where the hinge will be placed, fold the fabric to the inside, insert and tighten the hinges.


Step V: Attach the cover to the drawer with cabinet hinges. If the cabinet door doesn’t quite fit, cut a piece of wood to shim and fill the difference, attach it first to the back of the drawer, then attach the hinges to complete the lid piece.


Step VI:
Attach a drawer handle if one didn’t come with the drawer or a better aesthetic is preferred.
Step VII: Use door hinges to join a piece of wood the width and depth of the drawer side to which it will be attached. This will be attached to the wall and allow the drawer to fold out Murphy bed style. Since this will be the side seen when not in use, consider using a decorative shutter or other wood treatment for aesthetics.


Step VIII: Pre-drill holes and ensure at least one is going directly into a wall stud for stability and strength.

Three strong placements—plus a table leg yet to be added—helps ensure a strong safe table.


Step IX:
Use O-screws, chain and trigger hooks (or whatever your preference) to attach folded up top side of drawer to the wall. Again, on the top as was done on the bottom, ensure at least one (preferably the center) O-screw is going directly into a wall stud for safety and strength.


Step X:
Once the table is securely attached to the wall, fold out and use a level to begin placement of the table leg.


Step XI:
 Use a banister spindle or something similar for the leg. If the aesthetics of a table foot is appealing, consider using a flat-headed cabinet door knob which fits the bottom of the spindle. This will need to be attached before the final cutting measurement is taken.


Step XII:
  Use leveling techniques on top of drawer and side of spindle to mark where spindle needs to be cut to fit.


Step XIII:
Saw spindle to fit measurements.



Step XIV: Use a level to ensure the hinge attaching the spindle to the table is in the correct place. Attach spindle with another flat-folding hinge to the underside of the table.



Here’s how the table looks once the spindle leg is attached:


Step XV: Find a place to store iron near drawer for an easy ironing station.

Step XVI:
Load finished drawer with tissue, bows, etc.


Suggestion: Store tissue, bows, etc. in separate containers to keep organized. Zippered plastic collapsible containers from blanket, curtain, bedding, etc. purchases work really well for this.


Maximizing the use of a space like this doesn’t need to be costly or an eyesore.

Step XVII: If covering the gap behind the door is preferred, look for creative solutions which fit the space. Example: since this is right next to a sewing closet and where a room heater sits, one aesthetic upgrade to consider is to cover the gap with a dressed-up dress form!

Step XVIII: A door stop can be used to ensure as open a walkway as possible. The best part is, a view from the hallway doesn’t reveal any of this project!


A once lost corner is now maximized!



We’d love to see how others have used corners like this or solved challenges like gift stations. Let us know what DIY projects you’ve been up to lately!

Today's Quote:
"For every minute spent organizing, an hour is earned."
-- Anonymous