When we moved into this house, one of the first things we noticed was the big box sticking out of the master bedroom wall. It turned out to be a cabinet, and that cabinet was an “ironing center”. The mere idea of ironing at all, much less in the middle of the bedroom, was completely foreign to me. I make a point of not buying clothes that require ironing at all. Nonetheless, there it stood.

I removed the four screws that were holding it into the wall, not anticipating how heavy the entire unit would be. All that remained was a hole in the wall, between two studs. I wasn’t sure what I could do with an area that was only 14.5 inches wide and 4 inches deep, but I also knew I wanted to do something creative. I could see the back of the drywall that lined the inside of the closet, and a stud from an adjoining wall running down the middle.

One confusing trip to Home Depot later, I had everything I needed. I had everything pre-cut, and thankfully it all fit together well.

I was surprised that I was able to figure it out. The next step was to paint the whole thing white, but it still looked messy. I had a back piece that was only 11 inches wide, so the sides were uneven (2 inches on the left, 1.5 in on the right).

I went back out, bought a miter box with a hand saw (only $8.00, to my surprise), and some moulding. Micah took over at that point. While he worked, I opened the $9.00 cabinet light I bought at Wal-Mart. I did not know the two lights were actually one unit, and it was too wide to fit. I ended up sawing off some of the plastic casing to make it fit. Here’s the finished product:

My Dad and I had a lot of fun building the clubhouse for the kids last weekend. He had to add studs to one side, but the area was otherwise ready to finish. We put paneling on the walls and ceiling, and plush carpeting with padding on the floor. The leftover carpet piece was perfect as a runner in the attic, so we were very resourceful! On Monday, we ran out of time. I need to add some extra nails to the walls, and we plan to put moulding around the top areas and corners later on. It’s definitely complete enough for Molly and Mia, though! They love it. The finished area is about 6.4 feet long, 3.4 feet wide, and 3 feet high. It’s connected to the family room, so it’s become a sort of extension of their play area.