Difficulty: Intermediate
When my oldest son A turned 10 I told him that I would make him his own mini-man cave. He shares a room with his two younger brothers and is always asking for his own room or his own space. I asked him what kinds of things he would like to have in his man cave and then took over on the project.
He wouldn’t see everything put together until it was his birthday. He might see bits and pieces as I was working on it, but the big reveal was on his birthday.
One of the things that I wanted to include in his man cave was storage and seating, but since his man cave would be the space under his lofted twin bed there wasn’t much real estate to work with. I solved the problem of seating and storage by combining the two. His desk would also be a two for the price of one project, but that’s another post for another day.
I used a 5 gallon bucket that you can purchase at any hardware store and with a few other supplies from the fabric store I had create an upholstered seat with storage inside. Nothing fancy, but perfect for a 10 year old boy.
This project is rated as intermediate, because you need to use power tools. If you don’t know how or don’t have access to them ask a friend or neighbor for help with the jigsaw, drill and palm sander. Follow along as I show you how to make a storage stool.
Supplies
¼” plywood (16”x16”)
5 Gallon Bucket with lid
Cotton Batting (16”x16”)
1 “ thick foam (12”x12”)
Woven Fabric (nothing stretchy 16”x16”)
Staple gun
Staples
Wood Screws (try ½”)
Drill
Jigsaw
Palm sander or sand paper (120 grit)
Measure the diameter of the lid from inside the outer edge and divide that measurement in half to get the radius. Attach one end of a piece of string to a thumb tack and the other end to a pencil with the string the same length of the radius.
Attach one end of a piece of string to a thumb tack and the other end to a pencil with the string the same length of the radius.
Push the thumb tack into the middle of the plywood and pull the pencil out toward the edge of the wood so the string is taught. Draw a circle with the pencil.
Clamp the wood to a saw horse and use a jigsaw to cut out the circle.
It is recommended that you wear close toed shoes when operating power tools. Don’t worry at least I’m wearing safety glasses!
Use a palm sander or a sanding block and sand paper to smooth out the edges of the wood circle.
Place the circle on top of the foam and trace around it with a permanent marker and cut out the foam circle.
Cut a Square of fabric and batting that is bigger than the circle.
Place the batting on top of the wrong side of the fabric . Then place the foam circle in the middle and the wooden circle on top of that. Trim the fabric and batting into a circle shape.
Pull the batting and over the foam and wood and staple in place.
Rotate the stack 180° and pull the fabric and batting tight against the wood and staple into place. Rotate 90° and pull tight against the wood and staple in place.
Rotate 180° and pull tight against the wood and staple in place.
Continue stapling around the edge pulling tight as you go.
Trim the excess fabric.
Lay the upholstered wood disc wood side up on a flat surface and place the lid with the underside facing up on top of the wood disc.
Place a small piece of wood on top of the stack and drill holes through to the wood disc. Attach all three pieces together with screws.
Fill the bucket with toys, a blanket, books or anything that will fit.
Nerf Guns
Put the lid on and use it as a seat or a foot rest.
