Today I was going to update you on our Grass People and the haircuts as administered by the Oh Waily kids.  But, something more exciting has come along and gazumped them.

Ever since I started on Jo’s  My Organized Chaos course I have been looking out for a desk for the kids.  The lovely little table that you will have seen in nearly all my previous room photographs is simply too small to accomodate two children at once.  The problem was, where do you find a table that will take two little bodies, their paper, pencils, crayons and any other sundry items they want?  Oh, and at a price that I could live with.

Children’s tables do not come in a size fit for two.  At least not two to work at.  Play tea parties, yes.  Do small confined activities on a tray, perhaps.  Draw together, no.  Write together, no.
There were other options to try.  Secondhand stores for larger tables that the legs would be cut down to size on?  Maybe.  But then what do you do when they get a bit taller?  Glue the legs back on, bit by bit?
Suddenly turn into some amazing joiner and create my own?  Hah, only at the risk of finger, thumb and any other stray appendages.
Buy a ready made one?  At over $200, and still only one height.  Erm.  I love my kids, but…. who’s arm and leg should I sell each time I want to upgrade my seating arrangements?

Then, because I had been collecting interesting ideas for this very purpose over at Pinterest, it all became clear to me.  I would do this.   It would require minimal woodworking skills [read: none], a smattering of painting skills [read: delegate to Mr Oh Waily] and some basic maths [read: measure for the board accurately].

And hey presto !   Courtesy of a some good work on Mr Oh Waily’s part, the cot was resurrected from storage at work, the base area was measured, a piece of board was ordered and cut by the store, it was then painted and painted again.  Finally this morning it was put in place and here are a couple of photographs for the almost final result.

Sorry about the light, unfortunately the morning sun comes in that window and causes a bit of bother when I want to take pictures in that direction.  But I’m sure you get the idea.  Here’s another with the curtains closed over a bit.

As you can see, we didn’t even have to do anything with the height of the bed.  It slotted straight in at the original top height holes.  And I’m sure with the aid of a drill and some good measurement, we will be able to keep this desk going for a few more years until the kids really do need their own workspaces and therefore new desks or tables.

It isn’t a finished item yet, as there is plenty of space to hang things so that the table top is completely clear.  I just need to work out the hows and whats of storing things and using the space best.

The only other downside has been finding a space for it.  We really only have one wall in this living room that could take it, and that is the one the bookshelf sits against.  It took a few different manoevres to find a place that would work.  It’s still not 100% ideal, but we will go with it for now and see how things pan out.  Like all of this home education lark, it’s a matter to testing and altering and testing again until you find the right fit.

Where do your kids work?  Their own table?  The kitchen table?  Do they share a space?  Nosy curious people would like to know.