Storage is always an issue. Toys, sports equipment, dressing up stuff, more toys — where can it all go? I created these storage boxes to take care of some of the bigger stuff, then I liked them so much I made more!

These upholstered boxes are on castors for wheel-away storage.

I’m not a crafty person, and because I find it hard to stay focused on a single project, if all the work doesn’t happen in a day, it’ll probably never be completed. So, if I can manage to complete these storage boxes in a single day (with a 1yo, 2yo and 4yo), you’ll find them a breeze.

David has the most comprehensive selection of tools available to mankind, but I used girlie (low-powered) tools for this project. My main tools were a jigsaw, a drill with screwdriver bit and a staple gun.

Start with a box. I used pre-fab overhead cupboards (available at hardware stores), but you could also make these from scratch if you have more time.

On another piece of board, measure out the exact size lid you need.

Cut the board to make the lid.

The underside of the lid needs a chock to keep the lid on the box without sliding off. You could measure up one large chock to fit on the underside of the lid, but I cut and fixed two pieces to save on board and to keep the weight of the lid down. The chocks need to be smaller than the width of the lid by at least the thickness of the board x 2 (in my case, 16 mm x 2 = 32 mm).

The underside chock needs to fit snugly within the interior of your box, holding the lid in place. So measure the points in each corner of your lid at which the underside chock can sit. Remember to allow at least the same amount of room as the thickness of your board.

Screw the chocks to the underside of the lid. Your screws need to be long enough to go through one thickness of board and into the other (without coming out the other side).

The chocks are screwed on, with enough space around the outside that it should fit onto my box nicely — time for testing!

Yay! The lid fits.

Cut foam to fit over the lid. I chose to cut my foam larger and then trim it exactly when it was glued to the lid.

Glue the foam onto the lid. Because I was using contact adhesive, I needed to paint both surfaces with the contact and then let it dry completely. Contact adhesive sticks to another surface that is covered with contact, but only if both surfaces are dry.

While you're waiting for the glue to dry, iron your upholstering fabric.

Return to the original box and screw castor wheels onto its base. Your screws cannot be longer than the thickness of the board or else they'll show through the bottom.

When the contact is dry, stick the foam onto the top of the lid. I used foam underlay (usually laid under carpet) because we have tons of it. So I used three layers to soften my lid. You may want to just use one layer of thicker foam.

Trim the foam to the size of the lid.

Now that the foam is glued on and trimmed, the lid is ready for upholstering.

Trim the fabric to fit your lid, allowing for an overhang of at least 200 mm.

You also need to remove the underside chocks from your lid. As you’ll need to return the chocks to their exact, same holes, carefully mark the placement and orientation of each chock.

Tack the fabric onto the underside of the lid. I used a staple gun, but you could use upholstery tacks. Remember to pull the fabric tight and work the corners into nice, neat folds.

Replace the chocks onto the underside of the lid. Drive the screws halfway through the chocks so they stick out the other side, locate the old screw holes in the lid by feeling through the fabric, and then line up the screws into their old holes. The screws will drive through the fabric and back into the lid without trouble.

All done. Ready for filling up, sitting on, or wheeling away.

Today is Monday, which means it’s baking/cooking day in our very loose learning schedule. Because I was preoccupied with the storage boxes, I cheated and used a packet mix to make a cake. It was easy for Aisha to read the label and call out what we needed, stir the batter and then lick the spoon.

Later this evening, I tried to redeem my poor baking effort by spending a bit of time decorating the cake. (Sometime I’ll have to learn to make proper icing, but it wasn’t happening tonight!)

A bathtub to celebrate the near-completion of the bathroom renovation!

This post was shared as part of Smockity Frock’s Tuesday Tutorial link-up.