DIY Couch - Sofa So Good

I'm currently relaxing at home taking full advantage of a 5 week Tenure Break. Made all the better because it straddles both Harriett's 1st and Jesus' 2013th birthdays. We have snuck in a quick return trip to Center Parcs, I've  successfully fought off a bout of flu and we have negotiated Harriet's first Birthday party. It was lovely seeing our friends again and Harriet loved all the attention and lovely pressies.

With all this going on you would have thought I had no time to do anything else, but the Devil makes work for idle hands. With the garden makeover closed down for the winter, I find myself seeking a new pass-time to keep me amused. Under similar circumstances in the past, I would have contented myself with relentless visits to the pub and simply pickled my innards. But that was sooooo last year. I hardly drink these days now I'm a responsible parent. So my compulsion to "do stuff" has found an outlet in the most peculiar way - I'm building a sofa.

We need a sofa for the dining room but it has to be quite narrow and we simply cannot find one to meet our requirements without spending a small fortune and so with nothing better to do I have thrown myself into the challenge. I've rushed out to the DIY store and brought the wood, spent hours trawling through the web looking at plans, taken the wood back to the DIY store, revisited the plans, bought some more wood from the DIY store and armed with the Part-time DIY-er tool kit, a saw, a hammer,  a cross hair screwdriver, a 6 inch ruler and the indispensable knife-and-fork cutlery combo I'm off. 

the toolkit

Ive already made the base. I cut Jakey's old mattress in half with wire cutters, tied the remaining springs to the cover, wrapped it in fluffy stuff and re-stitched the mattress cover together.  And I've also assembled the base and  recycled some drawers from Wifey's Laura Ashley which was heading for the skip.

half a sofa

So I am currently at the halfway point and I'm happy with the results. But it's not been without a heavy personal cost.  A rouge stanley knife has savagely curtailed by DIY activities. Last week I sliced open my palm with the blade....The same dove into my thumb 2 days ago. This morning, with one slip of concentration, the demon blade struck again and ploughed into my index finger knuckle. And Sweet Mary how it bled. I manfully held my wound above the heart to stem the flow and whilst blood variously spattered about my person, Harriet wailed pitifully and Wifey clucked into life with a variety of band aids and plasters.

the cut is deeper than it looks...

  Anyway once we were all satisfied I was out of danger, as a cautionary measure I laid on the couch to keep my blood pressure steady. And I'm off dishes and nappy duties because of the infection risk with a open wound. Can't be too cautious I think....