The Mother of Invention?

Necessity.  As my apartment becomes more and more refined to my tastes and needs I am slowly checking off little projects.  Today's success story is one I've been mulling over for a while.  I've been "making do" with using a coffee table and stool as my desk.  My back tells me this is not a good plan and do something about it.  So I've been trying to figure out how to convert the coffee table into a better desk.  The obvious requirement is the need for height.
 
I've been collecting a few everyday items I use hoping that one day I will figure out a creative project for using them instead of throwing them in the dumpster.  None quite fit the bill for adding height to a table - plastic yogurt containers - about the right height - 5-6 inches - but they are not strong enough to support the weight.  Another item is plastic water bottles - not the right shape or size.  And lastly, toilet paper rolls - what's left over after the paper is gone.  Hmmm - yes!

I've been hearing a lot of chain saws lately as people prepare their firewood for the winter.  Truck loads of log lengths are delivered  to the street in front of homes.  There the men (haven't seen any women) work on sizing it for the wood-burning stoves - cutting into smaller lengths with the chain saws and then splitting it.  This brings back some fond memories of living in the mountains of Colorado when I actually did some wood-splitting in my energetic 20s.  Now in my 50s I'm pleased to turn a knob and have heat.

Have you guessed the connection yet?  Yes? This morning when I went for a walk around town, I followed the bzzzzz to two men who were sawing and stacking wood.  I said "I had a little table and I want a tall table - could I have 4 pieces of wood" and showed the size I wanted with my hands. Gratefully he got my message right away and smiled.  So I am posting a picture of my new desk perched on mini-logs.  It's still a little short, but hey, so am I and it's much better than it was AND I can sit on a chair now.

To protect the floor I wrapped a piece of cardboard in aluminum foil and then used a flattened toilet paper roll under that for extra cushioning and put the "log-ettes" on top of it all.  So I did get to utilize some of my recycling after all. Another puzzle solved - another happy day!


By the way, the signed poster over the desk came with the apartment.  His name is Veselin Marinov is a popular singer in Bulgaria.  Click here for a 45 second sample of a traditional Bulgarian song.