Cleaning up the Workshop

With Lincoln sleeping in the basement bedroom, right next to my workshop, I can no longer work on some of my hobbies during naptime and night time.

So, I have to be able to supervise Link while working in my shop, without him being able to hurt himself when my back is turned for two seconds.

I got all the stuff off the floor and off Link's workbench. I did a lot of vacuuming. All toxic stuff was exiled from under the workbench to the high shelf in the top left corner of this photo:

I strung a second LED strip on the ceiling and cleaned up my 3D printer, parts and scraps:

Computer system got reorganized. The computers are on a trolley now, so I have easy access to ports. All four monitors are active. Speakers work again. And I have my 3D printer upgrade parts laid out on the desk, ready to go.

All the shelving units (and the work bench) are anchored to studs now. The grey metal cabinet is new: I found it on the street last week on trash day.

Link can still make a heck of a mess if he puts his mind to it, but I don't think he can actually injure himself in this room any longer, as long as there is a modicum of supervision.

Toddler-proofing the Nursery

We're planning to put Link in a toddler bed soon, and that means making sure he can't get into any permanent trouble if he wakes up during the night. So, we bought a new storage unit (from IKEA (for full price!)), anchored it to a wall stud, and put the heater and humidifier on top, out of Link's reach.

(Link insisted on having his own screwdriver, and on "helping" me to assemble the unit).

I also swapped out half the door knob:

It's a little bit Frankenstein, but I actually kinda like it. The matching doorknob is on the door to the basement stairwell.

Baby Gate on Stairs

Picked up a baby gate for the top of the stairs. I wanted one that could open in either direction. Hopefully it breaks-in a little bit, because it's still pretty stiff to unlatch.

The screws that came with this thing were absolute crap. I stripped or broke six of them before giving up and digging into my stash of hardware for screws that would actually work.

Babyproof Outlets in Nursery and Office

While Link was down for a nap in the basement, I turned off the circuit breaker to the nursery and office. I replaced the outlets with tamper-proof outlets, and also replaced a smoke-stained switch in the office with a shiny new one.

New Shelving Unit in Family Room

We picked up an old, used IKEA shelf from a family a couple neighborhoods away who were moving house. Got it for $13 *with* delivery. It's definitely seen better days, but for $13 we can use it for a year or two and then upgrade once stuff higher on the priority list has been taken care of.

This enabled us to finally unpack the last two cardboard boxes (well, there might be one or two cardboard boxes in the basement, but we won't mention those).

Before:

Now:

The shelf is anchored to a wall stud, so now all the toddlers that live in or visit our house can use this new climbing wall secure in the knowledge that it won't tip over on top of them.

More Child-Proofing

I was reminded that a lot of children mistake dishwasher detergent packs for candy recently, so I installed some "child-proof" looks on the cabinet beneath the sink, where we keep most of our cleaning supplies (the rest are in the laundry room, five feet off the ground).

I hate these locks already.