Park Model Project: Modify Night Stands

Wauchula, FL - Events of Tuesday, October 23 to Monday, November 1, 2018

When we ordered the park model last fall, the only options we had for the tops of the night stands were laminate (Formica) and the extra-cost, solid surface material we had in the kitchen. We really wanted the warmer look of wood for the bedroom, but that wasn't one of our choices, so we went with the standard laminate figuring Paul would replace the tops with wood later.

One of the night stands as it originally came with a Formica top

Not only did Paul want to replace the tops of the night stands, but he also wanted to raise the height at the same time. The mattress we bought for the park model is extra-thick, so you can't just open one eye and peep at your clock at night because the clock sits too low. Paul decided to raise the height of the night stands by adding 6" legs.

When we got the wood for the fireplace mantle several weeks ago, we bought enough to also make new tops for the night stands. In fact, when Paul cut and glued up the wood for the mantle, he also cut and glued up the night stand tops and set them aside.

A couple of days after finishing the fireplace, Paul went on to modify the night stands. He sanded new tops he had previously glued up, then trimmed them to the final size. After that, he routed a decorative edge.

Routing the decorative edge on one of the night stand tops

Paul cut pieces of maple for the legs, assembled them, and sanded them. He applied a coat of stain to the legs and to the tops and allowed them to dry overnight.

Staining the new night stand legs

Paul then applied two coats of polyurethane finish to the legs and the tops and allowed the final coat of finish to dry overnight. Last Tuesday, he screwed the new legs onto the bottoms of the night stands, then he removed the old tops and replaced them with the new ones. The next photo shows one of the night stands after modification.

One of the completed night stands

Just so you don't think all we do is work on projects, we did go out to eat a couple of times over the last few weeks. We visited Dee's Place in Sebring for Philly cheese steaks one day, and we also went to lunch at a new restaurant with a group from the Co-op. Once a month, there is an organized lunch outing, and we have gone along several times over the summer. For October, we went to Nutmeg's Cafe in Sebring.

Nutmeg's Cafe

Our group at Nutmeg's

Nutmeg's specializes in paninis that range in price from about $7 to $10, which includes one side. Half paninis are also available for about $4.50 to $7, and there are half panini/soup combos as well. Nutmeg's also has a number of different lunch salads for around $7 to $10.

There were lots of paninis on the menu that sounded really good, so we had a difficult time deciding what we wanted. Margery ended up ordering an Erica's panini (sliced chicken, blackening seasoning, orange marmalade, mayo, fontina cheese, and red onions), and Paul had a Hog Trap panini (5-cheese panini with ham and salami). We both had potato salad for our sides. Both sandwiches were outstanding! A few people in the group also had soup, which looked delicious, so we'll probably be wanting to try some of that at some time in the future, especially when the weather cools off a little more.

There are more park model projects on the horizon, but most of them will be taking a back seat now that November is here because November 1 marked the official start of the season at the Co-op. As more and more members arrive for the winter, Co-op activities are ramping up. For example, the weekly breakfasts at the clubhouse resumed on Monday (November 5). Following breakfast, we had our first group meeting with announcements of even more upcoming activities (cards and games in the evenings, weekly bowling, weekly pickle ball, shuffleboard, movie night, morning exercise, etc.). Of course, the list of activities also included more meetings.

Even though we'll be busy with Co-op activities, we still plan to do other things like eating out and maybe a little sightseeing here and there. There are also some park model project to be done as time permits, so stay tuned for our next update.