Oppo Parents, Assemble!

"zeontestpilot" (zeontestpilot) 03/09/2015 at 16:32 • Filed to: Parenting

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This is my living room. As a responsible father, I have decided that it is my duty to create a fort for my soon to be 2 yrs old daughter. I just have have no idea 'where' to put it in this room. Also, any other tips would be much appreciated.

Edit: this room is the old garage. Two owners ago converted it to living space, that's why it's so big.

Edit edit: more pics. I would apologize for the mess, but as a parent, I believe its a auto-pardon.

TheHondaBro > zeontestpilot 03/09/2015 at 16:34

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I think you need a place to sit first.

For Sweden > zeontestpilot 03/09/2015 at 16:35

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Bruh this living room seats 20. why do you have 18 kids?

Jonathan Harper > zeontestpilot 03/09/2015 at 16:35

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pillows, stack them; blankets, drape them

WIN

jariten1781 > zeontestpilot 03/09/2015 at 16:35

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Standing lamp from the back corner on top of the table in the center. Parachute from a surplus store draped into the back of the couch cushions all around (damn you have a lot of seating)...BAM permanent big-top.

505Turbeaux > zeontestpilot 03/09/2015 at 16:37

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As a master fort builder I just use all the couch cushions, and then put them back when I am done!

HammerheadFistpunch > zeontestpilot 03/09/2015 at 16:38

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plan? A couch fort? No no no. The key is that is not a fort until your wife gives you the "who is this fort REALLY for?" look. Go nuts

zeontestpilot > For Sweden 03/09/2015 at 16:38

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Hahaha! It seats 11, and I got all that furniture for free. They are all in great condition too. If there's a use for it, I keep it. I'd be willing to give away too if there was a family in need.

Wacko > zeontestpilot 03/09/2015 at 16:39

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*plays tetris music*

I'm trying to mentally rearrange your living room to be also functional, and fort worthy. But would need more pics to be of help if you need all the seating arrangements.

And can we use the couch cushions.

I'm gonna need the practice soon, my daughter turned 1 less than 2 weeks ago.

You can tell a Finn but you can't tell him much > zeontestpilot 03/09/2015 at 16:40

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Best fort is couch cushion fort. With blanket or towel roofs. I see you have plenty of building materials.

For Sweden > HammerheadFistpunch 03/09/2015 at 16:41

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Plot twist: the fort is for the wife

WesBarton89 - The Way to Santa Fe > zeontestpilot 03/09/2015 at 16:41

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All that for free? Wow. And I paid $1500 for a couch and electric lounge setup. Though, the massive amounts of comfy were worth the price. Still though, I'd love to have free furniture.*

*that doesn't suck.

zeontestpilot > HammerheadFistpunch 03/09/2015 at 16:42

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She keeps suggesting it to me, so I'm running with it. Previous versions were thwarted by the dog. She thought she could walk across it.

ShelbyRacer78-Fusion Modifier > zeontestpilot 03/09/2015 at 16:43

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Move this somewhere else and alot of blankets and maybe some camera tripods.

Mr. Ontop, No Strokes, No Smokes...Goes Fast. > zeontestpilot 03/09/2015 at 16:50

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First off, you're going to need a lot of sheets to make the roof and then pull all of the cushions off of the couches for the walls.....Google dog for for references.

Trevor Slattery, ACTOR > zeontestpilot 03/09/2015 at 16:50

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Couch cushions on their side and blankets/sheets are all you need. Go buck!

zeontestpilot > WesBarton89 - The Way to Santa Fe 03/09/2015 at 16:50

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Let's see, I got the love seat and couch from a previous church's youth pastor (they were new, someone gave Her newer). The sectional and chair from my grandparents. They are old, 7 years or so, but they were snow birds so they were used only half the year. I have another chair, upstairs, that a neighbor asked of we wanted for free. It had one issue, that's it.

zeontestpilot > Wacko 03/09/2015 at 16:51

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I added more pics

ttyymmnn > zeontestpilot 03/09/2015 at 16:51

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My two 9-year-olds and my 12-year-old still like to sleep in a fort on the weekends. The first iteration had blankets and sheets draped over the computer work table (rectangular dining table) and extended to adjacent chairs. But I didn't like them camping out in the living room on weekends because I want to chill in the LR late at night and didn't want to keep them awake. So we moved it to the bedroom. I put two dining room chairs about three feet from the bunk bed and make a rectangular frame with clothesline. Then we drape sheets over and clip to the bed frame. You've got plenty of of pillows to stack Stonehenge style. The trick is leaving the LR in a state that you can still use it yourself. How big does the fort have to be?

WesBarton89 - The Way to Santa Fe > zeontestpilot 03/09/2015 at 16:53

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That's awesome. You're lucky. Free furniture is good.

Shamoononon drives like a farmer > zeontestpilot 03/09/2015 at 16:55

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As others have pointed out, that certainly is a lot of furniture for a smaller family. Maybe get rid of some of it?

zeontestpilot > jariten1781 03/09/2015 at 16:55

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I like free or cheap things, :). But my wife says the same thing. But this room is huge, it was once s two car garage. That's a lot of real estate to take up, :/

zeontestpilot > ShelbyRacer78-Fusion Modifier 03/09/2015 at 16:56

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Dude, excellent idea!

OPPOsaurus WRX > zeontestpilot 03/09/2015 at 16:56

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zeontestpilot > TheHondaBro 03/09/2015 at 16:57

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Naw, I think that's parenthood. For Forza I just put a mushroom chair in front of the tv, lol.

area man > zeontestpilot 03/09/2015 at 16:58

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Blankets tucked behind cushions and stretched over open spaces make for excellent roofs.

Toby F., Manager > zeontestpilot 03/09/2015 at 16:58

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Fly me in! I am, what you call, a "fort" architect.

Lol. As a child, I grew up making these frequently.

Kidding aside, you appear to have more than enough supplies (cushions) to build a fort mansion with "interior" walls/rooms. Don't forget to use blankets or so to make a roof and/or to patch light seepage.

Go about and have fun! Don't forget the snacks!

zeontestpilot > 505Turbeaux 03/09/2015 at 16:59

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I thought the fun part was leaving them out. And put a " no moms allowed" sign on it.

505Turbeaux > zeontestpilot 03/09/2015 at 17:00

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hahaha nah it is more fun to build it and then build it again. If you want that build a tree house!

zeontestpilot > Mr. Ontop, No Strokes, No Smokes...Goes Fast. 03/09/2015 at 17:05

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It makes it better cause I have a dog as well..

zeontestpilot > Shamoononon drives like a farmer 03/09/2015 at 17:13

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It is a lot, I'll admit that. But it sort of works out though. We've been attending a bible study at a house, that can seat 7 people at once, period. 6 adults attend it, with 5 kids on average. When we moved into this house, we said the bible study could be here instead. We can seat 11 comfortably.

Plus, I got it all for free, which was nice.

zeontestpilot > area man 03/09/2015 at 17:19

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I've tried that, so maybe the blankets are too small?

zeontestpilot > OPPOsaurus WRX 03/09/2015 at 17:20

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I'm thinking a BB gun would be perfect with that ensemble....

Osiris - I can haz Euro spec? > zeontestpilot 03/09/2015 at 17:21

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As a father of a soon to be 4 year old and soon to be 1 year old, your house is clean! As for the fort, get a couple of dining table chairs, put them near the couch and wrap blankets over them. That's the quick and easy way.

zeontestpilot > Toby F., Manager 03/09/2015 at 17:22

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Actually, I think there's only 5 cushions. The white sectional cushions are sown down (dang it, why?). Still, there are large.....

zeontestpilot > Osiris - I can haz Euro spec? 03/09/2015 at 17:27

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That's a good idea. We have like....*counts*...6 dining room chairs so that could work!

And thanks for the compliment. I'm pretty sure a fairy comes in and cleans the place. My wife tries to steal the credit though...

zeontestpilot > WesBarton89 - The Way to Santa Fe 03/09/2015 at 17:35

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We are extremely lucky, lol. We have a bunch more stuff that was obtained either free or on the cheap side. Most of it through church connections or family. :)

zeontestpilot > 505Turbeaux 03/09/2015 at 17:37

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Ha, we have a "partial" tree house outside from the previous owners. It's just a deck used for airsoft. Though I see potential...

zeontestpilot > ttyymmnn 03/09/2015 at 17:39

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big enough to hold her, and half of me. My legs can stick out, I dont really care, lol.

ttyymmnn > zeontestpilot 03/09/2015 at 17:43

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Then I would just take some of the back cushions and lay them from the sofa to the coffee table. You can close off one end. You got marshmallows?

zeontestpilot > ttyymmnn 03/09/2015 at 17:50

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The food or something else?

ttyymmnn > zeontestpilot 03/09/2015 at 17:55

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Food. Good for camp outs.

zeontestpilot > ttyymmnn 03/09/2015 at 18:09

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Ha, not yet, but I will though. There are two fire pits on the property, :). One in the backyard, one on the deck. Technically, my house is on a campground, so it's like camping in a cabin year round, :).

ttyymmnn > zeontestpilot 03/09/2015 at 18:10

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Take some pics. Sounds like fun!

Osiris - I can haz Euro spec? > zeontestpilot 03/09/2015 at 18:13

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Ha. I realized that trying to clean is futile. I clean the living room, the play room is messed up. I clean the play room, the bedroom gets messed up. I clean the bedroom, the living room gets messed up. It's a vicious circle that never ends. Keeps things interesting though.

zeontestpilot > Osiris - I can haz Euro spec? 03/09/2015 at 18:38

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The way we have everything set up, her toys are in the living room ( the one above), and not her bedroom ( not much space). This helps maintain the house.

Though our bedroom is apparently free game for her. I've found a plastic knitting needle under my covers, lol.

zeontestpilot > ttyymmnn 03/09/2015 at 18:42

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I plan on it, I'm a bit proud of our house, :). We bought it in October, so I still need to do some outside work. the put out back is covered by branches.

ttyymmnn > zeontestpilot 03/09/2015 at 18:51

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Somebody farther up was giving you grief about your furniture, but it looks comfy as hell to me. And your home looks well lived in. Which means you live in it well. Our house is fairly small, and with 5 humans in it, we often suffer from CHAOS: Can't Have Anybody Over Syndrome. But I'd much rather have the boys playing in the same room as the rest of the family than sequestered to some room where we can't see or hear them. In fact, I just added a rather substantial indoor basketball hoop to our living room. It's a huge hit, especially with all the rain we've had lately.

XJDano > zeontestpilot 03/09/2015 at 18:58

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Make up your mind on the wood walls, vertical, horizontal, or diagonal!

Probably not your doing but it would drive me nuts.

zeontestpilot > XJDano 03/09/2015 at 19:12

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Hahaha, so you noticed that then? It's from two owners ago. The wood is apparently the stuff you use for flooring, which is an interesting choice....

Other parts of the house have their own idea of direction. If you go down the stairs, to the left, is the living room. And here its a different type if wood!

The previous previous owners had weird ideas. 90% of the moulding in the house is just 2x4's. There are barely any slanted edges in the house. It's really weird but impressive at the same time. No doubt they saved money that way. Plus it gives the house a primitive feel, which i like, :).

XJDano > zeontestpilot 03/09/2015 at 19:29

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I am doing the same idea in my garage with some free wood I came across ( only 1/3 done).

zeontestpilot > ttyymmnn 03/09/2015 at 19:43

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Thanks for seeing it from my point of view, :).

I think it's 1400 sq. ft. It only has 3 bedrooms, which is pretty decent, but they aren't very big. That's why most of our stuff is in the living room. The house needs some tlc, but how else am I to acquire awesome stories like how I electrocuted myself installing lights to a ceiling fan? Or how i swept my own chimney? Or even how I defended the house from a passive possum, bigger than a house cat, with nothing more than throwing snowballs at it? That last one had nothing to do with house ownership, I'm just proud of it.

Do the kids like to shoot hoops? The previous owners left a bunch of stuff behind, including an outdoor basketball hoop. I was going to assess the damage to it this spring.

ttyymmnn > zeontestpilot 03/09/2015 at 21:46

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1400 sf is the size of my house. Three BRs, one big family room. It's impossible to keep it clean. I'm in the middle of my second shot at fixing the dryer. I replaced the heating element two years ago, but it's not heating again. Might be some switches, or thermostat, but I haven't figured it out yet. Bought a multimeter today so I can diagnose. I've also repaired my washing machine and lawn mower. There are YouTube videos with just about every repair imaginable. With a basic set of tools, some knowledge, and a little courage, you can fix just about everything. Saves a hell of a lot of money!

My boys do like to shoot hoops. We got them a basketball goal outside the Christmas before last. When the weather's nice, they're outside often shooting on it. Especially since I banned video games during the week. It's good for them to get outside and blow off some steam after school.

zeontestpilot > ttyymmnn 03/09/2015 at 22:21

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I think square footage doesn't count the basement, right? Or something that? I have no idea.

In our house its 3 bedrooms, two full baths (one is inoperable currently, needs new toilet), the massive living space seen above, and another living room upstairs, which is now the overly size dining room. We also have another room in the basement which is unfinished, no dry walls or insulation. That's our current summer project.

im slightly dreading this spring for lawn care. I got a ride on tractor for mowing, and 4 weed whackers, none of them I'm even sure works. They were left behind.

And I'm glad for no video games! It means there are still good , caring parents out there! :)