Difficulties in caring for children are largely due to the fact that buying everything you need can be quite a difficult task for the family budget. Another question is whether parents manage to find exactly what they would like in stores, or in fact there is nothing perfect among the assortment. Both reasons that do not allow purchasing this or that product, one way or another, suggest that it would be nice to make it yourself. For example, a highchair - if dad has sufficient experience with various tools, he may well make it with his own hands.
Features:
Contrary to the seeming simplicity, a do-it-yourself highchair is not such an easy task to complete without any preparation. Do not start work until you have a clear understanding of how the final result should look like and what operations will have to be performed for this.
Also, don't ignore the calculations. Any chair must be strong enough to withstand its "passenger", and the child, although not heavy, will not sit neatly on it, especially since the dimensions of such furniture are also small.
Strength requirements are relevant not only for basic materials, but also for fasteners, be they self-tapping screws, glue or grooves. In addition, the baby is constantly growing, and it makes sense to make a highchair with a margin of at least a couple of years in advance. For all its strength, the product should be comfortable, that is, approximately correspond to the dimensions of the owner.
Also try to ensure the proper lightness of the furniture being manufactured - it should be convenient for the owner to independently move his chair to where he wants to sit at the moment.
Remember to keep an eye on safety. Furniture, in any case, cannot be traumatic, and children’s - even more so. The presence of any sharp edges is not allowed, and if wood is the main material, as is the case in most cases, then it must be carefully sanded to avoid peeling splinters. When covering the finished product with varnish or paint, give preference to a natural one - children tend to drag everything in their mouths, and can be poisoned by a toxic coating.
Finally, remember that this chair is for the baby. In addition to suitable sizes, it is desirable for a piece of furniture to be beautiful as well. If a complex decor is not for you, try to at least paint it in bright colors.
Drawings, dimensions, diagrams
Before proceeding directly to the manufacture of parts, it is necessary to draw up a drawing with dimensions - only in this way all the components will ideally fit one another. You can use either one of those ready-made options that are already posted on the World Wide Web, or draw up a diagram yourself. It is important to note here that there are drawings and instructions on the Internet explaining how to make a table and chair of a standard look, so they are usually not suitable for those who want to create something original - for example, an elephant chair.
- Drawing the table and chairsthat can be made in the form of a kit do not have to follow the principles of drawing strictly: there are not so many details in them that they cannot be kept in mind. The main thing for us is to make sure that all the dimensions fit together, and the parts fit perfectly to one another, but the methods of connecting individual parts must be present in the drawing. In general, it can be submitted schematically, without high drawing accuracy.
- Think over the dimensions (or choose ready-made drawings based on them)starting from the convenience of the child. Chairs are considered comfortable if the seat is at knee level or slightly lower. In the case of a highchair, it is recommended to make the seat a little higher, because the child will probably still grow. At the same time, do not overdo it: if it is difficult for the baby to climb onto the seat, then the product can be considered unsuccessful.
- Determining the size of the seat itself, keep in mind that the owner must fit freely on it, but do not make it too large - this will make the chair heavier and difficult to carry. The normal height of the back is about two-thirds or three-quarters of the wearer's back, making it above the neck is already impractical. When determining the thickness of future parts, rely only on the strength of the selected material and the weight of the child.
Materials
For ease of processing and environmental friendliness among the materials for the manufacture of children's furniture, wood and its derivatives are undoubtedly holding the palm. Therefore, most often you can find a wooden chair. However, you cannot choose any tree - here it is also worth thinking about before starting to manufacture. The most popular of all types of wood is beech. They are as strong as oak, but are easier to process and cheaper. In general, it is hardwood that is considered a priority. Birch is often chosen from inexpensive options; linden can also be considered.
Spruce and pine are suitable for making furniture from coniferous trees, but the resin contained in any such wood is dangerous - it can stain clothes, and it can also pose a threat to health. Regardless of the specific species, choose a homogeneous tree, without knots and cracks, with an even texture.
The seat material can be similar to the body material, or it can be fundamentally different. In order to save money and achieve greater flexibility, the seat is also made of plywood, and even chipboard. When choosing them, give preference to only the most durable types, but remember that they are in any case inferior in durability to solid natural wood.
For increased softness, the seat can be additionally equipped with a small foam cushion, covered with a fabric that is pleasant to the touch.
There is also such a seating option as made of plastic bottles - both whole and cut. Harmful plastic, present in the form of garbage in any apartment and polluting the environment, could get a second life, especially since its strength and durability are very high. This option is still much less common due to the complexity of reliable fastening of individual parts, as well as the not very attractive appearance of the finished product.
Colors and decor
For all its practicality and convenience, the baby will definitely not like the chair if it cannot be described with the word "beautiful". Nobody makes any special chairs for teenagers, and brightness and attractiveness are very important for young children. Therefore, do not limit yourself to only one colorless varnish or discreet monochromatic solutions. A monochromatic color is generally permissible only if a light or very bright shade is chosen - often it is red or yellow, the so-called "warm" tones.
If drawing is not alien to you, please your child with interesting design solutions. You can go "adult" way, painting the frame in one color, and the seat and back - in another, or you can focus on the child's desire for a bright and challenging. The simplest option is “rings” on the legs of the chair, any patterns and even just blots are also acceptable, provided that it looks cute and positive. Regardless of how much and what kind of paint you used, do not forget - it should not be toxic.
If you have a creative streak and a desire to complicate the task a little for the general good of the case, you can also perform a more complex decor. Alternatively, decorate the legs or back of the chair with carvings, but adults would like this solution more. But for a child, a chic solution will be a decoration in the form of one or another animal. The classic version is when the back is cut out to resemble an elephant, or any other cute little animal, and then painted to look more like a "cartoon" character.
Covers can also become a kind of decor. In addition to their typical functions, such as making furniture easier to clean and increasing the comfort of its use, they can also decorate the back of the highchair. Ideally, they should depict the child's favorite hero, characters from popular fairy tales, or the same animals. Mom can help dad with making a cover, especially if she knows how to embroider or has the skills to apply fabric. If your mother does not have such talents, you can simply alter a cover from clothes, on which the necessary pictures were applied by the factory method.
For the smallest children
The youngest children are still sitting on the chair for only one activity - eating food. It is important and necessary to teach a child to eat while sitting, and indeed to sit, in particular, at the table. However, the peculiarities of its development at this stage do not allow using ordinary chairs for this. The problem lies in the fact that a simple chair does not have a back with handles, and a tiny child himself cannot sit on it evenly yet and will simply fall over.
As for highchairs, their sizes usually do not allow you to choose a normal table for them. In this situation, a special highchair will be an excellent solution.
Such furniture should be comfortable for both the child and his mother - for now, the child cannot eat on his own, because his mother will have to spoon feed him. For the convenience of this operation, the chair is made with a height at the normal level, or even a little higher so that the mother does not bend over. The real term of use of such a chair is about a year, so if you have one child, and the second family does not plan at all, you can choose not the most durable materials for manufacturing.
In terms of manufacturing, the highchair is perhaps the most difficult - it has the largest number of parts. The relatively small seat is raised high above the floor, which makes it necessary to resort to installing additional stiffeners between the legs - for improved structural stability.
Taking into account the specifics of a child of the appropriate age, both the backrest and the railing are simply necessary - they must completely exclude the possibility of the baby falling. Moreover, the barrier should also be in front, although it also has another useful function - it plays the role of a tabletop on which food will be placed. The space under the countertop is left free - the baby will stick his legs there.
Cutting and assembling a chair like this is pretty simple. First, according to the drawing, two identical side halves are cut out, which are then connected to each other by a seat, a backrest and stiffeners using grooves, glue or self-tapping screws. Before assembly, all individual parts should be sanded to a perfectly smooth state, the finished product is varnished or painted - finished.
Models for an older child
The peculiarity of highchairs for children who have finally left infancy consists in a significant variety of design options, limited only by the imagination of the creator. The backrest is still considered a mandatory attribute, but the handrail is no longer, like the front barriers. It is not worth saving on materials in this situation - if the furniture is made with a margin of size, then the child will be able to use his chair for many years.
The manufacturing process consists of in a few simple steps:
- Think over the design to the smallest detail and draw up a drawing. Decide on the number of body parts - whether it will simply consist of two solid halves or from separate legs and separate supports for the seat, whether the base of the back will be a continuation of the rear legs or it will be attached separately, and so on. Calculate everything, including the thickness of the seat and legs, foresee the stiffeners and additional supports under the seat. Provide grooves, mark the places for the screws.
- If doubts about the correctness of the selected parameters still remain, try to assemble a temporary cardboard chair according to the drawing. Unfortunately, it does not have the same strength to test the product from all sides, and it differs in thickness from wood or plywood, which must also be taken into account when specifying the dimensions, but you will get a visual idea of the future product.
- Start carving individual pieces out of wood or plywood. It is advised to start with the body. It's good if there are many identical parts in the set - then the subsequent ones can be cut out by simply tracing the finished first one. If the design allows, do not postpone the assembly until the moment when you have cut everything - start right away, as soon as you have at least two parts that need to be connected. This will help you immediately notice any design flaws, if any. After the parts are ready, sand them to a smooth state.
- When all the elements are ready, proceed with the final assembly. Do not be limited to one type of fasteners, in particular, glue the grooves - this will significantly strengthen the product and increase its durability. Provide the deepest possible entry of the grooves - tap the joints with a hammer to make the fastening more secure.
- The last step is varnishing and painting.
Video Tips
No matter how detailed and intelligible the theoretical explanation is, it is unlikely to be compared in terms of information content with an illustrative example, because it is better to see once than hear a hundred times.
Hand the video is one of the best examples of how you can make a highchair with your own hands. The master tells literally everything, including the dimensions of the parts he used, so that you can do without even a drawing, just repeating what he says. The resulting chair is fairly simple in design, but easy to make. You can find many other similar videos on the network, but the models there are always approximately the same, and here the process is shown in great detail and clearly.
Watch a master class on making a baby chair with your own hands:
The principle of making a highchair for feeding is generally similar, but it is worth studying in more detail both because of the increased complexity of the design, and simply because another master is already telling, who can reveal some new points.
