DIY: Hung up and easy to find

A trophy shelf and cap-and-coat rack in a child's room means never again having to hear, "Mum, where'd you put my cap?" Photo / Michael Craig

Greig Morgan's latest project will ensure the team cleans up.

Here's a practical project that's not too hard to make that will help keep jackets, caps and bags out of the way and keep bedrooms neat and tidy. I chose a soccer theme, with a shelf to put trophies on, for Jamie, my soccer-mad son, but you can make it to suit your child's preferences. The look of surprise on his face when he saw it absolutely made my day.

Step 1 - With the aid of a square, measure, mark and cut the board to length then scribe a pencil line around a bucket (or similarly round object) at either end. This gives you the ball-shaped ends as well as providing the width to cut along with your skill saw for your back board. Then cut the end shapes out with a jig saw along the waste side of the pencil line.

Step 2 - For your shelf, measure and cut your MDF about 140mm less than the back board by about 80mm wide. You could leave the shelf ends square - I curved the ends on mine tracing around a glass. Then cut the shape out with a jig saw.

Step 3 - Using a sander, sand the edges of the components with 80-grit to remove jig saw marks and to smooth to the pencil line. Also sand to round over and remove all sharp edges, then finish with 150-grit sandpaper.

Step 4 - Wipe with a damp cloth to remove any dust before applying your primer undercoat then, once dried (about four hours each coat), lightly sand between top coats with 220-grit wet and dry sandpaper. For best results, keep the paper wet.

Step 5 - With the back board and shelf finished with two coats of paint, make up a template for both ends by folding the edges of paper to the curved MDF end shape. Then, cutting the folded shape with a pair of scissors, sketch out and mark on the template a football shape with black and white areas. Only cut out the holes for the white areas to be painted. Also cut to allow for the stitching look.

Step 6 - Place the templates one at either end to a pencil line about 150mm in at either end, then tape your template down neatly along the line as well as taping the outer curved edges down firmly ready to be painted white.

Step 7 - Measure and mark the centre on the back board for the positioning of the shelf, then mark and drill 4mm holes, evenly spaced, and fix the shelf from the back with 32mm screws.

Now find the centre between the bottom of the board and bottom of the shelf - as well as marking evenly spaced gaps for the positioning of the knobs - before drilling 4mm holes and fitting the screws from the back into the thread on the knob.

Note: you will have to cut the thread of the provided screw with a hacksaw, placing the screw head in a vice, to get the right length.

Step 8 - Find the wall stud with a stud finder, then drill the position on the centre just above and below the shelf back board and place the board, with the aid of a level, and fix the board in place.

Materials
• 12mm MDF
• Easy-peel masking tape
• Primer paint
• White semi-gloss paint
• Black semi-gloss paint
• Soccer ball knobs
• 32x6g screws
• Bucket
• 45mm screws
• 80 and 150-grit sandpaper
• 220 wet and dry paper

Tools
• Skill saw
• Jig saw
• Tape measure
• Pencil
• Screw gun
• 4mm drill bit
• Finishing sander
• Speed brush
• Cutting-in paint brush
• Scissors
• Hacksaw
• Level
• Stud finder