Stop Toys from Hiding Under the Couch!

Gathered materials:

• Spare 1×2
• Leftover black spray paint
• Brad gun and 2 inch nails

Step 1: Measure the length between the front feet of the couch. I didn’t want to see the board from the ends of the couch, so I measured from about the center points of the feet. Mine was 74 inches.

Step 2: Cut a piece of 1×2. In the garage, I measured 74 inches on a spare 1×2 and used the miter saw to make 1 simple cut. (An entire project that requires only 1 cut! Again, I’m kicking myself that I didn’t do this forever ago.)

Step 3: Lay out the board. I balanced it on our recycling and trash bins.

Step 4: Paint the board. Using leftover black spray paint, I painted the front, top, and bottom of the board. I went with black so it would hide in the shadows under the couch. But I didn’t bother painting the backside since it would be lost to sight.

Edit: Some people have asked what color I would recommend if their couch is a bright color, like teal or red. There are SO many spray paint colors out there, that I’m sure you could find one similar to your couch. If you can’t find one that’s exact, get a shade or two darker in the closest color you can find – the shadows from being under your couch will help disguise that it’s not an exact match, and by being darker it will work with any shadows too. You could match the paint to the color of your floor as well!

Step 5: Dry. After painting, I brought the 1×2 into the house to dry because it was so cold out in the garage. It did stink up the house a little bit, so if you can leave it outside, that’s obviously better. But it didn’t take long to dry.

Step 6: Flip your couch. Once the 1×2 was dry, I flipped over our couch and held the board in place. I had some help. LOL. But once my help got bored, I used a nearby end table to hold the end up close enough to where it needed to go while I first worked with the opposite end. (The board isn’t heavy, so you could probably hold it yourself while you work if you’re more coordinated than me.)

Step 7: Attach the 1×2 to the couch feet. I used a brad gun to nail the 1×2 in place. It only took 2-3 nails on each end. You could also use a screw if you wanted – my brad gun was just faster. Be sure to attach the board at the bottom of your couch’s feet so there’s no gap between the board and the floor.

Step 8: Return the couch to its place. Once the board was attached, I flipped the couch back into place. Now all that was left was a test run of knocking toys under the couch…and it worked! The blocks and toys hit the board and couldn’t be lost under the couch anymore!

Seriously the easiest fix to one very annoying problem. 😜

Now I suppose I should clean my floors. lol

See you next time!