My grandmother has been in the old-folks place for a couple of years now, and Christmas is one of those times that she looks forward to for the entire year. She doesn't get around very well anymore and spends most of her days in bed, but, she still has a keen mind and stays busy with some crafts and hobbies.
Crocheting, Knitting, and embroidery are about the only things she can do from her bed aside from reading and gossiping. Last year, I built some swan-like bird feeder hangers and gave her one for Christmas to go ouside her window... The last time I visited, she had it inside on a shelf because she said she couldn't stand to put it outside since she liked looking at it so much... *shrugs*....
I wanted to build her something this year that would help with some of the crafts she does and considered a few things for her room but I have some limitations...
Her room is very small and There really is not many places to stow away things.
My first thought was to build her some kind of work space that she can sit in her lap while on her bed that will have small drawers to hold things such as thread, needles, etc. Something like a breakfast in bed tray/hobbie desk hybrid kind of thing. I will need to be small enough to close up and toss aside fairly easily, and light enough to retrieve with one hand. It will also need to be comfortable enough to be at for a few hours at a time. I'll likely install one of those gel key-board wrist rests on it for comfort and probably keep shard edges and corners to a minimum.
The problem I am running into is the same problem I run into with every project I begin. I am just not experienced enough at building things to build without any plans or guidlines. In my mind, I visualize it to have lots of drawers, hinges, latches, magnets (for keeping needles in place), spindles for thread, drawers with tiny organizers to keep things in place, maybe and extra pull-out workspace in the sides... But of course, visualizing is the easy part...
With the number of elderly people in nursing homes, I thought there would be some products I could easily build ideas off of, but I have not found anything other than a book holder kind of thing...
Has anyone built anything like this, or have plans for something similar so I can get started?
Thanks
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