holly's diy storage bed - the build

 It's finally done! Weeks and weeks of work on the design and build is finally done, and I can't believe it actually looks pretty darn good!

If you missed the design, you can see it here.

The bed is in place, clothes put away and the books are the shelves. A sigh of relief and the garage is finally back to holding cars and not bed parts. Here's some pictures of the build.

We started with the bookcase since it was the easiest to do.

The deal struck with Holly was since the veto was made on every bed we tried to purchase, that she would help sand and paint each piece.

She lived up to her end and what a fine job she did!

The back cabinets were easy also as they were only there to support the mattress. These cabinets would face the wall and not be seen.

Each piece was painted whether they were back or front cabinets.

Front cabinets were made which held the drawers. This was the hardest part for me, but they turned out fine.

The white paint made everything look bright and clean.

The drawer build wasn't as bad as I expected. We cut all the sides.

Dado cuts were made to help keep everything nice and square. 

Quarter inch plywood was cut and side into place.

Burke and Holly were absolutely fascinated that they could stand the broom up all by itself.

Work on the headboard began.

Wiring was done for the power center in the headboard.

Then we added some fancy trim at the top and leftover bead board from the basement ceiling was used as the back.

Special trim needs a bit of a pop of color - not too much.

Finally the bed is assembled.

Drawers were filled.

Items plugged into the power center.

Books put away.

Even a nightlight.

Snug as a bug in a rug. It was a lot of work - but she loves it, and so do we. 

Thank goodness for Ana White's website.  Parts and pieces were taken from this and that piece and together we created my daughters vision. Thanks Ana for the plans and the confidence to believe I could do it!

Michigan Ren Fest!

If Aunt Dottie was still with us, she would love love love going to the Renaissance Festival in Holly, MI. I can imagine her repeating, "Neat!" as she walked around.

We haven't been in a few years because it's gotten so huge and usually packed with people, but because of Julia's arrival and I had a feeling she would love it - we set out first thing in the morning.

It's also fun for me to say things like - "Holly, we're in Holly!" Or seeing, Holly Area Schools, or Holly Foods. I love how they made the O into a heart. I literally could go on ... but I'll stop.

OK - one more.

Julia's eyes lit up as we entered the land of Ren Fest. She's a HUGE Xena fan and I told Julia that Xena may just be there.

We started to make our way through the crowd and sat down for the Jousting match.

Our Knight was Tyler, the "ladies man". Shoot! Why didn't I get a picture of Tyler? He lost .... beaten down as the crowd yelled, "Walk it off!".

We took a little trip through Mermaid lagoon. It was packed with people. The trail was filled with mermaid themed art like this....

And then at the end was a real life mermaid! And ... she works on tips!

All and all it was a very nice day, sunny but not too hot. As the afternoon drew around, it became even more crowded which was our clue to exit. But not after stopping at McDonald's for Julia's first double cheeseburger.