The Bench

The bench is finished! 

The bench is completely painted.

Oh poo, the bench is in the house....

Ok, so FINALLY this weekend I called the bench "done" enough to bring it in the house and start using it. 

I started this project back in January.  

I went out and purchased the lumber.  It sat there.  For WEEKS.

Then, one free weekend my husband gave me a crash course on the table saw and we got a LOT of it done.

It actually seemed to be coming together!

Then I primed it.

Then I went out and got the black paint and I got sick.

Time seemed to stand still on this project.  I couldn't bring myself to clean the house, much less go into the garage and paint this bench.

But, I kept plugging on at it and finally I'm done.

Well kind of.

I still have to sand the plywood backing, paint it, poly it and nail it on.

I have to get the foam and sew the cushion cover on the top.

But really, it's nearly there.

Oh, and I still need baskets.  

 I've gone to about a hundred stores looking for baskets to fit the holes and my budget and it's been no luck.  My husband warned me I should have got baskets first, then modified the plan to fit the baskets.  I laughed at him.  Silly man.  Ross has about a million baskets I told him.

Yeah, Ross has been OUT of baskets the past month.  Like there is some sort of basket shortage there or something.  I found some at Target that will work, but I don't feel like forking over $15 per basket.  UGH!

Have I said before he is a smart man and I should listen to him more?

I guess I'll never learn.

Why I'm NOT making a bunk bed

So, if you've been around our family or this blog for any amount of time,  you know we like to be frugal around here.  We also like to make things ourselves.  We kinda pride ourselves in it, being able to create and take something for little and make it into something kinda awesome.

That is why it pains me a bit to be PURCHASING bunk beds.

I had all intentions to make this bed:

img from Ana White.com courtesy of Ever Heard of Eueless

This is Ana's bunk bed plan, made by Ever Heard of Eueless.  Beautiful.  LOVE LOVE LOVE it.  Problem is when I started pricing out the cost of the materials, plus mattresses, plus paint, plus my time, I was only saving about $50 bucks.  $100 if I was lucky.  Let's be honest people.  I'd pay someone $50-$100 bucks to sand for me.  As much as I love to build, can you imagine all the SANDING on this bed.  (no sanding makes me happy).

There are times in your life when time is more precious than money.  This is one of those moments.

Right now our family is smack dab in the middle of military stuff, boy scout banquets, a lead role in a school musical, workout and weight loss plans, tumbling practice and training for 10K's.

Oh also my youngest has learned to climb in and out of her crib, so a new bed is really needed ASAP.

Taking 2-3 weekend to build a bed, actually just FINDING two to three free weekends to build a bed is just not feasible right now.

So, I bite the bullet, throw in the towel.  I'm buying the bed.  I'm sure someday sometime down the road I may regret this decision.  (trust me I've gone back and forth over this for the past several weeks), but for now its the best decision to be made.

Table Saw 101

So we finally had a free weekend that my husband and I could both be in the garage together.  I needed him to be there when I started building the bench because I needed him to give me a crash course in Table saw 101.

I was pretty freaked starting out, because it's such a dangerous piece of equipment.  I wish we would have got the one that the blade stops if it senses skin on it, but we don't have the luxury of owning that one.  Maybe someday.

Like Norm says "measure twice, cut once".

Started out with all my measurements.

Then it was time for me to put my big girl pants on and make my cuts.  It's tricky holding onto the wood while pushing it through.  The table saw is also pretty quiet.  Our miter saw makes a BIG scary noise, this thing is pretty quiet.  That helps calm the nerves a bit.

You may be tempted to grab the wood next to the blade to move it out of the way. DON'T do that.  This is me jumping back after I make my cut.  Yeah, I was pretty freaked out.  I like my fingers and really want to keep them.

Here is all my wood, cut, sanded and ready for assembly!  I would say I made a good portion of the cuts myself, the rest my wonderful husband did.  SO proud of myself for using the big scary table saw!