Wood-working, project #1

   Nearly every time that I have mentioned that I wanted bunk beds for the kids, David has mentioned that he would like to build them. I secretly chuckled for a few reasons. A- we had zero tools that were required and B- I really thought we should start on something a little smaller.  I don't want to say that we had ZERO skills going into this project. I feel like I grew up watching This Old House and The New Yankee Workshop, and heck, I had a semester of 'Wood-shop' in the 7th grade. David put shelves up in our other garage, but I think it mostly stopped there. WELL, when we moved last year, we bought the front loader washer and dryer. For the pair, we were already putting down a pretty penny, and couldn't fathom the extra $270 per each pedestal. Yikes, right?! Anyways, I had seen a few furniture-style options on a blog that I subscribe to, and it linked to Ana White's site with all the plans. David bought a miter-saw and a brad-nailer from Lowe's on Black Friday for his Christmas Present, and we decided that this Washer and Dryer Pedestal could be our first project. 

   I measured our space, adjusted the plans accordingly, and made a shopping list along with a cut list. We spent $150 on lumber and hardware, and got started. At the end of a long Saturday, we had it mostly done. Since it was our first big project, it took much longer than we expected. We made 3 more trips to the hardware store for various supplies, but it came together rather well. The plans were cryptic in places, maybe expecting us to just know how to attach certain pieces, but we figured it out. David even let me use the nail gun, which was quite thrilling. We stripped many screws and broke one drill bit, but no one was harmed in the making of this piece.



  I changed up the the trim a little from the plans, since I didn't want to make cuts to go all around the front post. I just used the trim to cover the end of the MDF deck.

   I sanded it smooth and painted it (with left overs from our bedroom) during the course of last week, and then David moved it up the stairs all by himself this past Saturday. Okay, I helped a little, but not much. We drilled it together in the loft, and after moving the washer and dryer out of the way, we were able to put it where it belongs. The really tricky part was getting the washer up on the deck. It's ridiculously heavy! Shockingly, David did it by himself! I was feeding the kids downstairs, so I didn't even get to watch, but I know that he used a few scrap pieces of wood and created a sort of lever. I need to go back and do some touch up paint where it got scuffed a bit, but it looks wonderful.

   I did my first load of laundry with it the other day, and loved that I didn't need to sit on the floor. I love that the baskets can slide underneath and out of the way for storage too.

   Oh, and I think that once my belly is not full of baby, it will be a great hide-and-go seek spot!

  Our next project? Maybe we will tackle those bunk beds.