Tuesday, September 8

Labor Day weekend's Labors

First, I'm going to kvetch for a bit.    I've been cranky, really cranky, because I feel like the deadline to get the bed finished (in reality, yes, a friend can sleep on a mattress on the floor, but I want them to have a proper bed) is getting way too close (less than 2 weeks!).

As I was reading/watching the instructions re: the bed, I realize that I needed a 5/8" hole saw/forstner bit.  For some reason I had forgotten that little part.  I had the 1", I had some holes pre-drilled, but I had 4 5/8" holes that had to be done.  

Now, for those who don't know (I didn't!), 5/8" is an odd size and not something your local big-box store is going to carry.  In fact, when I was looking for something, there was a woodworker who happened to be in the same section as me and he let me know that he had to go to a specialty store in Raleigh for it.

So I did what any modern-woman would do.  I ordered it from Amazon.  I paid extra for the overnight shipping so that I would get it on Monday and could finish building the piece, which gave me 3 weeks for sanding and staining, which I believed would give me plenty of time.

And then Monday came around, and I waited for the part.  And waited for the part.  So I just decided "eff it, I'll just skip my Tuesday  night game night to work on the bed", and it still didn't show.  Wednesday, I checked my tracking info, no updates.   No updates for days.  And I called the specialty store, and lo' they did not have that part in stock (it was on the website), but they could order it for me, but it would take a week to get.  And Amazon just issues me a refund, because they're like "um, this is totes lost, we don't know where it is, and oh yeah, there are no more of them in stock."

Great.

I did find one online and ordered it in time for the Labor Day weekend.  The Other Half was out of town for the weekend, so, honestly, I just vegged out on Saturday being a lazy introvert, and stitched and binge watched the last season of Once Upon a Time.  And the 2nd forstner bit appeared.

But as of Sunday, all of the components of the bed are built!  Now just staining and assembly are left.

I'll have my bed done, I'll get my garage back to park in, AND I'll be able to finish the lady cave! (I'm waiting to see where exactly the cabinet fits, since it has to be anchored, before putting up the wall shelves).  Now I'm back to happy :)

And I stitched some this weekend, too.

I worked on Wendy's RR.   Her theme is "Ladies"  So of course, this is how I interpret it ;)
I did stall out after doing a bit more than this.  I had converted and played with a pic I found online, and I'm not happy with the skintones.  They're entirely too dark, IMO (especially if it's supposed to resemble my pale Eastern European self).

When hobbies collide...

And since I was binge watching TV, a bit lazy, and wanting to work on something mindless that would give me a palate cleanser before I go back to fighting with my Lady, I started this piece.  One color down, 4 to go:
This one is a mystery until I get it done.
But it will go in my office, because I find it inspiring in a hilarious way.

And just for the sake of completeness, here's the update on the bed!
I labeled a bit (you'd have to click and get the bigger size to read it, I'm sure).  The cabinet should take the rest of the week, and hopefully I can get the bed over the weekend?



The worst part (haha) is that I want something plain, so I was not going to decorate or trim out the murphy bed, but I did see some simple trim ideas that I did like.  I think I can go ahead, and finish the bed, and then just stain the trim and attach it after it's in place (so it won't kill my deadline to get the bed moved in and functional).  Why do I have to have ideas?!?!?!

8 comments:

  1. It looks great! I'm planning something similar for my craft room especially if we get a 2 bedroom place instead of a 3.

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    1. I'm so glad I thought of the murphy bed. I really needed the floor space, but I have enough friends staying over I don't want to put them in a blow up bed or something, and I hate the idea of needing more space to hoard/clean/etc just for a "once in a while" thing :)

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  2. Great to hear you're still moving forward and nice stitching!

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  3. What hardware did you use for the Murphy Bed?

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    1. I went with the Create-A-Bed deluxe kit. The instructions (written *and* DVD) were fantastic! And the parts seem to be of a good quality.
      http://www.create-a-bed.com/deluxe_kit.html

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  4. It's all coming together! You can do it!!

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  5. I'm still very impressed with your skill to do this! Great progress on the bed, and great stitching as well of course ^_^

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