knock off wood.

Uh, so the power of the internets really is profound. I was glancing at the Woot! blog yesterday when I noticed a little link off to the righthand side that said something like 'crate your own barrel' and so, eh, I clicked on it. And it brought me here. To some woman named Ana's blog. And there I found something completely amazing ... plans she has made from reverse-engineering furniture from places like Pottery Barn, Restoration Hardware and - yes, apparently - Crate & Barrel. Why? Because that stuff is ridiculously expensive and she could not afford it, but has good taste (don't we all?). So ... she started this blog.

And a quick search of it, well - much to my amazement - brought up the detailed plans of the very bed I have had in mind to buy for a couple of years ever since first eyeing it in a Pottery Barn catalog (as apparently this post at my old blog confirms). For what I am estimating to be maybe $100 in materials and a solid weekend of my time (OK, the staining might take a few days to apply multiple coats of stain and then varnish), I will get the satisfaction of having not spent about two grand on a bed and having made it myself.

I figure with the $1800 or so that I'll save - since the plans look like the only real power tool required will be a chop saw - I can afford to buy a laser guide for my 12" DeWalt double-compound miter. Cos I will have to do a nice job, and having a laser will make my saw even more precise than it already is.

And she has dozens of plans for bookcases, coffee tables (although not the one I want unfortunately, but it leads me to wonder could I make it from plans I could come up with myself after fifteen minutes with a piece of paper and a measuring tape in a Pottery Barn store?), end tables, kitchen tables, etc. etc. I am going to build Julian a bed, too that will match mine (uh, except in size and sans canopy).

This is the most excited I have been in some time. The idea of getting something amazing and saving a ton of money is alluring in the world of remodeling. Thanks to this woman and her amazing blog - so I am just doing my part to spread the word. I will be sure to send her some photos when I am done (a modest request she has made for anyone who uses her plans).

bedroom wiring.

Wow, I cannot believe it was back the end of May that I officially kicked off this blog by saying I was going to get to the bedroom wiring. And then summer came and I took off just about every weekend and did not do anything at all on the house. So now, eight months later I finally got off my butt and did it.

Wall sconces on either side of where my to-be California king canopy bed (could not fit a regular king and still have room for the sconces and room for the closet door to open and bedside tables and blah blah blah) will go and on a dimmer (duh, of course). I am hoping they work out cos it's a bit of a pain to move them if they do not, but thanks for the good advice Dana about watching out for the bed posts – hopefully they look OK.

A closet light now – had to pull power from the outlet behind the bed up into the attic and then back down. It was, um, a bit frustrating hanging the drywall in the closet ceiling. I might have not been able to uphold my resolution of no swearing while remodeling, but there was no one around to witness and I apologized to my house profusely afterwards. Uh, assuming I was not able to uphold that. I'm just saying.

The swatch in the middle is Benjamin Moore HC-98 providence olive. Someday I will be at the point where I can actually paint, but that will mean that everything else is done, including the carpeting (which I plan on using this stuff below) ~

Which is a little ways off. OK, so anyways - the wiring is finished. But I do need to do the structured wiring still that I mentioned in that first post (low-voltage stuff). Then replace the windows before I can actually hang drywall in there so I am not looking at insulation and 2x4s. Yes, that will be good.

But I am excited about this year and the progress I plan on making. Enough stalling. Time to get back to work.

end tables.

So wandering through Target I found these end tables in the clearance section. They will match the coffee table for the most part which is just to say I think the color of the stains will match and the little drawer pulls are pretty similar. But not match in the sense as being identical like from the same living room set – lame, I don't like things to match to that extent. In the little drawer pulls I labeled one of them 'Remotes' and the other 'Magazines.' And I really did put all of the remotes in that drawer and loaded up the other with a bunch of magazines – This Old House, National Geographic, Backpacker, miscellaneous Rejuvenation/Pottery Barn/Crate & Barrel/etc. catalogs out of which I had gotten some ideas.

But anyways ... now if only I would someday get a bookshelf or two so I would not have to keep all of my books in boxes. Yeah, that would be awesome.

Oh and the book makes a great addition (if only these were a coffee table) - thanks again Dana.