a perk of loving a contractor

well, he’s more than a contractor.  he’s a carpenter.  he’s a wood worker.  and he’s extraordinary.  (remember, I’m allowed to brag.  that was part of the whole “let’s exchange vows in front of everyone we know” day).

anyway, erik has been talking about building us a bed since we got married and we’ve been throwing design ideas around for a while .  he’s been collecting pieces of wood from different  jobs that have helped add to our our idea book (by “book”, I mean, the verbal check marks we make next to ideas that come to our brains) … and once he brought home the perfect wood, we got inspired.

last year, I stumbled upon this picture that had made it’s way around the world of the wide web:

source

with this picture and the wood from a fence he had just torn down, our minds began to race.  ahhhhh!!!! 

we both fell in love with the old, gray wood, sprinkled with green moss.  we are both suckers for that beefy, rustic look.  and the creativity began to sore.

but alas, life took the time away. 

until a few weeks ago, when he became determined to make it.  at least to point of being usable.  sleepable.  and comfortable.

after a rather relaxed morning/early afternoon, he decided he was going to put it together.  we had dinner plans to bid farewell to a friend at 7:00pm.  and then we had friends staying over that night.  and the house wasn’t cleaned.  if we started the bed, then we’d have to finish it, at least enough to sleep on it.  that night.

so we debated.  do it?  or don’t do it?

erik had already framed the head board and foot board, so the work was really just the assembly (although this type of assembly isn’t exactly like putting an IKEA bed together).  so what did we decide? 

do it.  and don’t stop until it’s done.

since our garage was too small to fit the gigantic cal-king masterpiece, we started hauling the wood upstairs.

 

  
we still have some work to do, like painting the frame and filling in the holes from the screws.  but you get the overall idea from these pictures:

our room is kind of small, so the bed takes up most of our walking space.  to give you a frame of reference as to how big-slash-tall it is:  when erik sits on the bed, his feet hang about 8 inches off of the ground.  he says he’s going to cut it down a little shorter, but we’ll see!  I’m not entirely opposed to having to jump on the bed. some kids never learn, right?

next step.  charcoal grey bedding with green pillows.  someday.  but until then, I’m thoroughly enjoying this masterpiece.