It's time...

I'm antsy to change up my bedroom.

I love the color, kind of an "artichoke" green.  Totally different than my usual basic beige!  I decided to keep that green and work with it!

Years ago I made drapes for our family room in our San Dimas home.  I fell in love with the soft yellow/tan color with the large pattern of tropical flowers in muted rusts and greens.  When the sun shines through the fabric the color is just amazing!  They always cheered me up!  So, I remade them to fit the slider in my bedroom.  I love them!

You can the drapes in this picture.  And the color of the walls (sort of).  Pretty, right?

I moved the large entertainment cabinets to my friend's consignment shop.  I hope they sell, but in the meantime, they are out of my house!  And, I moved in the dresser that has been with me for over 38 years.  Don and I purchased the dresser from an elderly lady (looking back, she was probably my age!) who said that she and her husband had purchased it new over 35 years before.  So, although I wouldn't give it antique status, it is old!  Most importantly though, I still love it.  It is deep with very large, deep drawers.  Over the years, it's been used in many different bedrooms, and even as a TV console in our living room.  And, it looked like it had been well "loved".  I thought about painting it but just couldn't bring myself to paint over the beautiful veneer work.  Sooooo, I glued up a few loose pieces, sanded it a bit, and rubbed on a coat of stain and then rubbed in a polyurethane finish.  It's almost like new.  The color is warm with tones of light gold and burnished reds and oranges.  And, it looks like it has a hand rubbed finish.

This picture is not great, but you get an idea of the veneer work.  What you can't get is a good feeling for the size of this beauty.  I could probably store 10 pairs of jeans in that bottom drawer!  And, aren't those legs lovely?

Isn't that finish pretty with the sun shining on it?

   

I created a little reading nook with a big comfy table and my little table that I made (similar to one that I'd seen, and liked a lot, at Pottery Barn .

I made a headboard and then wasn't sure that I wanted it in my room.  I thought maybe an upholstered headboard was more what I wanted.  But, I was wrong!  I decided to finish the headboard with the same stain I used to renew my dresser.  The colors are just so warm and comfortable.  The finish on the headboard is, of course, not exactly the same as the dresser.  They're made of different woods, and the headboard lumber was raw to begin with.  But, I love the way the colors play off each other.  I'll upholster a headboard another day!

  

And, now I'm left with my night stands.  There's nothing at all wrong with them.  And in fact, I like them.  They each have two small drawers and a hidden drawer.  And, they are the perfect size in height, width and depth.  But, they are the same merlot colored finish as the big entertainment cabinets, and I'm just done with that.  My plan is to paint them.  I plan to use a straw colored yellow, then sand the edges and some of the flat surfaces, add some glaze and distress them.  Not too much distressing, just enough to give them some character!  That's the plan.  

But, you know what they say about the best laid plans...

Super Sunday!

It was a beautiful day yesterday.  Sunny, warm, and football mania was in the air.  The sweet smell of BBQs and smokers sure did have my mouth watering!

And then, my sweet Camper daughter very thoughtfully told me where she could be reached in case I decided to spend this Super Bowl Sunday the same as I did last year.

Here's a sure sign that as I've gotten older, my memory has become much more selective - I looked at her blankly and said, "Uh, last year??"  She gently reminded me that last year I was unable to reach her or the Docs, and I'd driven myself to the emergency room to take care of a little accident I'd had with my table saw (here).

I'm happy to say that this year I did not need the services of the emergency room staff!  This Super Bowl Sunday I enjoyed some very tasty appetizers with Camper SIL's family.  I walked over listening to a good book, visited, ate, and walked home!  Never really did see any of the game.

I'd started a project on Saturday and spent Sunday late afternoon and evening finishing it up.  With the garage door open I could hear the voices of football fans traveling through the evening air.  Hearing the cheers and revelry made for a very pleasant evening.  And, I don't think anyone was disturbed by the sounds of my saw!

This weekend I tackled my Super pile of scrap lumber.  It turns out I'm a hoarder of bits and pieces of wood.  It all looks useful to me - even those skinny 2" pieces of plywood.  Really, what am I going to do with those??  I've promised myself that I'm going to set much higher standards for the wood that doesn't go into the burn pile - And, from now on, I think I'll be enjoying quite a few fires in the outdoor fireplace!!

I saw a very neat lumber storage system on the Wood Whisperer's web page.  His site is very interesting, by the way - some really cool stuff there!  Anyway this is my take on that.

Do you see it?  Don't feel bad - I wasn't seeing it yet either!

Still not seeing it? 

 What about now?  It's not exactly as I was seeing it in my head, but close enough!  

It has a large section in the back for large pieces of sheet goods (plywood), and smaller compartments in the front to hold short pieces of lumber.
See the casters?  It moves!

 You can't tell from these pictures, but the storage unit is mounted to the wall with hinges.

I added the wall mounted supports to hold long pieces of wood.

I'm still going to just stand my 2x material in the corner - I don't want that heavy stuff
to come crashing down on me!

I'll be able to swivel it out from the wall to slide large sheet goods into the back section of the unit.  

And, now I won't have to move lumber around in order to use my miter saw!  

Much better!

I didn't take a before picture because it was such a mess!  

(And, truth be told, I still have a mess of stuff sitting in the bed of my truck.
Maybe I'll tackle that pile of stuff tonight!)

Hopefully, I'll limit my hoarding to usable scraps, and now I'll have easier access to them.

What a Super, Super Bowl Sunday!

All fingers intact!