Building a bed around a tailgate

I wanted to do something totally unique.

 And then I got this kinda crazy idea—

The tailgate was $10.

The waterbed frame (ReStore) was $40, half of the frame/drawer section, went to each of the boys–so his half was $20.

The boxed sides, made from a 4×8 sheet of plywood sub-flooring, about $15.

The “caps” on each side are from parts of the former waterbed frame!  $0

The framing for the tailgate took 2  2×4’s, $4,

—and its faces came from the neighbor’s fallen picket fence, $0.

The base molding was from the ReStore, $1.

The drawer cup-handles were from the ReStore, 25¢ each.

Drawing from my supply of scrap woods, and paints and other “sundries”—I re-faced the drawer-base face frame, added spacers and cleats, and stained-sealed-painted-waxed the whole piece.  $0

So, I think it’s safe to say this was

a fairly inexpensive bed project!  $50.75

And my great nephew has one vERy cool bedroom!

The BED WALL!

The GLOBE LIGHTING!

The LOCKER WALL!

The BENCH WALL!  (was his dresser)

His CLOSET!

There are still some things to be done in there, like—

NOW it’s been decided the room really does need to be re-painted, OY-vey.  And we’ve gotten some super cool “beams” that will be installed on the ceiling—oh! along with the “ceiling light” (at right) that is waiting to be installed!

So, there’s more to come!

Catherine

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Tomorrow is installation day!

Everything is done with the lockers!

And tomorrow, when Brian finishes work, he and I will install Braeden’s lockers–yAy!  I can’t wait–ha–imagine how Braeden feels!

Below, as I quit last night—and today, cutting drawers down, base molding, last details, and finish waxing.

Sorry Kathy Ireland–really not feelin’ your cardboard drawers, or plastic veneers.

I am so-o-o-o-o happy to be done with this part of the project.  It was fun, exhausting, exasperating, and loooong to get through.  I looked upward more than once to acknowledge God’s sense of humor–uh huh–and I persevered.

I’ll show you how it looks installed and stylized—but here’s a preview!  It’s only propped together for the picture, so the middle shelf is missing, but you definitely get the jist!

two parts down, two to go—

Catherine

I’m sharing this project in this linky party!

 

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Braeden’s lockers–

If you remember, I bought these lockers for $10 at the ReStore last April/May.  I thought they could be cool in my g-nephew’s bedroom and provide some very needed, extra storage!

Since there were soooo many interruptions trying to work on Braeden’s dresser/bench, I made a shift to the locker-wall project.

• The lockers needed to be separated for this project–enter daddy.  I didn’t like all those burning little sparks from the grinder, so I made Brian do it! (I know–bAby!)
• Then I built a “box” to seat them on BECause–1. the locker face-frames hang down lower than the locker boxes, and 2. the whole unit needed to be lifted off the floor.
• Next, I used a rabbeting bit in the router table to create the void for the locker to rest in.  *The tape you see in the picture was to give me a good visual stop and start point.

At last, I could take the lockers apart to clean and paint easier.

I decided to paint the interiors this rich shade of aqua to play with the room color—Braeden loves the color of his room and made me promise not to change it!

I sure do hope these folks get paid well— what a job!

Painting the lockers became the biggest pain in the B-U-T-T.  It really was soooo much easier to paint everything in individual parts & then put back together, but NEXT TIME I will mark the outsides before disassembling–!  I painted the wrong sides but didn’t know it until AFTER I put one back together and realized it was “inside-out.”  I took everything bAck apart, repainted, and put together correctly–yAy.

So–I thought I learned my lesson for the 2nd locker–uh, huh.  Somehow I mixed up the panels–again–and painted the parts all wrong.  And–again–didn’t realize it until I was putting it back together.  ArGHHHHH.

I placed the lockers back on their “box,” and began installing the box shelves I made earlier on for this “unit.”  It was a loooong day–and pitch dark before I finally quit.

With that task sorted out—time to begin making a drawer box.  Without benefit of having a pocket screw jig–YET. STILL on my wish list–dang it.

I wanted to add the two drawers I eliminated from his (6 drawer) dresser/bench to the locker wall.  More storage–little bedroom.  An open cubby fills the end space the drawers didn’t take up.

I’ve been trying out different base moldings to wrap the bottom, but haven’t found the right piece yet.  Oh, well.  Tomorrow I’ll begin puttying and sanding, and then I can finally paint!

I can’t wait for this INCREDIBLY TEDIOUS project TO BE FINISHED!  I really can’t say I’ve ever felt like that on any other, but man-oh-man, this one has been a bear!

~Me and my bright ideas.

Catherine

I’m sharing this project with some of my favorite blogs!

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