May 7, 2009
Can I devote an entire post to talk about my new bed??? I suppose I can – it is my blog and all. Content decisions belong entirely to moi.
Because I only got to see the bed once in it’s stages of completion, moving day was the grand reveal for me. So, it’s all kind of wrapped up in this OMG NEW NEW experience. It is the most gorgeous piece of furniture I have ever laid on, and that’s saying something since I live in the furniture capital of the US. It’s made of all walnut – even the slats under the bed. (I shimmied under there and checked. Yup, no skimping.) I think the headboard must weigh close to 200 pounds.
Gorgeous? Yea I thought so.
(Click to enlarge for better ooh-ing and ahh-ing.)
Considering this baby was sketched out on a napkin in Charleston, I will just go ahead and brag: my husband is one talented guy. He spent nearly every weekend in February & March, and about a week in April, going home and working on the bed. He’d go into the workshop around 8 in the morning, take a quick break for lunch, and work again until sunset. I saw some pictures along the way, but it’s so hard to imagine how it will all come together. It is more beautiful than I could have pieced together in my mind – and thank goodness he can piece things together in his mind, since that’s just what he did.
On Friday, the Time Warner guy was in our bedroom hooking up the cable and he was looking for a hard surface to put his paper down to sign it. He started reaching for the foot board and I swear I saw his life flash before him, before Matt could grab the pen out of his hand and stop him. Aaaaand on that note, I stopped wearing my rings to bed. Any potential for scratching this baby might be grounds for permanent banishment to the proverbial doghouse!
March 5, 2009
More progress made on the bed! It looks AMAZING. I can’t wait to have it in my house! Now to start shopping at PB for some duvet covers…
Coming together now…
Looking down the mortise – the places where the joints come together.
(Precision pays off!)
Look how big the headboard is compared to my dad-in-law!
February 22, 2009
I mentioned awhile ago that Matt was drawing up plans to build a bed with his Pa, who built our dining room table (seen below). Just 2 months ago this bed was a mere sketch on a bar napkin from Charleston and today there were three pieces of beautifully grained walnut planks being fed through a radial saw about to become our headboard. Amazing. (All sawing done by Pa, who claims he’s never seen a doctor without fingers and won’t let Matt near the blades. Good looking out, Pa.) I’m amazed at my husband’s knowledge of carpentry – it is such a cool thing to disocer a side of your spouse you had no idea even existed. I hung out in the shop for about an hour on Saturday while they discussed how the headboard would be joined together and it was like they were speaking a different language. The precision and careful planning it takes to requires a depth of patience I can’t even BEGIN to claim that I possess. Matt grew up hanging out with his Pa in his wood shop and helped him with many projects, but it’s just incredible to hear his complete competency and knowledge. I just can’t wait for our bed to be finished and have this heirloom piece we have for the rest of our life. Already, I imagine our children fighting over who it will get willed to someday. (Yea, I don’t get ahead of myself at.all.) It’s amazing to see these rough planks of wood and hear Matt describe how they will all come together -this one a paneled headboard, that one a wide solid foot board,these a strong bold sideboard. I’ll tell you one thing – whenever we match and start looking for houses somewhere, criteria numero uno is going to be “ginormous bedroom” because this thang ain’t gonna fit in our 11 x 13.
Working the radial saw. 
Unassuming planks now, paneled headboard later. 
Examining the future panels with Pa.
