This is the construction going on in our son's room. Our goal is to have it finished by the end of next month (when he turns 3). I am so very proud of my husband for building this -- he doesn't have much previous woodworking experience to speak of, and this is a mighty big project to tackle, especially since there are no plans and it basically has been built from scratch out of our heads. We did have a friend help us at the beginning, but my husband has done most of the work all on his own. A couple of years ago I had found a picture of something similar in an issue of Mary Engelbreit's Home Companion Magazine, and ever since I have been dreaming of having something like this built for our house. Of course, after months of trying to find already drawn-up plans (which don't exist), of getting some quotes from the professionals ($7,000 and above, yipes!), and of bugging my husband about it, haha, we got it started last fall. Unfortunately this means that our son has had to pretty much live in a messy room for months, but by doing it ourselves (I say "we", but it really has been my husband's doing and my, er, guidance) it has saved us a lot of money. Plus, the beauty of wood putty and paint is that it hides a whole lot of things. :)
It is basically supposed to look like the sleeping cars on trains from the back in the day (1930's, '40's, etc.). We will be adding curtain rods to the inside of the archways with curtains that can be drawn for privacy. The headboard on the bottom has a lid on the top to open up and store stuff inside, and it has it's own electrical outlet and switch to turn the light on and off. There will be one or two built in storage drawers in that bottom opening, and there will be two bookcases at the end going up to the ceiling, with a ladder built in between to access the top bunk. The shelf you see going around the room and through the top bunk is for a train that will be chug-chugging it's way around the room and through the bed. And the entire bed and shelves will be painted white. Also, pay no attention to the walls, ceiling or window treatment. We will be repainting in there after it is completed, and I will also be sewing a new Roman shade for the window.
Seriously, I would have loved loved loved to have a room like this as a kid. Heck, I'd love to sleep in there now! It's really neat to lay inside his bed -- it feels all cozy and private like a little cave, and with the built-in reading light, he is set. Our hope is that when it is all said and done, it looks like it could have been built original to the house. Our house was built in the 1930's, and is kind of a Gingerbread brick cottage-style house. And let me tell you, it is PERMANENT. If someone ever bought our house that didn't like it, they would have to pay a professional to rip it all out. But I personally think that if we ever had to move, any prospective buyers would hopefully fall in love with it, and it doesn't hurt that it makes the room feel bigger as well.
So, what do you think? (And yes, I promise to post more pictures as more progress is made.)
No comments:
Post a Comment