We built a bed.
From Scratch.
Can you believe it? I hardly can! I have been stalking this blog for awhile called Knock Off Wood. You have to go visit this site! It is a woman, Ana, whose passion is carpentry (self taught) and she comes up with knock off plans that match the high dollar pottery barn, crate & barrel, etc furniture for next to nothing compared to the real deal. She gives the plans for free & loves to compare the finished peices to the real deal. Our specific plan for this bed was called the farmhouse bed with an arch... you can view it here if you are interested! What would have cost us literally thousands from pottery barn, we were able to build ourselves for $150- total. That includes screws, wood putty, wood, wood glue, nails, etc. ALL for $150. And it looks fabulous! We started with all this wood....
We borrowed Randy's brother's miter saw because his had a laser & would make a bigger cut than his. So then, Randy gave me a "miter saw tutorial."
I have to admit, at first just the noise was intimidating. But once i did one cut & saw how easy it was, i insisted on making all the rest of the cuts! It was empowering!! Yep- that's me working a POWER TOOL! 
It was quite easy, actually. Knock off Wood's plans made it simple. She laid out all the cuts you needed to make & labeled them with a letter so that the plan to put them together worked just like a puzzle. First off choose the right size wood piece (i know way too much about cuts of wood at this point...2x4, 2x6, 1x6, etc....) and label your board.... (by the way, if you wanted, the home improvement store will cut your peices for you for a minimal price per cut if you didn't have a saw)
Then measure your length.....
and line up the laser on the miter saw- slightly to the right of the mark (according to carpenter Randy) for a more accurate measurement...
Then, (if you want to be organized about this whole affair) stack your like pieces together (all A's together, B's together, etc....)
Then you get out your nail gun & wood glue & get to work! The only hang up we had with this project was the 4x4 posts. Lowes didn't have any 4x4's that weren't treated. So, we made 4x4s out of (2) 2x4's. But this was a lengthy process. It took Randy the entire time it took me to make ALL the cuts for the project just to make 4 bed posts. First he ran each 2x4 over the joiner (for a more flush connection between the 2 boards...
Then, he glued & screwed the 2x4's together (countersinking the screws so we could putty over them later & you wouldn't see them). Then he ran them over the joiner a second time... Here is the difference in how they looked before....
and after.... (see? You can't really tell that they were glued together! Perfect! And after finishing the piece of furniture, you really can't tell at all!) I have such a smart hubby!
And what were the kids doing while we were working??? Well, They played a lot in the garage with us while we worked AND covered their ears when we had to work any power tools!
Anyway..back to the project! We took each panel piece for the headboard & footboard & chiseled off a little on the sides to give it more of a finished edge before attaching the piece.
When we attached... we used wood glue first & then the nail gun to secure it immediately. This is the beginning of our headboard!
The arch to the headboard was "free form!" Randy drew out one half with a pencil, then cut it out...
And he used the first half for a template for the second half to make sure the arch was even. Again.. SMART hubby!
Proud of the arch!!!
Then we used the nail gun & some more wood glue to attach the arch & the bottom of the panel. Again, that's ME with a another power tool. I LOVED the nail gun!
Here's another look at the headboard in progress....
We had to predrill some holes on the 4x4 posts in order to attach them to the headboard & foot board panels.... I don't love the screw driver as much. I used it a little, but mainly left that to Randy!
Here is the finished headboard!! (Jackson took this picture for us!)
After this, we moved onto the footboard & completed it just the same as the headboard minus the arch. Then attached the side rails & cleats. We decided we had better check to make sure our bed fit it properly before doing any sanding/finishing stuff. So, we moved our box spring down to the garage for a few minutes just to be sure!!
Once we knew it would fit, we puttied all the screw and nail holes and sanded....
Then we painted it an antique white that we scored off the return paint section at Lowes awhile back. ($5!!). After that i painted on a faux glaze.....
And then wiped it off... can you see the difference? It makes it have a much more "aged" look to it. I loved it!
Once it dried.... we hauled it upstairs & set it up!! Isn't it fabulous? I don't think i've ever been so proud of a project (or loved it so much!!)
We are going to paint the walls eventually, but for now, i am totally pleased!! It is a MUCH higher sitting bed now, which i have always loved. Jackson had to give Eli a lift up there! And you see who else was working on getting up there too....
Don't worry, Zack got his turn to try it out too...
He even got to stay there until bedtime! Lucky dog!
Then today, i made a quick CVS run because i came across a coupon that was going to expire today & couldn't pass up this deal! I got all that is pictured (yes ANOTHER bottle of Excedrin- but i made a buck off of it) for 1.99 out of pocket! Who would pass that up??
