What's Going Down

Saturday, May 2, 2009

Totally After the Fact.

My dad came and visited me last week. He flew down on Monday night and went home on Saturday afternoon. The interim was spent napping, talking, playing UNO, tickling, cuddling and more napping.

Except I did manage to put his skillz to good use.
You see, the girls have alot of books. Three large boxes of them. And no bookcase. So when we moved, I wouldn't even allow them to open the boxes of books until we solved this little problem.

Their room before:


Some during shots:

Me drilling the holes which will make it adjustable. We used a piece of pegboard as a template to have uniformly spaced holes. Worked like a charm. My dad is so smart.

I would have loved to use hardwoods to build it, but it would have cost close to $100. We opted to use a birch veneer plywood instead. It turned out awesomely.


My dad even spent the better part of an entire day working just to get our semi-cruddy table saw aligned and everything. He also did 90% of the cuts. I did none. I value my fingers, he apparently does not.


Matt was working long hours all week long, but he did manage to find a couple of hours to have my dad show him how to use the table saw. Matt made the other 10% of the cuts. We ripped a thin (3/8ths inch?) piece of poplar to face the entire bookcase, so you weren't staring at a cross-section of plywood from the front. Worked like a charm.


I had to leave the room pretty much any time Matt was operating the saw. It terrifies me. He also needs all his fingers!
Some quick coats of primer, some sanding and some paint and...


the after shot! I'm figuring a final cost to be about $40.

And now I can get to work on making a cushion-seat thing for the rest of that window seat.

12 comments:

Jamie said...

Hooray for dads who come visit! I always put my dad to work whenever he comes to visit, too. Dads are just great to have around. :)

Char @ Crap I've Made said...

Look at you sticking your tongue out whilst you work!

Cheri said...

Always fun to do projects and learn new things! The girls will LOVE that space! What a great dad.

Melinda said...

Oh WOW! I didn't realize you were building such a large book shelf. I was imagining something smaller. It looks fantastic! Nice work. And it kept your dad out of trouble ;).

Jenny said...

I'm totally jealous. We have all sorts of need around here and I was just told my dad that he wouldn't come out here to fix my lawn mower. Sigh...

Moghimi Family said...

I love it. Can't wait to see what it looks like with the cushion!

Sabra at Sew a Straight Line said...

awesome! your dad and the bookcase...and saved fingers.

also, Anna? when did she grow so much hair?

Kimberly said...

LOL, you're going to looking for those little shiny spider eyes in the grass now, aren't you? My biggest worry about it all was when he kept bringing all of them in the house to show me! Yikes! Keep the big spiders outside!

ba and the boys said...

your dad looks so good! he is only a little grayer than i remember him! and to be sooo old and still be useful is nice!
ps-im jealous of your pink room. we have way way too many boys in this house...

Sarah said...

I love the bookshelf, and I can't wait to see the cushion. I would have LOVED to have a little reading nook when I was little.

Remodeling Guy said...

This might be my favorite Round-Up post of all! I can't believe I'm just getting here!

First of all, your dad looks like someone I could hang out with. Tell him if he wants a free cup of coffee or other beverage in Punta Gorda, FL to look me up!

Second, I just love the bookcase and made totally from scratch! With adjustable shelving and all!

It looks great and I'm totally impressed and I'm so glad you put it in the Round-up! I haven't done the drawings for the winners yet...I'll do it tonight. Good luck!

Controlling My Chaos said...

What a great bookcase. I know what you mean about table saws. Actually all power tools. And electricity. I have a healthy respect for all that stuff. Or an irrational fear/phobia. Whatever.

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