Productive Day

Today ended with visible progress. I moved the vent successfully! My mom would probably crap if she knew I cut a hole in the floor, but luckily, this is my house, not hers. While I was removing some of the old duct work, I found 10 cents in it, woo hoo! That about covers the cost of the three bandaids I needed for minor cuts from the venting, That metal is sharp! As you can see from the last picture, I did get it all in, taped, and the A/C is flowing nicely out, Go me! I need to patch the whole in the subfloor, but that shouldn't be too bad.

 

On the prettier side of things, I got the lower alcove sanded, primed, painted, and painted again. The color is "Granny Smith Apple" from Glidden. It's a bright, happy green, perfect for my green-loving bright, happy Sydney.

Saturday morning

It's not looking a lot different than at the end of last weekend, but progress has been made.  The alcove (where the bed will be) has had two coats of drywall mud applied and will be ready for priming in a couple hours.  One of the "caves" (small storage areas at the end) has been completely drywalled.  I'm guessing for a few years, the caves will be more play areas than storage.  It's hard to work in that little space ... it's a good thing I'm on a diet! ;)  The shelf above the cave shown has been installed. 

Next up: moving the HVAC vent, priming and painting the alcove, so that Framing Part II can happen.

After the framing

Or rather, after most of the framing.  After all that cutting and fitting and nailing, I couldn't quite finish what I hoped too.  I did finish more than I figured I would!  The framing nailer was easier for me to use than I thought it would be, I'm just not accustomed to so much manual labor!  (desk job).  My husband will be happy to know there was only one small injury.  I was nailing two 2x4's together and managed to get my finger on the exact opposite side of where I was shooting in a nail.  Contrary to their name, 2x4's are actually 1.5"x3.5".  Two together as I was nailing at the time are 3".  I was using 3.25" nails.  The injury was essentially like getting a finger stick from the Hulk.  One Sponge Bob bandage and a day later, and my finger is as good as new.

It will work out ok. I can do some of the drywall, shelves, and fabric stuff while my poor arms recover.  Then I can rent the nailer for the four hour tour and finish up the soffits and bed platform itself. 

I'm going to make a bed cover as it will be a non-standard size (52"x78") as it will only overlap the mattress on the front side.  I'm going to the fabric store to see if there is anything I like better than what I found online.  Or, uh, grab-a-swatch-so-I-can-buy-paint if I find the fabric and it's more expensive. ;)  My Sydney loves green, she has had a strong preference for quite a while.  At our church's Easter Egg Hunt this spring, she collected herself only green eggs, in about every shade of green a plastic egg has ever been manufactured in.  She likes some citrusy colors with it too, so I'm trying to find something she can grow with in those colors.

The Beginning

I took down Sydney's crib last night and stored it away in the barn.  I cleared the stuff out of her room too.  Tonight, I began the work.  I ...

• Pulled up the carpet and pad
• Marked where the top plate for the front of the alcove will go
• Reserved a cordless framing nailer from Home Depot
• Moved stuff out of the way in the attic so I can add nailers between the joists

I'll probably do a bit more before I go to bed, but as the destruction has begun and the lumber has been purchased, I'm committed. ;) 

Alcove Bed

Before

I've always loved window seats.  We have a 1970's split level with no such thing and three not-so-big bedrooms.  The smallest bedroom belongs to my youngest daughter, Sydney.  She will be turning 5 in a few weeks and is still sleeping in her "toddler bed" ... a converted crib.  I don't want her kindergarten friends to come visit and make fun of her baby bed, so the time has come for my long awaited project.  I came up with the idea to build an alcove bed by her window, which will save some floor space and provide some much needed storage.  It will also give the functionality of my much loved window seat.

Alcove bed concept

I'm going to start tackling this project alone tonight after work.  I have both apprehension (can I do this by myself?) and excitement (finally, I get to play designer!) going into it.  My kids are going on a grandma tour for 1.5 weeks ... an unprecendented happening.  My husband is going primitive camping with his friend until Monday.  Though I might be able to talk him into helping me next week in the evenings, home remodeling is not his idea of a good time. 

I purchased a trundle bed unit from a local furniture store's clearance section last year.  I will be building this in under her bed.  I haven't decided if it will be an extra bed or storage, but it is versatile like that.