I posted earlier about a boot/shoe bench I was building for the cabin out of scrap lumber leftover from making bunky boards (for the four kids’ beds at the cabin) out of 3/4” birch plywood 4’x8’s.  I had an image of what is should look like months ago, but I’ve done enough projects to know that my head and my hands don’t always connect.

I started here:

Quickly turned it into this:

Got sick/tired/distracted by Downton Abbey and it took me two weeks to turn that into:

And after coats and coats of paint (cheap paint over expensive primer is still….cheap paint on plywood), it actually turned out just as I had dreamed.  And, yes, I daydream about such things as boot benches.  It is sturdy and rustic and practical and useful and cost me all of a gallon of cheap red paint and the use of my garage for a month to park the minivan.

I can’t say much for the architect, but the engineer and general handywoman did a great job making somewhat sketchy measurements fit perfectly into its spot.

Now you will have to excuse me.  I need to go ice my shoulder.  I may have patted myself a little too much over this project. 

Dad, Brian…SKIP THIS POST!  And anyone else who likes to measure twice and cut once.    Or have a plan before using power tools.

I’ve had a half-brained idea of making a shoe bench for the cabin since, well, probably October.  Back then, I got four 4’x8’ boards for bunky boards for the kids’ beds.  Home Depot cut the plywood to the right size and now I want to make the shoe bench out of the extra pieces. 

So I started with this (thanks to Dad, who helped me cut some of the pieces on his table saw):

And some sketches on the back of a Sudoku puzzle. 

Is what architects do?  Just sketch what they want the finished product to look like, scribble a few measurements, cross out most of it, and hand it to an engineer?  ‘Cause I want to be an architect. 

I finished the work evening with this:

I’m running out of wood and will probably have to duct tape three boards together to make the middles shelves.  I’ve got a long ways to go—once it’s built, I will take it all apart again to sand and paint it and then put it back together again.  But it’s actually starting to look like I want it to look…not that I want to sound surprised.

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Okay, here’s something that’s just for the ladies.  Some female engineering, if you will.  Last week, Wesley found a lost bottle of nail polish and used it.  On many things.  How to clean this up?  I went upstairs to find some cotton balls and found a box of tampons first.  Tampons made out of cotton…with an applicator to make this the perfect pencil eraser.  Dip tip in nail polish remover, erase child’s mess, cut off tip when necessary and repeat.  I was impressed with myself.  But not with Wesley.

[While I was cleaning up that mess, he got into my deodorant and lotions in the bathroom.  While I cleaned that up, he used his foot to splash water out of the toilet in the other bathroom.  I tried to sell him that day.]