Mama Wants a Table Saw

On Friday, I built my son a new bed. Mostly.

This is the semi-room that we refer to as “The Nook”.

It is a 7’2″ by 7’3″ alcove off the main hallway. We suspect that it held a TV at some point before we lived here, since there is still a co-axial cable running through the window frame. Over the last four years, it has been a reading room, a nursery, and a play space. Now that my oldest is verging on the teen years, it will become his very own room. Eventually, the bed will be joined by a wall, and it will no longer be referred to as “The Nook”.

For now, though, I need to figure out how to use a 7’2″ space… and I came, naturally enough, to built-ins. (Also, I secretly want to live on a boat, so I’m keen on those hyper-efficient approaches to space design.)

It started, like all good built-ins, with a tie into the wall.

In fact, the room is so small that I tied into three walls:

This is the foundation for the bed, which also is getting an attached bookshelf/footboard. We are avid readers, every one. Since he keeps books in his bed anyway, they should get pride of place. And protection from being rolled on.

So, this is what it looked like once the main structural components were in place. The front sagged a little when I climbed on to nail down the slats, but there is another support and additional reinforcement coming.

I was almost finished when my last 1″x8″ split, and I discovered that the remaining 2″x3″ was 2 inches short. Also, my husband said something about not being able to get the kids to bed while I was running the circular saw. So, this is my interim version.

More lumber is supposed to arrive momentarily, so it might be finished before the post goes live.

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Update: I got more lumber! This is the bed that my son went to bed in last night:

I feel so accomplished!