Built-in Shelf Built

I spent the weekend assembling and installing the built-in bookshelf (located in the main room next to the fireplace). This project has taken a VERY long time to get to this point. I cut the 3/4" plywood (with cherry veneer) on our table saw, but I used my friend's jointer and radial arm saw to clean up the edges and to cut the dados. I also edge-banded all of the exposed shelves and middle supports.

I assembled the shelf in the second bedroom so as to stay out of the way of the baby's play area.

I had already installed the back of the shelf in the cavity and thought that I would need to install a temporary brace to keep the shelf from racking during the move, but the shelf was rigid enough without the brace. I used screws for all joints and used dowels for alignment on the middle supports.

Here's a photo of the shelf in place before I attached the back, cut a hole for the elecrtical duplex, and secured it with some finishing nails.

My spouse wanted to see if the baby fit on the bottom shelf. He could if he curled up a little. I'm sure he'll be pulling himself on the shelf very soon!

Here's a photo of the shelf fully installed. We will be locating a land line phone on the second shelf from the bottom (you can see the duplex and the phone cable on the right).

All that's left to do is: stain, seal, and trim. We'll be using the same trim as the windows. Oh, I still need to connect the phone wire to the phone box. Maybe later today or in the next couple of days. Shouldn't be too hard.

No-Rest Room

I'm posting from the husband's account - I'm too lazy to log in to my own profile. ^_^

So we have actually been working on the rat hole. Projects are so much more difficult with the baby! Not only is our workforce cut in half, but sleep deprivation hurts both motivation and the skill with which things are done (to say nothing of concentration abilities).

That said, we are making progress on getting the built-in bookshelf done. Hopefully this week or this weekend. The wood is all prepped. It just needs to be put together. Having the shelf will not only make the room look better, but we'll also be able to collect all the stacks of books we have piled about and clear off some surfaces (hopefully NOT so we can just pile more stuff on the newly cleared-off surfaces). We'll also be able to move the phone/answering machine out of our bedroom so the little one isn't woken up by callers.

Once the shelf is done, we're going to try our best to get the rest of the crown molding up quickly, then the baseboard, and then we'll install the mantle and hearth.

Then we might work on the sewer. We pray every day that the septic keeps lasting us. We'll see when that happens.

Anyway, once we have the living/dining room all trimmed out and finished, we've decided that we're going to take on the hall bath. That bathroom is the one we shower in. It's not a pretty place. Mold and dirt is suspended in the crappy silicone job, there are patches of painted drywall showing through the awful wallpaper, there's mildew on the ceiling that constantly needs to be wiped up, and the wallpaper itself is trying its darndest to grow mold. Not a place for rest and relaxation.

We don't have the funds to do a full remodel, so we're just going to do what we can to make the room look nicer and get it to a state where we can live with it for the next ten years or so. We're going to put in a plastic tub surround, get rid of some tile, put in a new medicine cabinet (maybe), improve the lighting, put in a heater, seal the crappy floor, and put new paintable wallpaper over the stuff that's in there now.

So although we haven't been posting as often, we are still working, and stay tuned for our progress!

Washer and Dryer

We just couldn't take it any more. The timer on the old dryer was only working half the time and the washer was loud and scary. Thank goodness for Presidents Day sales. We got a matched pair of LG appliances from Sears. They were delivered 5 days later. Our clothes have never been so clean! We're very happy. And the baby likes the bright control panel lights!