Homely Hall of Shame makes good

Later, when we're sitting around having coffee and chatting about power tools, let's pretend my that I don't do most of my projects in the kitchen. Also, let's pretend my kitchen doesn't look this bad. In my defense, we just finished moving in today and most of that stuff will be put away by Tuesday. But for now, let's just wave our Magic Wand of Martha Stewart and pretend this is a nice shiny workshop somewhere with all the tools on pegboards and stuff instead of on my counters.

Here you can see that I've embraced the clamps and I'm letting my air compressor irritate my neighbors until it's got enough juice to let me nail these together while holding the nailer like I'm on a SWAT team.

Ana's original plan calls for 1x4's and 1x6's for the panel boards. I am lazy and also I know myself well enough to know that mine would have had gaps and been uneven and whatnot. So I cheated improvised and used 1x6 tongue-in-groove flooring. It gives me a little fudge factor in the alignment of the boards and it appeases my husband who wanted something just a little less rustic. They worked like a charm. This is the back.

And this is the front. I think they look pretty good. You get a clear line between the boards, but there's no gap so that makes me happy.

Mmm... clamps. Mmm.. strawberry cake on the counter. We have houseguests who came in to help us move and when the menfolk went to get dinner they came back with cake. Works for me.

Ahh, another Saturday night at Chez Melly.

And voila! Y'all, seriously, this took less than an hour to put together. The nice guys at the Orange Store cut the lumber for me, and thanks to my square it actually went together with 90 degree angles and everything. It's going to get another 1x4 on top and crown molding on top of that just because I got 8' of solid maple crown molding for $2 at my local Restore and I can't pass that up. Plus, again, Steve wanted a little less rustic and the molding gives it a more polished look. However, that will have to wait until tomorrow when I can run the miter saw and only piss of the neighbors a little bit, as opposed to doing it at 11pm, which will ruin my chances of ever getting their daughter to babysit.

It needs a couple of good rounds of sanding and an epic amount of wood conditioner before it can get stained, but I'm so tickled!

Who doesn't love wood putty? Though next time I'll put on a pair of surgical gloves before I wipe it in with my fingers. It's currently forming a stainable, paintable, sandable bond under both pinky nails.

And today's lesson learned is this: If you think to yourself 'This is really hard to do from this angle' you should stop and stand up and move to a more comfortable position. Because I don't care what your college boyfriend told you, nothing is ever made easier or more fun by doing it at an awkward and uncomfortable angle. Especially if it involves a nail gun.

On that note, it's bedtime. Because tomorrow for Mother's Day my husband is giving me a few hours alone to hang out with my tools and my books on tape and quart of wood stain. *happy sigh*