After 18 long months of nights after work, staying up till all hours of the night on the weekends, it is finally done. Let me just add that when I started this project I had only had tools besides my wonderful harbor freight table saw, and although I did acquire a few power tools between start and end, the majority of the work was done with hand tools. To most it is probably not “fine” woodworking, but it is the piece that has driven me to develop a love for working with wood and has now led me on to the daunting task of pushing myself to someday becoming a fine woodworker. I hope you all enjoy the pictures as much as I do every time that I look back over them and maybe even as much as I enjoy it every time I lay down to go to sleep!

It all started with meeting the women that is now my wife. As many of you have probably experienced, she insisted that the bed had to go; no if, ands or buts about it. And of course the man in me was ready to shine! I was going to build us one with just my two hands and save us some money, or that’s what I thought.

I was able to get the reclaimed lumber out of an attic of an old house on her parents’ property, and the remainder was simply whitewood/pine bought from Lowes. The joinery is mostly nothing more than Kreg joints and wood glue (yes, yes, I know, I promise I’ve learned a lot since). And I added the black bolts just to add some character. It is now matched up with a brand new mattress and bedding and sleeps like a dream. Hopefully it will be in my family for generations to come!!

Launch Gallery