What's next?!

Since beginning this blog, I have determined that my father is my most devoted reader. He frequently comments on my posts and also sends me emails to let me know what particular piece of information he's enjoyed that day. So, I have to tell him publicly, "Dad, thank you. It makes me feel great to know you appreciate what I'm doing."

Given his earnest interest, it is no surprise that when challenged with the task of guessing my next project, one of Dad's two guesses was correct! He thought it either had to be a headboard or a picture frame. I'm here to tell you...it's number one folks! A headboard!

The space between our bed and the painting was growing more vast each day. Something had to be done, and this past weekend, I started doing it! Nothing's actually been built yet, but there were a few steps to be taken beforehand.

As much as I'd envisioned having a headboard, Tyler and I needed to figure out how large it would actually be. In came painter's tape - a girls' best friend. Painter's tape is super easy to use and as it's name would suggest, it doesn't ruin the paint on your wall! I whipped out our dwindling roll and got to work on the bedroom wall. Here is the final result:

Sorry for the poor quality. I had to use my computer's camera.

Hopefully, this gives you some sense of where the headboard will go. I realize the tape is a little off-center, but that's okay. It comes off easily! The best moment of all, however, was Tyler's comment afterwards. He said, "You know Jess, we could just paint inside the tape and it would probably still look really good." Mwahahaha. He's beginning to think like a DIYer!

Did We Really Just Do That?!?!?!

Several week ago, Tyler and I did something that I still can't quite wrap my head around.

It all started when Tyler and I got a new mattress last spring. We, in fact, didn't purchase the mattress, but received it as a gift from Tyler's parents. The gift of a new mattress was awesome enough, so we didn't expect anything else to come from our trip to Jordan's (the store). However, Jordan's Furniture was running a promotion that went as follows:

If the Red Sox baseball team hit the Jordan's Furniture sign over the course of their season, the mattress would be FREE. If they didn't, we would receive 20% of the purchase price back in Jordan's dollars. 

Turns out, the Sox didn't have a great season, which meant that they did not hit the Jordan's sign in Fenway Park. Thus, in October, we found ourselves with about $300 to use at Jordan's Furniture. Tyler and I were excited about the shopping trip because our place was in desperate need of more lighting fixtures. Eighteen foot ceilings require LOTS of light.

When we got to Jordan's, we were disappointed. A few items caught Tyler's eye, but I wasn't satisfied with the merchandise. I reasoned that we could come back a few weeks later when (hopefully) new merchandise had arrived. So, about a month later, we returned.

This time, I had promised Tyler that we wouldn't walk out of the store empty-handed. Determined to complete our mission, we perused the multitude of rooms that comprise Jordan's Furniture store. Unfortunately, the one light that we really liked on our previous journey was no longer available. Again, we found a couple of pieces that we kind-of liked. Unfortunately, we couldn't bring ourselves to spend money - even free money - on items we both felt were either low quality or could be bought elsewhere for cheaper.

As we wound our way through Jordan's twisty paths, resigning ourselves to defeat, Tyler made a sudden stop. He threw up his arms, dragged me across the floor, and pointed, "What about this?! We should spend the money somehow. Why not this?!" I looked, laughed, and replied, "Really? You've got to be kidding me." "Come on. It'll be funny," he said. "What else are we going to do?" Looking back, I must have had some sort of equally psychotic moment because I said, "Ok. Let's do it!"

So, that afternoon, we walked out of Jordan's with this...

The picture!

We even paid $30 dollars of our own money to get it! As crazy as it still seems - using our $300 free dollars for a canvas painting that I still think I probably could make myself - the purchase has actually worked out well. The picture brought some much needed color into our bedroom, and filled up some of the large space between our bed and the ginormo ceilings. It has also made it very clear what my next project should be. Look at the picture. Can you guess?!

It's Supper Time!

Although it has been a while for you, literally, three hours after Tyler and I brought the table base upstairs from being spray painted, we finished the job! We were sooooo close, so we figured, "Why not?!?!" And now, I get to share it with you! I'm soo excited!!

Being two smart cookies, Tyler and I had flipped the table top upside-down onto our "dining room" floor before we'd gone downstairs to bring up the freshly painted base. When the base arrived upstairs, we placed it like so...

Please ignore my unattractive face.

Our first goal was to situate the base so that it stood evenly between the sides and ends of the table. More importantly, however, we wanted the legs of the table to be as straight as possible. Therefore, before making any placement decisions, we used a level to ensure the legs stood perpendicularly to the table.

Tyler with our best friend, Mr. Level.

Much to our chagrin, we realized, when working with pipes, it is near impossible to ensure a perfect 90 angle between the table and the pipe. We just had to accept that we'd have to get it as close as possible. Once the legs were adjusted to our liking, we began by eyeballing the placement and setting the legs down where we thought they should go. We followed up with a ruler so that our placement was more precise. Tyler is the king of precision, and went around the table numerous times checking....

Folks, that is sheer determination right there. Look at his face!

Once all four legs had been Tyler tested and approved, Tyler drilled SHORT holes where each of the screws would go in each flange (flat metal piece at the top and base of each leg).

Here we gooooooooo!!!

Once all of the short drill holes had been made, we removed the base so that we could prep to make real, appropriate-length pilot holes. First, we had to clean up the short holes, which looked like this:

Then, we sanded them down and wiped away any wood shaving from the area. Now, we were ready to create the pilot holes. This was probably the trickiest part of the whole attachment process. The drill bit was much longer than the actual thickness of our tabletop. Therefore, if we created pilot holes by drilling straight into wood, we would end up creating sixteen holes in our tabletop, which is not the look we were going for! Instead, we wanted to create pilot holes that ran about 3/4" into our 1.25" top. This would create the perfect hole for the 1" wood screws that we had bought. The first quarter-inch of the screws would sit atop the flange and the remaining three-quarters would grab onto the tabletop, making for a secure connection. Consequently, we had to come up  with a solution that would ensure the drill did not pass through the entire thickness of the wood. After a brief brainstorming session, we ended up using a piece of scrap wood, about an inch thick, to make up for the discrepancy between the length of the drill bit and the thickness of the table top.

The extra layer of wood would allow Tyler to push the drill bit all the way down, but the drill would only end up penetrating the tabletop to where we wanted it. With a solution a hand, Tyler got to drilling.

Sixteen pilot holes later, I stepped in with the vacuum to clean up all of the wood shavings that now littered the table and our floor.

Once, this was done, we were ready for the LAST step - drilling the screws into place. Hah! It already happened and I'm getting excited just thinking about it again. We decided to drill two screws into each flange first to make certain all of the legs were attached properly before securing any of them fully. 

As Tyler drilled a screw into place, I put my weight on top of the legs at the appropriate end. We did this to ensure that we wouldn't shift the placement of the base as we secured the screws. Then, Tyler went back around on his own drilling the final two screws into each flange.

Fortunately, all that I described above went smoothly. Our solution to the small drilling crisis worked out, and all of the screws easily fit into the pilot holes we'd created for them. Therefore, when Tyler completed his second go-around with screws, we were done! AHHHHHHHHHHHH! WOOOOOO!! Celebration-party dance time! We were so excited and proud of ourselves, and I'm very happy to finally share with you our brand-spankin-new DIYed dining room table. We hope you come to eat with us soon!

Isn't she pretty?!

P.S. Tyler was super cute, and surprised me that night by not only making dinner, but setting the table so we could eat there together for the first time. What a great boyfriend. =)

P.P.S. In case you're interested, our dining room chairs are "Tobias chairs" from Ikea. They are made from plastic and chrome-plated steel, and are surprisingly comfortable. The seats are sold in clear or gray. We went with the gray, and love how they add to the industrial vibe of our apartment.