Kiddo's Loft Bed...FINISHED!

Edited 7-16-09: I know I'm cheating, but I had to show this off, that's why I'm linked up at A Soft Place to Land's DIY Thursday. There are SO many other DIY projects linked and I can't wait to read up!

A few years ago, Sound Man and Kiddo decided they wanted to build Kiddo a loft bed to usher him into non-babyhood. Or something like that. Sound Man got plans off the internet and started gathering the materials he would need. And gathered some more. And gathered some MORE. Then started cutting...

Kiddo looks so little in this picture. Do they grow that much in a year? After they finished cutting all the boards, naturally they started construction:

And then....my Momma's cancer returned. We had to move kiddo from the guest room back into his room (as well as Jonathan's giant kennel!) while Momma was staying with us to have her radiation treatments up here. We placed his mattress underneath the bed until Sound Man could get back to the project.

Bless Kiddo's heart, as we say here in the South. But he really did like it...for a while. Then when spring came, Sound Man decided it was time to start working on it again. He had hit some snags in construction when he couldn't find the type of wood he needed, but finally found what he needed to get back to building. And build he did...

The ladder and rails for the top finished, they were basically through with construction and only had to sand stain it to be done. Well, any of you who have sanded an stained anything of substance know that that process can take a loooong time, depending on how many coats of stain and sealant you need.

But once they got started, they have worked every spare moment they could...

I just realized that I don't have any of Sound Man working, and I know I took some of him. He and Kiddo really didn't let me in on much of the process because Kiddo wanted the finished product to be a surprise.

And what a surprise! It looks gorgeous. He used the same stain he had used on Kiddo's dresser (which had been my Mimmie's-according to my Momma-then my sister's, then mine), so he has matching furniture!

We were going to wait about painting the room until a little later, but my Momma is back with us while she has surgery on her leg, so once again Kiddo was out of a bed (we had moved him back into the guest room to finish the bed). Finishing this project was top priority! Sound Man has worked every spare minute he had getting the bed finished and the room painted. I'm going to wait to show the completed room until after we get everything back in and hung on the walls. I will say that every one of us are pleased with the way the colors turned out.

Kiddo's bedroom now looks like a growing boy's room, not a baby boy's room. And while that makes me sad in a way, it's just a rite of passage that he got to enjoy with his wonderful Daddy. He has learned lessons not only in building, but also in doing things with excellence, patience, and persistence. Which leads me to say that...

Now, to see how other husbands rock, go to Katy Lin's blog, The Great Adventure. Katy Lin started MHR and I'm so thankful she did!