Mar 21, 2013

Spanner in the works….

Wow—hadn’t realized it had been that long since I updated!  I will admit to being at a work conference but also winter often leaves me gray and uninspired.  I thought once the stupid groundhog predicted an early spring I’d be getting to see some warmer weather.  But no—it’s about 20 degrees here today.  Brrrr.

The title of the post basically means messing up the works.  I just like the phrase.  It was also a Rod Stewart album from 1995.  I will admit a guilty pleasure in loving the music of Mr. Stewart.   Despite the comparisons to an old shoe and a porcupine, that dude has written some amazing songs and obviously enjoys the hell out of life. 

ANYWAY---I do have a point to my post.  Spanner in the works refers to today of me getting out of my funk.  Sometimes life just whizzes by and soon you realize it has been weeks since you really got to do something you wanted to do or even finished a load of laundry.   And I’m not a girl who hates winter terribly, but now I’ve had enough and I’m ready for some warmer weather and to see things green and growing again.   And also to work on some new projects.

I definitely do not have OCD, but I could use a teeny bit right now.  It’s just so much easier to close the door to my boudoir and pretend the mess is not there.  But as I got a few minutes to ponder the mess, an idea finally came to me: Murphy bed!

I had a light bulb moment one day last week.  I guess the part about ADD people attacking things from other angles comes in handy here.  I came home one evening and looked at the rat’s nest of a room and knew I had to come up with a better way to help me keep things organized and yet still allow me to ‘see’ things.  First I thought of rearranging the furniture in the room.  The room itself isn’t that big and I have a dresser, vanity, armoire, and bed in there.  That still wouldn’t really solve the problem of space.  Then I realized that the bed takes up so much room and what is on it?  Clothes!  If I could move the bed out of the way, I could create a ton of space.  DING DING DING!  Murphy bed to the rescue!

So of course the first place I searched for Murphy bed ideas—Pinterest! I found some Murphy beds you could buy outright. Then I saw the price and:

Let’s just say I changed up my search to see if I could build a Murphy bed myself.  Here are some of my faves (click on pic for link):

I love this one and also love the color!!!!

the wood color is a little dark but I really like the design here:

this one opens from the side:

For the size of my room, I think a bed that opens from the top would be the best fit.  The other important thing for me was to be able to use the queen size mattress that we already have.   I believe our mattress will fit but I will definitely be measuring before I start!   There are a few sites I am considering ordering a kit from, but Wilding Wallbeds seems to have the nicest construction.  

The next part is convincing hubby to A-spend the money to get the frame and B-actually build the outside cabinet part.  As he loves a good project, I think that part won't be too hard.  But the spending part may be another story.  I am okay with getting some very plain light wood as I am planning on painting it any way. 

Hubby will also ask what I want to do with all of that space.  My brother actually answered that one.  I was having dinner with Salsa Judy and my brother last week when I told them about my idea.   My brother then said "You'll just move some rolling racks in there and set up shop!"  Pretty close there, Mike.   I know I would have something set up for shoes (the cubes I talked about in this post) and maybe something like this:

Of course my little room has no fireplace.  But I could certainly put some nice racks up like that.

This is awesome:

This looks do-able if the hubby were willing to help design.  Doesn't look too complicated right?

So readers (if I even have any left), give me your tips, thoughts, and ideas on what I can do to make my dressing room dreams come true!