[Build] - Space Saver!

I am one who constantly looks at the space I live in to figure out how it can be better, especially more practical. We live in a 1100 sq ft. home with 3 kids and 3 bedrooms, so we usually have to get creative with our space.

About 2 weeks before Christmas, I got the crazy idea to attempt to build a "murphy bed" for my son's room. His room is so tiny (only 7' wide to be exact) with double doors that open up into our family room - the one and only living area, so his room is always open for viewing. Plus, we get most of our natural light from his window, so I usually want to keep the doors open. His twin bed literally took up more than half his room.

[Solution]: Build a wall bed.

It just so happened that a while back my dad acquired a wall bed mechanism kit from "Create A Bed" (the hardware is supplied, but you have to build the bed out of wood from the plans provided). He found it on Craigslist

for super cheap (normally retails for $300) but never ended up using it. When he generously gifted the kit to me, I couldn't wait to build it - though I admit I was a bit intimidated at first.

From start to finish, this bed took me about 1 week. A few days for

cutting, a couple more to build, a couple more to paint, and then a

couple hours to assemble in the room. During the same week, we painted my son's room too.

Good thing I had done my Christmas shopping early or this would have been the only thing out on Christmas morning!

[Build]: Cubbie Wall Shelf

This is my first build since inspired by Ana White - but it's a custom one. For some reason I didn't even use existing plans from her site. But I suppose this made it even more personal. It's kind of a random piece, but it ended up having a good spot and purpose.

This project allowed me to experiment a little with a great tool (suggested by Ana), called the Kreg Jig. It's a very simple and quick way of joining wood. It works best if you're building a piece where you can hide those joint holes. (this project wasn't the best for that, but it can all be hidden with wood putty)

[kitchen]: Tool of Choice

What is your favorite kitchen tool?

A favorite of mine gets used EVERY day. It is probably the smallest kitchen tool I own, but it gets a lot of love...or a lot of dirt, depending on how you look at it.

 
Given family name: "brown scraper thingy"

Official name: "Pampered Chef Nylon Pan Scraper"

Uses:
- scraping hard to clean pots, pans, dishes
- scraping dried, crusted, sticky food off my floor and table

This tool makes cleaning much quicker. I recommend it to anyone with a kitchen!
Plus, it won't break the bank!

But if you don't want to spend your pennies on one of these, try giving an old credit card a second life. Credit cards are great for scraping ice off your car windshield too.