I grew up in a family of resourcefulness. My Dad was always fixing the cars and changing oil (it wasn't until I was in college that I discovered that people take cars to a shop to have the oil changed). I also remember my Mom always having a HUGE garden and canning so we had fresh unadulterated food throughout the year. My Dad was also a plumber and carpenter. My Mom, a seamstress. Both of them were barbers/hairstylists. Anything that you could possibly do by yourself, my parents did. It saved a lot of money and I guess I always figured that was the reason they chose to do things that way.
This became my perception of do-it-yourself projects. If you think you can do it, you can. Plus, I'm cheap! What can I say? I love to save money but still be able to enjoy life. One of Eric's coworkers made the comment to him the other day that "Eric's wife can do anything." I may not really be able to, but I try. And, I believe the same about Eric. So, between the two of us, we are pretty self-reliant. Between the two of us, we can make a buck stretch pretty far.
That's the number one reason I encouraged Eric to build bunk beds for the girls. We searched for one that we liked, was affordable, AND sturdy...but there wasn't one in existence. I had faith in Eric's ability not only to build one, but to come up with his own plans and design. Sure, it consumed the greater portion of the day, but we built as we came up with the concept. It fits our needs. It looks great. The girls adore that their daddy built something for them (you should have seen Emily's eyes light up!). It was cheap. We got to spend time together.
This last item is probably the best benefit from building our own bunk bed. As I think back, sure, there was work to be done in my home, but being able to do it together was more important. It also makes me realize how important it is to take time to work together. The phrase, "The family that prays together, stays together" may be true, but a family who works together, builds tighter bonds, too. Perhaps we should always being doing both.
3 comments:
Looks great! My husband is pretty resourceful too but we opted to buy bed (got a killer deal) I would make one safety suggestion though, place another railing across the top bunk on the other side that is against the wall. There is a large number of injuries caused each year by kids being pinned against the wall because they fell through that side. Maybe there is already railings on that side and I just can't see it though. Anywho, good work.
Yeah, it's not completely finished. There will be rails all around the top and it needs to be sanded and either painted or stained and/or whatever...that was just Monday's project to get it assembled.
What ... no hand carved embellishments? I fully expected to see Sponge-Bob whittled out of the side. HAHA. Great job!!!
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