The battle of the closet... Part 2

Good Day.  We painted it so the outside would match the dresser from my first post (extra paint) and the inside color (mixed at Menards) would match the crib skirting that my AWESOME wifey made!  For real it is super cool and she saved us a ton of cash!!!  Next step, hangin the rods.  I used a simple hacksaw (Menards again) to cut the rod into 2 pieces, painted them white and used some simple brackets to hang.  I really like the fact that they can easily be moved to accommodate different sizes of clothing.  As you can see in the pic below its lookin like my closet could very well be safe! 

We had some extra material from the skirting project and decided that we would try to incorporate it into this piece.  When I had the wood cut, the guys there were totally helpin after I explained what I was tryin to do and why.  At one point both of them looked at me and said, "what you gonna do for doors?"  I had not shared with them that my wifey is a ninja sewer!  Third degree black belt with gold stitching.  Check this out.

Thanks ninja sewer!  I think they look great using the left over material from the crib skirting project.  They are hangin on a 1/8 inch rod that clips into two screws that look like question marks.  You know the ones used to hang stuff from the celing!  Heres another look...

We are not sure if we will use hooks on the side to help with the curtains or use a tie system.  Thats a tough one :)  So here we have the custom piece that helped save a man's closet!!!  What I think is really cool about this project is:

It was made for a little girl by both her mom and dad!

We were able to use extra stuff that we had layin around.

The space issue was defeated.

We might have 35 bucks in it!

See how it matches the crib skirting!

Thanks for spending some time with a mancraftingsoontobedadeagle!









The battle of the closet... part 1

Good day.  You might not have heard yet but we are havin a baby!  Keep in mind that we live in a 2 bedroom condo with little closet space.  It is totally more than what we had before and if it were just us we would still have plenty.   My closet space resides in the spare bedroom/office that has been flipped into a beautiful nursery for BG.  As the baby clothing started flowin in I noticed a scary thing happening...  My closet was quickly being overtaken by these tiny articles of clothing.  Whats a guy to do? 
1. I could give in and split my closet space.  Which would eventually lead to a total loss!
2. Buy something from Ikea or some other joint that we could use to hang BGs clothing.
3. Buy something old and give it a facelift.
4. Make something custom?

This is a battle so number one was never a thought!  IKEA and those other joints are good for somethings but we have some space issues and generally they suck.  Would have been really nice to find something to upcycle but it just wasnt ment to be.  Time to make something custom...  This should be fun! 



I went to the local harware store (Menards) after taking some measurments and returned with this.
1. Two 2x12s four foot tall
2. One 2x12 34 inches long
3. One 8 foot wooden rod
4. Two wooden brackets to hang rods.
5. Some inch and a half screws
6. L brackets to fortify my creation

As you can see this is not rocket science...  Its wood science!  Screwed it together and reinforced it with "L" brackets.  Larry the level checked it and its all square.



Stay tuned...  The painters only work till 2 then they go drinking!

BG (baby girl) needs a dresser... What would you do??

Good Evening - This is my first blog posting and I am very happy to say it has to do with my first child! I would like to start by addressing our dresser dilemma.  We had been everywhere:  Babies-R-Us, Land of Nord, some other Chicago store by the nord all I can remember is $1500 for a crib,  Buy Buy baby, and countless craigslist postings.  The crib came to us via the enternet but we still needed a dresser.  Then one Saturday after the gym we stumbled on an old wooden dresser right there on the sidewalk.  Dime piece spotted it and b-lined straight to it.  This sidewalk just happens to be on the north side of Chicago and these antique/furniture stores are usually priced way way way to high.  In she goes to find out how much it is?  Next thing I know its ours for $80 and I gotta clean out Sliver Thunder so we can bring it home... 

Hi- I need a face lift...

Keep in mind its the middle of winter in Chicago.  We have an old beat up dresser for our daughters nursery that needs sanded and painted...  We had a break in the cold a few days before the Blizzard of 2011 and I dragged it out on our deck.  

All sanded down and ready for a paint job...

I have to say my Wife has a good eye.  At this point its lookin good no more scratches or dings.  All it needs is some paint!  

Finished Dresser!

  Now how did we get here??  My wonderful wife had a good eye and this time it wasn't the most expensive dresser there!  Wifeys parents got me a bomb Dewalt sander for x-mas that made sanding simple.  Ten bucks for some low odor zero v.o.c. satin paint and a little effort.  I think it looks great and the best part is I helped this dresser help us get ready for BG!!  The thought of her makes me the happiest man alive!

$80 Dresser

$10 paint

My hourly rate $150.00 @ 3 hours = $450

$540 total not too bad

Thats what we did!!