Bed Time Story

Ya wanna hear a long (but oh, so fascinating!) story? Some of you have already heard this story - if you have, sorry. At least you can look at the pictures!

Anyway, when Quentin and I first got married, we were so poor that we couldn't afford a bed. So we borrowed my parents' air mattress and slept on that for 6 months. 6 MONTHS! Then my grandma's neighbor was selling their practically new mattress and sort-of new headboard and footboard, and we got those for a steal. Life was good.

See how cute our little bed was?



Then last summer while I was browsing at a furniture store at Gardner Village, I was struck by a bed I fell in love with. I wasn't even in the market for a new bed, but I just loved the look. You wanna see?



I ended up showing Quentin the bed the next time we were at the store. He liked it too and we decided that we'd put it on our list of "someday" purchases. And that was that. I filed the picture away and thought maybe someday we would get it.

Well, about a week before Christmas, our little family went to Gardner Village to browse and Quentin said he wanted to look at that bed again. We both agreed that it looked really nice. But when Quentin "kicked the tires" so-to-speak (you know how men are), we noticed that the bed was actually poorly made. The headboard seemed pretty flimsy. And when we both sat down and leaned against it, both of our heads bonked on the top cap part of it. Not a great feature if you want to sit in bed and read!!

So on the way home from Gardner Village (remember, it was about a week before Christmas), Quentin said he had a confession. He told me that he had bought the bed a few days earlier to surprise me for Christmas. He had borrowed his mom's van, timed things just right so I would be at Kiera's piano lesson when he returned and found a hiding spot for it, and he was planning on putting it together on Christmas Eve as a Christmas surprise. Isn't he just the sweetest? But he told me that after seeing how flimsy it was and how it wouldn't be comfortable for reading in bed, he knew it just wouldn't work. But he had bought it. And it was in our house. I was so tempted to just say, "Forget sturdiness and practicality! It's pretty - let's keep it!" But I knew it wouldn't be for the best. I could tell Quentin was really disappointed, but we knew we'd find something even better someday.

I was telling Nikki about this and she suggested we do some paneling, like I've been wanting to do in our dining room. Kind of like this:



So I told Quentin about that idea, and we thought it would be cool to do it, but not have it on the whole wall - just by the bed so it would sort of look like a headboard. Again, the idea was filed away and put on our "someday project" list. (And yes, I literally have lists for this). But one day we had a free Saturday to ourselves and I could tell Quentin was in Project Mode. So I suggested doing that project, thinking we'd buy a few 2x4's, nail them to the wall, and slap some paint on it. I know Quentin is a perfectionist and does everything "just right." But I had no idea that this project would take not only 10 hours on that Saturday, but about 30 additional hours through the next 2 weeks.

This is our "camping bed" (as the girls called it) when we were in transition mode. When we slept like this, we realized how much we loved having a footboard. We must sleep weird, but without a footboard our blankets would all slump off the end of the bed during the night - even if we tucked them in!



See how cute Quentin is? (P.S. He's in his "shop," which will soon become the preschool/theater room - that's his next project!)



Anyway, he worked really hard on it and put so many hours into it - while working a required 6 hours overtime per week and doing his Scout calling. We didn't see much of him - but we knew he was having fun on his project! And guess what - he even surprised me by making a footboard!! Yipee!



So Friday night he put the last coat of paint on and Saturday we put it together. And I can't tell you how much I absolutely LOVE it! Quentin was nervous that I would say I love it even if I didn't because I wouldn't want to hurt his feelings. But honestly - yes, I love it because he made it. But if I had to choose one out of a catalog, this would totally be it. I love how it makes our room look! I love the simple lines, and I love the high back so we can sit in bed and read (we couldn't do that in our other bed). And you know what's weird? When we slept in it for the first time last night, I just had this overwhelming sense of security being in it. I know that sounds cheesy, but I just felt protected somehow. I think not having a footboard for a few weeks made me feel somewhat vulnerable for some weird reason. Anyway, I just love, love, love it! So...you wanna see it? And it's even better in "Real Life!"