That's Not Going Anywhere

Once the studs were all up, it was time to start adding steel supports for the future built-in shelves and desk. Here is something I adore about my husband. Troy is so good at envisioning final results. He is creative and makes things well, and also makes sure that form always follows function. He has seen in his mind's eye how cool it would be to have beautiful hardwood shelves and a desk built in to this bedroom, and he knew basically how he wanted to support the heavy structures. He explained it to me many times and I sort of got it, but not entirely clearly. 

Troy fabricated out of steel some supports that were to be bolted into the studs. A lot of this steel required cutting and shaping. He figured he'd do it all with the reciprocating saw and a grinder, but it didn't take long before he could see that it would be an eternity to do it that way. Happily he found a metal-cutting chop saw on KSL classifieds for cheap - totally worth the afternoon it took to go to Riverton to buy it. It might not be the most elegant tool but it sure got the job done faster.

Then it was time to install the steel! Troy may have gotten a little bit of guff from his brothers about how many of the supports he made and how many bolts and screws (and glue) each one had. But guess what. Those suckers aren't going anywhere! In classic dad style, every time Troy finished installing a bracket, he would firmly grasp it and say, "That's not going anywhere!" It makes us laugh every time.

Of course it's been a pretty big pain, but also it's been fun to see Troy put a lot of his tools plus his skill to good use. I love it when he gets to use his welder. Plus he looks so cute in the leather jerkin he has to wear to protect himself while welding. 

 

Also, the closet is now mostly framed in. We are feeling like the room is closing in on us just a little bit since we used to have three more feet of vertical space in there and much shallower studs. But I'll take an actual floor over those three feet of headspace any day. I know it will be a small little room, but it will be bigger than it was! Plus all that lovely shelving....

Heigh ho, the work continues on.