NSFJ: Head(board) of the Class

Remember in my Christmas post I gave you a sneak peak into what the Boarman family does on weekends my FAVORITE present?  I hope that you have not keeled over from the suspense.  You know I have to do things in chronological order and the present did not make it's homecoming debut until January 19th.

So, a little background story to get you up to speed.  Ryan & I purchased our house in late 2010.  (Please try to discard this fact from your memory when you come over.)  At that time I came up with several fantastic decorating ideas and projects.  I was sure that everything I would accomplish would basically make the Property Brothers want to add me as an honorary cast member.  In my mind at 3 years post purchase to be kicking back and sipping cocktails in various rooms of our completely finished house.  Luckily our house isn't finished because I'd be spilling a lot of booze chasing Emery from room-to-room.  If you're sensing my lack of progress as imagined to be a theme here on the ol' blog, you are very astute.

As you may have gathered from context clues, one such fantastical project I dreamed up was an upholstered headboard.  I felt like the bedroom had enough different wood going on and I wanted to break it up with some texture via an upholstered headboard.  Armed with the ability to hunt out DIY blogs with the best of them, I was amped up and ready to get 'er done.  Then somehow weekends just kept passing by and my enthusiasm waned in a major way.

For the most part the un-finished state of our abode only bothers me.  There is a couch, TV and fridge and that is all Ryan really needs in life.... with one exception.  The only thing Ryan ever complained about was not having a headboard.  Apparently the pillows kept falling between the mattress and the wall and that was a real thorn in his highness' side.  He mentioned this in subtle ways (oh man, this pillow is way down the wall) and in not-so-subtle ways (hey... do you think you'll make a headboard before we die).  Finally post-baby I decided that making a headboard seemed like a perfect Christmas present for him.

I asked my parents if I could sneak up there one weekend with Em and enlist some LIGHT assistance from them to help work on it.  My Dad took this as a cue to become a master carpenter.  As Jimmy James is apt to do, he took the idea and ran with it.  It somehow morphed from me stapling some fabric on a board to him using Autocad and turning his garage into Santa's workshop.  Thanks to us throwing a wrench in his plan by throwing a surprise party, he wasn't able to finish it before Christmas, but that wound up working out perfectly because it meant that Ryan got to spend some QT learning the art of woodworking from my Daddio.

As with all Boarman family projects, it came together with lots of laughter, love and a few four letter words.  The two of them worked tirelessly for about 4 days straight and weren't able to quite wrap it up.  So my sweet parents were kind enough to work on it themselves after we had left and hand deliver it to our doorstep.  (I TOLD you it was the best Christmas present!)  It not only looks incredible, but it now has a lot of sentimental value.  I really can't thank everyone enough for their help, blood, sweat & tears!  I love you all mucho.

Tell me this picture doesn't scream "seasoned professionals".

Not only were my parents kind enough to continue progress without us- they sent us regular visual updates.  Service with a smile, guys!

Clearly if this whole engineering thing does not work out, my Dad has a future in the packing/moving industry.  Also if you ever wondered what happened to Julie & I's childhood bedspreads- wonder no more, friend.

Ta-da!  Home, sweet home.

So much more awesome than my piddly vision.  Thank heavens for my Dad!