It took five months – but I am proud to say that I have completed my first ‘real’ piece of furniture. (sorry son, but I’m not sure if your toy box counts as furniture…)

Using a pattern I found in a Handyman book, I went wood shopping. As I did so, I quickly discovered that oak plywood cost the same amount as birch wood (which the pattern originally called for) – or fairly close to the same amount.

So, I bought a bunch of oak – besides, it is TONS cooler to say that it is solid oak versus solid birch.  (oh – and oak grain is very pretty – as you will see later).

The only problem was that once I had the wood in hand, I wasn’t quite sure of where to start….

This issue was resolved with a visit from my father and stepmother at the end of May/beginning of June.

Piece by piece, joint by joint the armoire begin to take shape….

Having my father around to help build the armoire was a life safer as I learn a ton of tricks and techniques that a book could never provide.

We placed some pine boards around the oak body to add a decorative look to the armoire – as you can see from the above picture.

At last, the last coat of varnish has dried and the armoire has been moved into place. It is a welcome addition to the household – an addition that will help keep things a tad clearing as things now have a ‘home’. 🙂

A huge thanks and shout out to my father, stepmother, and wife who helped me through out this entire project. Your hands and encouragement were a true blessing! =D