Hi from Louisiana!

Hi everyone, I'm Bonnie from southern Louisiana.  I am an Ohio tranplant, been down here since Jan 2002, have survived 4 hurricanes and my hubby and I are in the process of building our own home.  

We moved from a small rental house in town to our own place at our little 10 acre farm a few years ago.  We are also building it from the inside out, or maybe its outside in, not sure which it is really.  We built the outside of our home from what is called a metalic building, that is up on a 2 ft high mound, floor is 2 feet up off the ground.  No basements here, and most houses are elavated off the ground because of flooding from storms.  So, building practices that I knew from work in Ohio are different down here.  We moved into our house with absolutely no walls up at all, we were looking at the back of the metalic outside walls.  Just one big 50 x 30 building with a toilet, a bathtub where the bathroom would be, and a utility tub with the washer, dryer, and stove and frig at the other end where the laundry room would be, 2 doors and no windows.  (Cold in the winter, hot in the summer)..  Slowly but surely, we are building room by room.  We now have a almost complete bathroom and bedroom, living room, mud room / storage room with adjustable shelves (i got plans free off the net), and are hopefully going to move on to finish the room that will be my kitchen (cabinets will come later) then the second bathroom, and 2 other bedrooms (one to be an office for me to work out of our house).  So, for the last few years, my home -work has been construction.  Making walls and ceilings, installing windows and doors, fixing the booboos that the builder of the shell of our home did, and just concentrating on the necessities of the house. 

But during all this time, I have been pouring over site after site, looking for plans, free or not, for things to fill the house with when we get to that point.  (I am 54 years old and my husband is 61.  We should NOT be having to do this kind of work at our ages, but we are both starting completely over after leaving our past lives behind.  We both have grown children who are kinda in the same position, building their lives from scratch.)  I have been in heaven since I found this site.  My mind has been reeling, and I have been showing the plans to both my husband and his daughter who is moving into a new house soon.  She also is starting from scratch after loosing absolutely everything they own from a flood 3 years ago.  So, her idea is, she will buy the wood for the projects she likes and needs, and I make the project and practice.  Sounds good to me!

I have made a few things from free plans I have found on the net already - 2 outdoor chairs and 2 side tables, a picnic table that converts to 2 benches with backs (free plans off the net), a rolling cart that houses our "sputnik" air compressor and the hose reel (plans from Weekend Handyman mag) - for our nail gun (that 1 piece of equipment has been the best lifesaver of all.. God smiled on us DIY'ers when he had a person invent the pneumatic nailgun)..  and the adjustable shelves for my storage room, made from 2x's and plywood (free plans off the net).  I am also going to install a kockoff of a garage wall hanging organizing system (also free off the net) that uses 3/4 ply and aluminum stock for hanging brooms, mops, cleaning stuff in general. 

I am really into organization right now.  I am a basement kind of person, have had one in every house iv ever lived in.  With that mindset to have a basement for storage, to move into a house that will not have a basement, my mind has to grasp and think of different kinds of storage.  Not easy.  So, even though I am in desperate need of furniture, I have been concentrating on storage issues.  I am also a Frank Lloyd Wright fan - I LOVE built-ins.  Am planning on making built-in cupboards of one kind or another all over.  In our bedroom, to increase storage space and floor space, am planning on built-ins to replace clothes chests.  Can literally make the built-in go from floor to ceiling, and use much wasted upper wall space above what would be just a clothes chest.  Ana's Armoire will fit the bill well for that.   I will just modify it to go from floor to ceiling.  And make it permanent.  Her plans look so incredibly easy to modify to fit one's individual needs..   I also will make my own closet organizers for our small walk-in closet eventually. 

I already have a drill, jig saw, circular saw, table saw, hand router, nail gun, 1/4 sheet hand sander and a Kreg pocket hole kit (still in the box waiting for chrustmas), a straight-edge saw guide (another fabulous handy-dandy relatively inexpensive cant-do-without aide), and bunches of clamps (one can NEVER have enough clamps)..   I still need a GOOD jig saw, a random orbital sander, a small belt sander, some pipe clamps for large items, a router table would be excellent (some day), (some tools are new, some are handmedown, all corded.  too $ to go cordless, although that is my dream)..  and a workshop..  LOL.   Most of our work is done outside, or in the horse trailer.  (We have 11 horses, 4 goats, 6 dogs, and a whole plethra of cats, inside and out, ((and all nutered I might add.  I fully subscribe to 0 population growth of farm and pet animals, unless there is a specific reason not to!!)) Good thing about this part of the country, the winters are perfect for working outside.  Bad part about this part of the country, summers are TERRIBLE for working outside.  I can stand the cold, but not the heat, and if its not the heat, its the rain, and if its not the rain, its the humidity, and if its not the humidity, its the BUGS....  Anyway, joys of living in the country, close to the Gulf Coast...  

I am SSSOOOO glad to have found this site!  Ana, your a woman of my own heart.  You are doing what I had though could and needed to be done, but didnt have the gumption to do.  I admire your spirit and dedication!  What an inspiration for all DIY'ers, M and F alike!  This will be a marvelous place to come to to throw out ideas and find some too.   I have spent hours just pouring over your plan catalog, thiking about where I can put this piece and that piece.   Take time for yourself so you dont burn out, but keep up the good work! 

Bonnie