Author: jablake53

Wednesday we got the bed moved to the house and worked until midnight to reassemble it. Because each of the components weigh different amounts they sink into the carpet at different depths. This puts the bolt holes slightly out of alignment making it a struggle to get it bolted together. Also sliding the towers (about 100 pounds each) into position while tucking the wiring into the hidden channels was significantly more difficult on carpet than it was on the shop floor. But we managed to get it done in time for Princess Holly’s arrival on Thursday. When she first saw it she was somewhat overwhelmed but within a few minutes she was climbing, laughing, and playing. She has told me how wonderful it is and thanked me for building it several times.

This weekend we got the ladder done except for paint. Barb is going to paint it purple tomorrow. The lighted rungs are blue because they are masked off with blue painters tape. After the ladder is painted they will be purple and pink.

We worked all weekend building the control panel/light box for the front of the castle. I built the sides and then made the front. I cut a 4″ x 13″ opening for the back-lit panel and then cut a 1/4″ x 1/4″ rabbet around the opening. Then I inserted a 4 1/2″ x 13 1/2″ piece of 1/4″ Plexiglas. I used a couple of scraps of Plexiglas as retainers to hold the panel in. We cut out “Princess Holly” in reverse and applied it to the back of the Plexiglas. Then we sprayed the back of the panel in flat white plastic paint. It will be back-lit with indirect lighting. 🙂

I couldn’t resist trying out some lights after we got the base moldings installed.

I’ve cut all of the base moldings and Barb is painting them purple. I’m starting on the tower top trim pieces. These will have hidden passages for much of the wiring. Then Barb will paint them pink.

Barb painted the walls with gloss white and we bought the pink and purple trim paint so I cut some base moldings so we could see how the purple would look.