You can only imagine what your stuff might look like when you pull it out of storage after 10 years. To say it’s dusty is an understatement. No amount of Glade, Aqua di Parma, all-night-running ceiling fans or anything-roasted-from the oven takes away the smell of mothballs. (Please! Any suggestions?) But on the plus side, as you open each box, it’s a bit like Christmas Day. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve lifted (something) out of a box and said, “Wow, I completely forgot about this.” (By the way, that same sentence works said in a negative tone too, as in "I kept this for 10 years?")

Anyway ... Whiling digging through boxes, fixing broken furniture, taking mildew out of books, restoring two cabinets, and shampooing cushions, a bit of creativity came to fore. Looking for tools one day, I came across a large stack of random old slats of wood down at my Grandma's old place. In different sizes, textures, styles and colours, each slat had a different story: old chair rails in our kitchen when we first moved into the house in 1963, rough-hewn pine to mark rows of corn in the field or lines of tile, wainscoting from Grandma’s house -- and my favourite, slats from Grandma's quilting frame with her handwriting still visible on the side. Each was a bit of Eklund history pushed aside in a corn crib, and I decided on the spot to give them a permanent home. Read on for the story of how we went from spare wood to a home furnishings project.

(First of all, sorry the photos aren't in chronological order. Posterous isn't cooperating with me today.)

My dad and I started with some 100 pieces of wood. After some careful selection (ha! as if!), I scrubbed and cleaned about 50 and let them bleach in the sun. We took an old plywood panel (it’s actually one of the old doors from the barn), and after gluing down a horizontal bar for accuracy, we measured and cut each to a specific length, arranging them vertically. By the time we filled the board, we’d chosen about 45 of the best, gluing each one down individually for stability. We bought some prime oak and mitre-cut an edging around the entire piece to give it some “finish.” (That’s my Dad as model with the finished piece.) Notice how all of the mistakes are cleverly concealed ... or at least, we hope.

Finally, the finished wood-working project in its new home: as a headboard in my apartment. We made it large enough to fit both a full- or queen-sized mattress. I wouldn't make a very good professional dresser: I needed to do a better job smoothing down the sheets and pillows – but all in all, it looks pretty good matched with an old quilt from the 1940s. I sort-of wish Mr. Wagner could see it just to prove I actually did listen in ninth grade Woodworking Class.

It’s like an Eklund Quilt created in wood, and I must say, I’m extremely happy with the results. Funny what two old guys can accomplish with odd bits of stuff and some creativity, and I must say, a great way to spend time with my Dad after living overseas for 9 years.

Here's a close-up of the pieces themselves.