Plans, plans, plans

I've been dreaming again.

This is an even better dream than the last one.  But it does require that I rewire an outlet.  I was told that up north, that generally happens in the basement, not in the attic (I grew up in Texas, I am used to all houses in existence being built on a concrete slab).  This beautiful, giant, built-in armoire would sit in exactly the same footprint as our current, wretched closet, which means I wouldn't have to mess with the carpet or worry too much about the beauty of my novice attempt at patching two walls and a ceiling.

However.

It is an awful lot of work and investment in a house (and in a city) that is not our own.

Here's another dream of mine.

This is currently completely empty space in our mudroom (an "extra" room that sits between the back screen and the back door - another thing they have up north but not really in Texas).  This plan is a little less intense than the bedroom built-ins, a little more needful right now, and it has more support from the troops (Dave).  According to my calculations, it should cost about $45 to build the three storage benches.  It would be less, but this plan uses cedar boards for the bench top.  I may actually use scrap instead of cedar, which brings the cost down to around $15.

$15 for all three benches. (well, not counting the plywood...that makes it, oh, $35.  But still!)

Anyways, the plan uses two independent benches (the end ones), two big locker divider things that support the upper shelf, and the middle bench spans those two dividers, stabilizing them.  I designed it this way so that I can easily-ish compensate for the slope of the floor.

The slope of the floor.  Naturally.

But this:

...this is my determined project for when I get home next weekend.  Yes, it is a dumbbell rack.  No, a store-bought one would not be easier and better.  For one thing, the price is about the same.  For another, no store-bought dumbell rack will be exactly the right dimensions.  And finally, none of the store-bought ones have a table-top, which our weight-room needs as right now there's no place to set a water bottle or write down reps/weight or keep a rockin' sound system.  And I want Dave to be able to customize as he likes.

And now I'm just about out of stuff to design.  Anyone have a design idea they'd like to see "fleshed out"?  'Cause I know this totally awesome designer with a lot of time on her hands.  And she'll work for free.