Building a Barn for Christmas!

So my niece is into horses and that's about the best news you can give an aunt like me. As a previous barn rat myself I will do whatever I can to foster and grow this love. Ellie's only two so the chances that she'll read this and find out what her present is early is pretty slim. Plus I want some input on the finish so I'm posting this now.

I found plans to build a play stable on Ana White's site. The plans are here if you're interested. It looked super doable so I jumped on in!

This is made almost entirely of 1x2s but there are a few miter cuts. It's my first project with miter cuts and Derrick was the nicest husband ever and bought me a miter saw to make this project possible. You guys...it's the most amazing thing ever!!

Look at this perfect stack of 1x2s! They are all the same length! The miter saw made it so easy!

He got me a fancy one with a laser! It's not actually that fancy...it's super affordable so you should just get one if you've been thinking about. It basically made my day today.

I find it easiest to get all of my cuts out of the way first. My work table is 3 feet by 4 feet so it fills up quickly. The miter saw takes up a lot of space so I got all my cuts done so I could get it out of the way.

Look at those pretty mitered corners! They fit so perfectly! I made the roof trusses first to make sure everything was lined up.

Then I drilled a bajillion pocket holes.

Crosby stood guard for me while I worked. She's pretty much the best.

The frames were pretty quick and easy although I did mess up a pocket hole and had to re-cut one side piece. Learning curve...

Then I sanded...and sanded....and sanded. The last thing I want is for Ellie to get a splinter while she's trying to play with her horses so I sanded it like crazy and I'm probably going to end up sanding some more. I'm going to have Derrick do a splinter test when he gets home tonight because my hands are currently vibrating involuntarily.

The next part was impossible to photograph because it took all hands on deck and both feet, elbows, and knees to keep everything in place. I ended up having to hand screw them in because I didn't have short enough kreg screws. Adding the base made it super secure and sturdy.

And that's where I'm at so far. I need to make another hardware store run so I can put on the doors and the roof. I mis-cut the first roof panel...womp womp.  But..what do you think about the color? A lot of people who posted their finished products kept it natural but I also saw a really cut one that was painted white everywhere except for a dark roof. I'm probably going to add shim shingles to the roof. I also think using a red wood stain for the sides and a dark stain for the roof would look kind of adorable and classic. What do you think? I need input!