Puzzling Sideboard

My mother called me the other day after attending a meeting with the art guild she is a member of with a cute puzzle to see if you have an "artistic mind." The equation is:

2+2= fish

3+3= eight

7+7= triangle

I got it. If the answer isn't as clear for you, I will share at the end of this next Restyle story.

The answer to the test above reminded me about the sideboard buffet table I had made for the 2013 Restore Restyle Event. This one did require the obsessive compulsive disorder or perfectionism that only my husband can add to any project. So where I may have been the brain power behind the concept and design behind the materials to be used, and after 3 days of thoroughly explaining to him exactly how a bed canopy, a wood door, 2 cabinet doors, 8 hardwood floor strips, and some granite tiles were going to come together, his craftsmanship is what made it come to life.

I wasn't exactly sure what they were until I got home later that day, all I knew was that I loved the detail of it and there was plenty of it to use in a project. It turned out to be the rails to turn a poster bed into a canopy bed.

My next challenge was to find a wood door that would match the rails and looked exactly like what I had pictured in my mind. (turns out it wasn't that big of a challenge, it was on the first aisle among the vast selection of varieties of doors and was $40)

I picked up the cabinet doors for $4 each. And the granite tile was $2 a piece.

First we figured out exactly where we would have to cut the door so that the hole of the door knob could be concealed. Then we laid out the rails and started work on rearranging them like a puzzle so that we could utilize their hardware and cut to keep the beautiful lines and pattern in tact.

After that, it pretty much came together in a snap. We built the frame and attached the cut door with screws to the back. We placed the cabinet doors on the top and the bottom. We used a bit of scrap plywood to build up the top to make it level with the frame. Then cut the granite tiles for the top. The bottom was finished with hardwood floor planks.

Once the grout dried for the granite. We glued a bit of trim from the hardware store ($3) that we stained, to add detail around the tile and make it flow into the wood around it. (By the way, Restore did have that trim in stock as well, but unfortunately it was Sunday, they were closed and I was on a deadline)

TAHDAH! A beautiful handcrafted sideboard buffet table that my husband REALLY hated to send away to be sold, he loved it so much.

I did tell him that he finished it too well and I don't think people could tell that we made it until they looked very closely. And in case you are wondering, That is an iron gate hung on the wall behind it I picked up at Restore for the challenge as well. It now has a wonderful home in my herb garden.

Now the answer to the puzzle:

2+2= fish 

Think about the Christian fish symbol you see on car bumpers, now think about flipping the 2's on their side and flipping one to mirror the other and bring them together... it makes a fish!

3+3=eight

Now that you get where this is going I don't think 8 needs much more explaining.

7+7= triangle

Flip your 7's upside down and flip one to mirror the other, bring them together and you get a triangle shape.