Why I am not buying fabric right now

A picture is worth a thousand words, so they say:

Hubby's project: oak bookcase(s)

Ever since he returned from his tour in Korea, hubby has been talking about wanting a small woodworking shop.  When he came back from Afghanistan, this picked up as he was one who helped build a new camp out of plywood and 2x4s.  On the way home from Indiana - without either of the two bookcases we intended to bring back - the subject came up again ... and over the past month of discussion we agreed on a big, fun project for hubby: custom oak bookcases for the living room.

This is the start of the first one.  We wanted to buy enough to do the frame of both, but Lowe's only had two sheets of the 3/4 inch thick oak in stock yesterday.  At the store, and on the way home, hubby was talking about how he'd put it together slowly to avoid mistakes ... that didn't last long and a couple hours later he was asking me to hold the side boards up so he could attach them to the already-put-together base.

This bookcase is 7 feet 8 inches tall and a smidge over 4 feet wide.  It still needs a back, and trim (oh yes, I can pick out pretty trim for it!), and hubby wants to build the second one before staining and finishing so they come out the same shade.  My original request was for "real" bookcases that would last a good twenty years, as I am tired of replacing them every other time I want to move them from one room to another (and that's if they are the good ones!).  Hubby's stated goal: "I want to make them last a century!"  That would be cool!

When both are done, and the books are moved onto it ... I will have two particleboard cheapie WalMart bookcases to store my fabric on in the soon (?)-to-be sewing lair, which will open up floor space that is now occupied by boxes (the wools and silks will still hide in tubs from both cats and insects!).

So right now, my fabric funds are instead buying wood, wood supplies, and of course woodworking tools.  I get oak furniture, and hubby gets his small woodshop.  Sounds like a win-win deal to me!