Thanks so much for all your nice comments. :-) It was a long time in planning.
Once I realized that putting the bed up was the only way to get some working space, I started looking at wall beds to buy. The cheapest (and nastiest) ones were $1500, while the really nice ones went well into the thousands. Much, much more than my frugal husband would be willing to spend.
Then I found that you can buy the plans and the lifting mechanism to make your own for about $400. The wood cost about $350. It's all plywood, amazingly enough. He'd never done any woodworking before, so it was quite an adventure. Luckily, the people who sell the plans are very helpful and got him over any bumps in the process. The mattress ends up about the same height as a regular bed and it takes no effort whatsoever to put it up and down. Very slick!
As I said, he also designed and built the fold-down table under the window and fixed the legs on my sewing table to get it to a height that was comfortable for me.
He grumbles a bit every time I say, "You know what would be nice right here?" but he always comes through for me with class. Definitely a "keeper"! :thumbup: