These are all wonderful ideas, thank you!! Mitchdesj, thanks so much for your ideas. Although I do own a sewing machine and have done a couple of projects in the past (made DH's wedding vest, and made a bunch of curtains), life isn't going to allow me the relative luxury of a sewing project right now. So I will have to go with more immediate solutions. We are sleeping in our guest room on a futon right now, so finding a "right now" solution that we can have in place when we load all the furniture back in is a must!! Les, the colors you suggested are definite contenders. I might like that sage a whole lot ... can't wait to get home and check the quilt to see how that might work! You know, it had never, ever occurred to me to find a way to reuse our current bedskirt as a boxspring cover. Honestly, I have no idea if the color would work, so that gives me something else I can go home and check. Johnatemp, your bedroom is beautiful -- thank you for sharing your idea and your picture. Cameron, thank you for the link. It's great to have this kind of head start on my "research". I do love knowing there are companies out there who make exactly what I need. :-) Again, everyone, thanks for coming through with the great advice and ideas. There's a reason I come here with these kinds of questions! Alice

Thought I'd post an update in case anyone searches for a thread in the future. DD1 ran across PureCare at a store in a semi-nearby town, but they didn't have the sizes she needed. The fabric is nice and thick. They have several depths, so they will work with her low profile box and thick mattress. She has a feather bed, so she is using the OmniGuard mattress protector for the king (instead of mattress pad) and PureCare box spring protector. Both are full encasement. The king price is same on website and Amazon, but website is less on twin (split box). Here is a link that might be useful: PureCare

Are you sure this guy is not just an idiot and hit some blocking, duct or something. There is no way that the ceiling/floor is so shallow that it won't allow a junction box to be installed. It would not be able to support any weight at all. Are the structural members exposed (joists, beams etc) and he is drilling between them into the subfloor above? It doesn't add up.

The cables used for permanent wiring use clamps were they attach to a box. Some fixtures are also designed to have a clamp installed so that a cable can enter directly. The hole would be around 3/4 inch, usually at one end of the fixture. The problem with smaller boxes is box fill. The NEC requires a certain amount of volume based on the number of wires, devices, and internal box clamps inside the box. The thinnest box for general work is about 1.25 inches deep and 4 inches square. You can install a plaster ring (making the overall depth 1/75 inches). If the box is in a joist cavity there are mounting methods that can recess it deeper unless something structural is in the way.