Part 1: Cameron Media Wall System

Between two full time jobs, Mike taking classes to get his Masters, the daily upkeep struggles of a 3200 square ft home, and keeping up with Ethan.... finding time to start on our next big project is a little low on the priority list. But we finally broke ground last night and was able to build the first installment of our "knock off" Pottery Barn Cameron Extra-Wide Media Wall System.

This entertainment center is selling on Pottery Barn Kids online for $1,399
which I am absolutely NOT willing to pay for.

I, myself, have never built anything -- at least not with wood. Do Popsicle sticks count? I think I remember building a miniature house from Popsicle sticks in 4th grade.

Mike's cherry, on the other hand, was popped last summer when I asked (nicely) if he could build an entertainment center for that awkward-looking inset in our family room. And this is what my hubby proudly built!

So when I ran into Ana's plans over at Knock Off Wood, I was ecstatic. I was also inspired by Ashely over at Shanty2Chic whose already almost done with hers!


And this is what we're hoping to build for under $300........

We can do it!

Step 1 was to build the media base. We bought all the wood (MDF) from Home Depot last Sunday, and had the guys there cut all our pieces. We had 5 sheets of MDF and a sheet of plywood, and it took roughly hour and a half to cut all our pieces. Mike told the patient HD guy the dimensions, and I re-measured each piece to make sure it was correctly cut and labeled each piece.

It took us 2 hours to build the media base. It would've been faster if we just used a nail gun but we opted to use screws to make it more stable. The hardest part was make sure everything is square (why it's called a "square" if it's in a shape of a triangle, I have no idea). We decided to leave off the trim until all our pieces are painted and done... but we're extremely happy with how this one turned out!

We're holding off on putting the trim until everything is done and painted.

For some reason, Ethan kept trying to climb into one of the bottom cubbies....

And here is my silly husband testing it to make sure it can withstand climbing monkeys....

Hopefully we can get some more pieces done this weekend. Til then!