Part 2: Cameron Media Wall System

Slowly, but surely, our major DIY project of building the entertainment system/toy storage for the loft, is coming along. We're building it piece by piece, on whatever spare time we have which is not a whole lot, so it's taking us a lot longer than we first anticipated. But we're not working against a deadline, and we want to get it right.... I have no doubt we'll be SUPER proud of ourselves after all is said and done.

Cameron Extra-Wide Media Wall System - $1,399

Since building the media base, we have built two open bases and two more cubbies.


Basically, we've built one of these.....

Cameron Extra-Wide Media Base $359

and two of these.......

Cameron Cubby & Open Base Set $309

.....but didn't pay crazy $$$ for it.



Anyway, hopefully, we'll be able to finish building the last 2 cubbies tomorrow, build the drawers for the open base cubbies at the bottom, and add all the trims so we could start painting this weekend.

We're still debating on whether to put the hutch (we've got the wood cut for it already) but we started thinking maybe it would be better without it.

What I love about these pieces (besides the fact that we're not spending so much money on it) is that they're so versatile. We can always add more cubbies and re-arrange them if we ever need more storage space (we can't get enough!) or if we just want to change the look of the room.

But I digress..... :)

Thanks to Ana over at Knock off Wood for the plans! I wouldn't have done this without her help!

Day Off Checklist

So my boss tells me I could take the day off after working a few late nights - didn't get home last night (this morning?) til 2:30am. I'm a little at a loss about how to spend my day. Law and Order SVU isn't playing a marathon so I don't suppose I could just plop on the couch and watch re-runs and eat chinese food until I fall asleep.

Nope. Got better plans.


7:00: Slept in........ all 30 minutes worth. I asked Mike to take Ethan to school so I could catch up on some sleep, but just couldn't seem to force myself to sleep past 7am. How sad. I tried to stay in bed for a while until my mom woke me up complaining about a print problem (she apparently thinks I'm her personal IT helpdesk).

7:30: Ran on the treadmill for the duration of a CSI NY episode (ok... so I fast forwarded through the commercials. Once you DVR, you never go back). We bought a treadmill from Craigslist 2 weeks ago and I said my goal is to run twice a week. I ran once on Saturday and limped (stretch much?) Sunday AND Monday. This morning, I made sure to stretch afterwards.

8:30: Did 2 loads of laundry..... considered deferring the folding to Mike, but he has school tonight so I might as well do it.

9:00: Started building the cubbies for the entertainment center. Took me 1.5 hours to build one, and it's not entirely complete (but I'm so excited to brag about building it 95% through minus Mike that I'm prematurely posting it anyway). The middle sections aren't secure, the plans from Knock off Wood recommend "toe nailing" it which I guess is just nailing it at an angle. By then, my bad hand started hurting from all the pre-drilling and countersinking, I called Mike and told him I'll let him finish it :) One down, 3 more cubbies to go.

10:30: Snack on last night's leftover Chianti braised short ribs from Olive Garden (company always gets us dinner whenever we have to work late) and read 2 chapters of Nicholas Sparks - The Rescuer. It's one of his older books that I haven't read yet, I picked up from the Goodwill Bookstore I've recently discovered near my work for .99 (already stacked up on .50 children's books!).

11:15: Check my emails. Visit my usual blogs. Blog.

1:00: I'm meeting Mike for lunch in an hour - when either one of us has the day off, we always meet for lunch - $1 says he'll want to get sushi.

2:00: I'll pick up Ethan after lunch, and we'll go shopping for his baseball outfit for Saturday's big game. He's supposed to get a cap, shirt and pants (included in the $60 registration), but apparently, those recent nasty storms in the east have delayed the uniform orders and they may not be here for Opening Day. Oh well. We'll probably go to the park to break in his new cleats and practice some more of his crab walk and alligator. It's nice to be able to see my son while there's still some daylight out. I can't wait til the summer.....

6:00: Stop by Ross to find something to hang above our sad-looking mantle in the family room. I've been on a bargain hunt for a while, but haven't had much luck. Maybe I should just build something........... ;)

7:10: Catch Planet 51 at the Regency with Ethan - yay for $2 movies!


My thumb's really bothering me now, even by using the space bar. It sucks to think it'll always be in pain now since surgery a year ago. Ugh. Time to soak it....

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!

Eeny Meeny Miny Moe

Almost 9 months after we moved in....... I think it's about time we furnish the loft. At first, I didn't mind that it has become the catch all for Ethan's toys. As long as they weren't all over the place downstairs, I was ok with it. But it's become such a monster, it's like Santa's workshop and Toys R Us got married and had babies and they threw up in our loft. I have been desperately looking for an entertainment center/shelving unit to hide our own Toys R Us, but haven't had much luck.

So.... hopefully.... with some elbow grease, a brand spanking new nail gun and jigsaw, LOTS of wood glue, and quality hubby/wifey time...... we're going to be building the furniture for upstairs.

I want to build both the media center for one side, and the bankable bookcases on the other. Amibitious, I know! But even if it takes us a few weeks to do..... I think we'll all be happy that room will finally be organized!

Pottery Barn Cameron Media Wall System - $1,790

Land of Nod Bankable Bookcases - $699

The big question of the day is...... which should be build first??? :)

Decisions! Decision!

Our First Project! Knock-off Pottery Barn Montgomery Upholstered Headboard

So one night, I stumbled into Ana's awesome blog Knock-off Wood, and I was immediately inspired to be a carpenter. No, really.......

No one wanted to believe me. I've always been obsessed with furniture. Ask Mike. I almost had a 3 bedroom house furnished before we even got the house!

The plans sat in my purse for a few days before I finally convinced Mike to go to Home Depot, where he decides, by the way, that this is actually a pretty brilliant idea because he can coerce me to buy power tools. I should've bought the pink nail gun so he can't claim it's his.

We thought we'd start with something easy, so we decided to build Sissy a headboard for her birthday.

Inspiration: Pottery Barn Montgomery Upholstered Headboard - $599 new

Using plans from Knock-off Wood - $100

It took us about 1.5 hours to actually put it together, and maybe another hour to put 2 coats of paint on. The hardest part was setting the fabric-covered panel on because the fabric kept puckering on the sides, but eventually we got it on. It's not perfect, but we're pretty damn proud of ourselves. Overall, the process was a lot easier than we anticipated... so we're debating on what to tackle on next as we speak.

The plans for the Montgomery Headboard (inspired by Pottery Barn) is here.


PS. I think Sissy needs more pillows.... lol