Pottery Barn Storage System DIY ~ Part 3

I'm back to share the latest progress on my storage wall.  If you have missed the last two tutorials you can visit Part 1 and Part 2.  I found the plans for this project on Ana's blog Knock Off Wood.  Ana provides FREE plans for knock off furniture (i.e. Pottery Barn and  Restoration Hardware) so you can dress your house for less!  Go check out her site!...you'll be addicted!

So, this is Part 3 of this system and I chose to tackle the cubbies this go 'round (see Ana's plans for the cubbies).  If you are wondering what Part 4 will be...it's not featured in this picture.  Ana designed her own plans for a media bridge to go over the TV, so that will be my final piece to this puzzle.  Believe it or not, I am a little sad to see this project coming to an end, however I'm sure I will no longer be feeling that way once it's time to paint:/

I started by drawing out plans for the cut layouts.  Although I am only doing the cubbies this time, I went ahead and added the cuts for the media bridge to maximize the amount of cuts per sheet (those cuts are in red).  This will also make it easier for the guys that cut your boards at Home Depot.  The drawing above shows that I needed three 8' sheets of MDF at 3/4" thick and one 8' sheet of plywood at 1/4" thick.

3/4" MDF

3/4" MDF

3/4" MDF

1/4" plywood

I gave these layouts to the guys at Home Depot and they cut all of the pieces in about 30 minutes.  Price per cut varies per store.  My local Home Depot offers the first two cuts free and then charges $0.25 per additional cut.  They were wonderful and never charged me for a cut! 

Now for the building!!!

Make sure to label each cut.  This will save you time and headache while you are building:)

I always mark off a line to follow when I am predrilling so that the screw will go through the very center of the board on the other side.  MDF is soft and if you get too close to one side it will raise up or split through (if this happens, no worries, just sand with 120 grit paper, fill with wood putty, sand and find another point to predrill).

Mark off all of your measurements before predrilling.  In this picture I am showing how I marked off where this board is to be placed.

I always use three fingers to measure how far away from the edge I should start predrilling.  If you get too close to the edge it will split.

ALWAYS predrill with MDF!!!  It is very easy.  Pick the right circumference for your drill bit (just a tad smaller than the screws you will use) and drill all the way in and pull back out while still pushing on the trigger.

After predrilling run a generous amount of Gorilla Glue Wood Glue down the edge of the board and put back in place.

Follow up with the screw.  I use these Deck Mate screws and they work great.

After the first step.

Second step (added the top).

This is after the third step.  It was a little tricky so I'll show you my steps.

Ana says that wood glue is very important on this step so I added it here too.

I marked off where I needed to predrill.  This is the top shelf that I am securing and my drill would not fit between the bottom and middle shelf so I drilled one screw at the front and one at the back at a slight angle.  No problems.

Now for the trim.  Add the wood glue.

Secure with nails per Ana's plans.  I set the cubby upside down to hammer the nails in.  These nails worked just fine.

Using the same nails, I hammered the back piece into place.

I just couldn't wait to put it in place!

I have only finished one of the cubbies but I wanted to share it with you!  I will be back with updated pictures after I finish the other three!  I am still leaning towards adding drawers to the bottom outside bases but I won't make the final decision until it's done.  Well, I'm off to finish the other cubbies!  I hope you all have a great weekend!

~Ashley

Basket-O-Blankets

Hey guys!  I stepped away from my massive project today to share with you a super cute idea for throw blankets.  We love throw blankets at the Turner household but I have been hiding them because the ones we had matched the colors of our old house.  So, my mission after Christmas was to come up with a decorative way to leave our blankets out....and here's what I came up with....

I started with this $4.00 basket from Target...

and these $9.00 blankets also from Target (btw...these are the softest blankets EVER:).

Here are the supplies I used (all purchased at Hobby Lobby ON SALE).

Some of these supplies are for another tutorial I'll share with you soon.

I painted the two wooden accent pieces with Rust-oleum Heirloom White and the wooden plaque with Rust-oleum Slate Blue (just discovered the Slate Blue and it is a new FAV).

Next, I sanded the edges and corners with my 3M sanding block

I then hot glued the 2 wooden accents at the ends of the wooden plaque...

and drilled two holes at the top.

I used my cricut to stencil the letters (don't have a picture of me actually doing this..sorry).  I used the George and Basic Shapes cartridge and dry brushed the letters with Lamp (Ebony) Black acrylic paint.

Ralph also stopped by....paint on and wipe off.

Next, I used 1ply jute twine and thread it through the holes and around the top of the basket.

I secured with knots

and cut off the excess twine.

Simple and Done:)

I love that this idea can be used in so many ways...

like in a bathroom for towels...

or as a baby shower gift filled with baby blankets and towels.  Stencil the baby's name on the sign and it could be used as a decorative basket for toy storage later:)

Like the cute clips???  Check back soon for a tutorial on those as well:)

~Ashley

Annoying Armoire Part 1

Oh what a pain this project has been!  This has been one of those projects where nothing works like I want it to.  It literally drove me crazy! But... I do love the outcome!  Today I will be showing you the top half.

Now this is the part where I would typically start showing the before pictures but I can't find them which makes me think that I never took them!  Sorry.  Let me explain though.  This was originally a cherry wood highboy armoire with brass hardware.  It was in great shape... it just needed to be shantied up a bit!

I removed the brass hardware.

and painted it with Rust-Oleum Hammered Brown Spray Paint.

That is the only before pic you guys get... :( Sorry!

I then painted the entire piece with Olympic Off White satin paint.  I had intended on spray painting but this baby did not take spray paint well.... yet another bump in the road.  The piece looked very similar to this one but it has doors on the front.

After that dried I replaced all my newly painted hardware and also found these really cute knobs at Hobby Lobby for the door pulls.

I lightly sanded the edges.  I wanted a slightly cleaner look for this piece so I passed on glazing... I know... Shock!  I used a 3M sanding block with 80 grit paper to do my sanding on the edges and love the subtle look it achieved...

So this is where it is parked for the moment... in my living room.  This is supposed to be upstairs but my hubby recently injured his back in a horse accident so now I just get to walk around it. (another bump)

I do love it though and I can't wait to show you guys the bottom half and the final piece put together.  I will share that with you soon and also show you where I will be putting it.  In the meantime, enjoy the top half!

Thanks so much guys!!

~Whitney