Behold, the Pottery Barn two shelf Cameron bookcase! Currently on sale for $159 (plus exorbitant shipping charges!) and usually $199. Beautiful and yet out of my budget.
Behold, the almost identical bookcases my husband built! Total cost, $75 (and no shipping charges!) for TWO!! He built them and I painted them--all in a weekend's work. We used plans from Knock Off Wood and they were great!! (FYI--the cost would have been lower, except we made a modification to the plans that ended up costing us an additional sheet of MDF.)
I requested my husband add a back to the bookshelves (the plans don't call for one) and that is the only change we made to the plans. Instead of putting trim pieces on the backs of the shelves, my husband fit in a piece of 3/4 inch MDF. The shelves are made out of MDF (good for painting) and pine trim. We did learn our lesson though and in the future will not be buying lumber for furniture pieces from the local big box store. My husband picked out the best of the bad pine--and it still is bad! Next time we'll go to the lumber yard--and there definitely will be a next time! Ana's plans are wonderful and we plan to build our little boy's bed and trundle from her plans!
I debated painting them white or painting them black. (They're not really going to stay under these pictures.) Ultimately white won out because I had some beautiful white paint (Benjamin Moore Decorator White) leftover from my kitchen cabinet painting project. Plus I figure it is easier to paint over white than it is to paint over black.
These shelves are sized perfectly for going behind the couch in our family room. We're trying to put an office area back there and needed a lot of storage--these fit the bill perfectly!(I linked this post to Sanctuary Arts at Home's "First Big Project of the New Year Party" and Homebody Holly's Pottery Barn Knockoff Party if you're visiting from there, feel free to comment and take a look at the rest of my blog. I always welcome new readers! Also, welcome to my visitors from Knock-Off Wood! Ana's plans really are as great as they look on her website!)
23 comments:
Wow! Way to go! Those turned out fabulous!
Those look amazing! I love them!
I'm dying to make these - thanks for sharing yours!
I read ana's blog as well and I saw your bookshelves and they are AWESOME. I too want to make those :) I also saw your white kitchen....awesome. I too and a DIY-er and I can't wait to do a project from her site!
Holy cow!! They look great!!!! Love them!
They look great behind your sofa. Really cute!!
They turned out great!! I love visiting knock off wood! She has the greatest plans and my husband and i are a great team with her projects!!
I LOVE the way they turned out and love even more where you put them! I have been looking for something to go behind my sectional and this would fit perfect! We will be making these this weekend, or tonight lol
I love the shelves...but I LOVE LOVE LOVE your painted frame and all the darling pictures you put inside. I am certainly going to copy that in my living room. Thanks for the idea!
Fabulous job!
Look at you girlfriend. Go Sarah and Hubby too. You did a GREAT job.
WoW !Love them. They are great! IMy husband and I are trying to decide what to start building first from Knock Off Wood! Ps Love your Blog!
Those look great! We're building something from that site right now ... love that blog!
That is a great idea!! Enjoyed visitng your blog~
Bristol
Great Job! These look great! We just finished making the bankable bookcases from Ana's website (love her!) and the plans called for MDF as well. We still need to paint them. My question to you is how easy was it to paint the MDF? Did you use a primer? I have heard that the MDF will soak up latex paint. Did you have any issues?
Great Job...these look great! We recently made the bankable bookcases from Ana's blog (love her!) and the plans called for MDF as well. We still need to paint them and my question for you is did you have any issues painting the MDF? I have heard that it soaks up latex paint. Did you use a primer first? Thanks!
They're so great! I love Ana's blog. I'm so inspired. I want to make everything.
Emma, I just saw your question. I did not use a primer. I used a high quality latex paint (Benjamin Moore) and it took about three coats to get a good finish on the bookshelves.
Happy painting!
Sarah
I love them. Sure wish my husband could build something! They turned out BEAUTIFUL!
Those turned out great! How fun. Are you going to add baskets like in the inspiration photo? I have some baskets with light blue liners in my son's white change table shelves- it has a similar effect to that photo, actually. Haha I got the baskets from discount shops. :-)
Hello,nice post thanks for sharing?. I just joined and I am going to catch up by reading for a while. I hope I can join in soon.
I love your shelves! I would love to make some for our house! Thanks for the wonderful idea.
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