This plan is designed by Ana, built by Tamara.
"Storage, Storage, Storage!!" That's what Ana called this piece, and she is absolutely correct. Second to Ana-white.com, my next biggest obsession is Pinterest.com, where I first saw this sort of storage piece. I have totally become addicted to that site too. The funny thing for me about finding inspiration online these days is that now I don't find a piece and think, 'oh wow, I'm gonna have to find out where to buy that and find a good deal.' Thanks to Ana and her wonderful DIY site, I look at things now from the perspective of, 'what would it take to build that?' And I LOVE having the confidence to know that I can actually build furniture!! Ana, from the bottom of my heart, I thank you for that gift.
When Ana asked me for some projects that I would be interested in doing I knew this was one on the top of my list. I'm working on transforming my boys' nursery into a 'big boy room' and this is one of the first steps toward that process. The storage is incredible, the process of building is simple and the satisfaction of knowing, 'I actually built that beast of a storage unit' is awesome!
Here are few tips that may or may not help someone when doing this project:
-choose your boards carefully. Due to the size of these boards you are working with, you want to make sure you get really nice pieces.
-measure, measure and measure again...I am still trying to get 'square' projects, but each project gets closer and closer.
-for the shelves, I would suggest starting in the middle column and working your way out in order to maintain a nice and level flow across all five. On one of my rows I put one board on the left side, one on the right and started working my way inward, and it just didn't work AS well as working from the middle outward.
-as suggested by Ana in the plans, I would anchor this piece to the wall. Mine doesn't rock and is very sturdy, but it will be in my kid's room and they are very tempted to climb on it already.
For the finish I used a soft blue with a flat latex base (sorry, I don't know the exact color it was an old one I had on hand). I primed, painted 2 coats of paint (sanded in between) and applied a clear coat to finish and seal it.
I hope you have as much fun as I did putting this piece together and I hope you enjoy the 'Storage, Storage, Storage' as much as I do!