my first project

my best friend has built a couple of projects from this site. i enjoyed helping him a bit so when he decided to build one of these for yes baby that is due this summer, i figured i'd double up and build one for myself while we were at it. i haven't built anything since high school (10 years ago). he had all the tools and had made a lot of mistakes along the way so he brought be up to speed and told me a lot of "don't do this...trust me" tips that are helpful.

we used premium ply wood cut to 1x12s and poplar 1x2's for this. total wood cost was about 30 bucks per shelf. I decided to use a trim router for my framing along the outer edge. I think it gives it a professional look at it took 10 minutes to do.

NOTE: if you want to rout around the entire top and you used pocket holes....DONT DO IT. we found that one out the hard way on the other shelf. if your bit does anything but slightly round the edge it's gonna hit the screws. :(

i made a last second change and went with a vibrant red and a dark dark black to make it up. i couldn't be happier. it doesn't match my room at all but i don't care at this point. my friend did a great job taping off the trim and the lines are just awesome.

This thing is stout. i'm not a small man and would not hesitate to stand on top of this thing all day. can't wait to show it off to anyone i can:)