Apothecary Media Console - FINISHED!

 

PRAISE THE GOOD LORD we are through with the media console!!!

 



To see our process, please see the following posts:
Apothecary Media Console - Planning
Apothecary Media Console - Part 1
Apothecary Media Console - Part 2
Apothecary Media Console - Part 3
Apothecary Media Console - Part 4
Apothecary Media Console - Part 5
Apothecary Media Console - Part 6

The final steps we had to take to complete this project were to...

 

1.  Attach the cabinet doors to to the cabinet with hinges.  Word to the wise - if you ever build anything with hinges, heads-up that hinges are made to fit 3/8 inch edges (which requires routing the edge of the cabinet door) OR a 3/4 inch thick cabinet door.  If you make a 1-inch cabinet door (like we did) you will have a heck of a time finding a hinge to fit them.  These were the only ones I could find where it didn't matter how thick the door was, and these were something like $18/pair from Rockler.  So... just heads-up on that. 




2.  Drill pilot holes in each of the facade drawer fronts and then counter-sink the screws from the back.

 

2.  Attach the pulls to the facade drawer fronts.



3.  Install the power strip.



5.  Attach the backing.



6.  Cut holes in the backing for all the cords to go through.



7.  Move the mammoth console into the living room. We did this by lifting it onto the bottom of the ottoman and rolling it into the house that way.



A note to the Ana-Whiters out there:

If you are here from Ana-White.com, let me just say that for us, this was not a 20 hour project, as many have stated.  Maybe everyone on Ana-White has mad wood-working skills, but this took us way longer than 20 hours.  I would guess maybe 50 hours?

To be fair, this was our first major wood-working project, and we did add a couple layers of complication.  For starters, we added full-extension drawer glides, instead of making the drawers just slide on the wood frame itself.  We also stained it, instead of painting.  This added significant extra work/time, b/c we had to add oak edging to all the raw surfaces of the plywood and had to be careful about screw holes and imperfections in the wood.  Finally, we added a lip around the top of the oak planks to make the top appear to be 2 inches thick.  Other than that, we pretty much followed Ana-White's guide and dimensions. 



A brief trip through memory lane:  This is what Lucy looked like when we started this project, and on the right is how she looks now.



Amazing. 



The reason we planned this project was as a solution to the baby-proofing problem.  A problem, I might add, I was in complete denial of until Lucy was 6 months old. At that point it became apparent that all the knobs and buttons in our media-playing devices would be pushed as soon as Lucy noticed them.

So here was our original plan, from Ana-White.com.



And here, the finished product (above).



I can honestly say the outrageous price of Pottery Barn's Andover Media Console ($999) doesn't seem as outrageous to me now.  It costs a lot of money and time to build a big piece of furniture!  I want to say we spent a total of about $650 for this cabinet, though honestly I sort of lost count toward the end.



Daniel and I are really thrilled with how it came out, and we are maybe even more thrilled to be finished with it.  Thank you for any encouragement (or borrowed tools... Ryan) you offered throughout this process!!  It was more helpful and appreciated than you know.

Apothecary Media Console Cabinet: Part 7

We are on the HOME STRETCH.  Not much longer now.  Thank goodness.



The top of the cabinet is stained.  Isn't it beautiful?



We've applied 4 layers of varnish, and today we sanded with 600 grit sandpaper to smooth out the surface.



We still need to apply more layers of varnish, but it feels so good to have several layers and a fine sanding done.



I should have taken in-progress photos, but I drilled big pilot holes (5/16") when I screwed the top to the rest of the cabinet so that I could plug the holes with wood pieces and sand them down and they'd accept stain.  I'm proud of the outcome, and it was sort of fun.  

 

AND, today I finished staining all of the drawers and the cabinet doors.



We need to attach the cabinet doors with hinges to the cabinet (ugh) and attach the backing.  But then we'll be so, so close!!  Only some varnish will be standing in our way of completion.



Completion is inevitable at this point.  I'm telling the procrastinator inside of me that resistance is futile.  Like I repeated to myself during Lucy's birth: this. will. happen.

Apothecary Media Console Cabinet: Part 6

 
Did I already do part 6?  I can't even remember, it's been so long.  We started this 3-week project almost 3 months ago.  It was a race - Lucy's progress to mobility versus our completion of this cabinet.  I hoped the finished cabinet would help keep her from messing with all the electronics under the TV.  But Lucy has won, fair and square.  She is crawling like a fiend, and until this weekend the cabinet was far, far from being finished.



But now it is not so far from being finished!

This is real oak wood facing with glue backing.



This weekend we applied all oak facing to the edge of the plywood.



And we stained all that facing.



And we applied more stain to the drawer facade fronts.



And we cut the cabinet doors and attached the facade fronts to both of them.  



And we Kregg jigged the oak planks together for the top of the cabinet.



And we got in a fight about the cabinet and then made up.



And then we assembled the top of the cabinet.



And we cut the oak and attached the edges of the bottom of the cabinet.



And we cut the 1/8" backing.

 

Daniel and I are both SO ready for this project to be over.  I am so glad it's getting close.



Steps that remain:
1. Install the hinges for the cabinet doors. 
2. Sand the top like crazy... until it is nice and smooth.
3. Stain what is left to stain.
4. Attach the top to the cabinet. 
5.  Attach the back of the cabinet and cut holes for electronic cords.
6.  Varnish 6 times, allowing to dry completely between coats.

We WILL finish.  This project will not get the best of me.

Apothecary Media Console Cabinet: Part 5

We made a little more progress on the cabinet this weekend.

Sad news - I don't think we're going to have it done before Lucy's mobile.  She's so close to crawling now!  But we've been busy with road trips and working weekends, and it just hasn't gotten done as quickly as I had hoped.



Still, we did make progress this weekend--and it will get done, eventually!

 

This weekend we got the other 3 drawer faces attached to the drawers, which required some planing and sanding, since the drawer faces were slightly larger than the drawer openings.  



We decided to skip the routing of the facade apothecary drawer faces, in favor of some electrical sanding to just round the edges and help give a distressed appearance.



We will re-stain these faces, so that they don't look quite this distressed.



Next we will either cut and install the cabinet doors, apply oak facing to the plywood edges, or attach the drawer pulls to the facade drawer faces. 

 

Like I said... Lucy is so close to crawling!  I will post a video on that topic soon.



I was bragging telling someone the other day how Lucy hasn't had so much as a runny nose yet, and what do you think happened.



Within 24 hours her face was wet with tearing eyes, runny nose, and drool.  Looks to be either a little upper respiratory infection or the most acutely onset allergies I've ever seen.

 

Makes me that much more thankful we've not had to deal with any serious illness so far.