There seems to be a few do it yourselfers here. Great!
For those wishing to try here's a few suggestions.
Never give up!
You can usually find materials someone else is looking to give away.
Air is the answer! No matter what your grumpy wife says, 
, get a 30 gallon, oiless air compressor ($250) and a brad nailer ($25 - $150). Look at places like Harbour Freight or Northern tool for on-line ordering.
If you are really serious get a table saw. Works great for large pieces of wood.
Get a compound miter saw: Absolutely neccessary for perfect angle cuts.
Get ideas from what others have done.
Build a cage you would want to live in if you were your animal. I see these small cages and it makes me sick. They can't be happy.
Now that you've spent your childrens inheritance, build stuff. It's allot of fun and there seems to be more than enough people here willing to help. It's not as hard as it seems, don't be intimidated. The tools will pay for themselves in time if you use them.
I'm done rambling!
