Community Brag Posts

We had the Upside-Down bed from IKEA for our little guy, but my husband continued to complain on how he had to "crawl" into the bed. Okay, scrap that. No problem. I just searched Ana's plans for a nice bed I could make. And add a trundle. There you go.

I did modify the height of the headboard, as I plan on moving Jack to an upstairs bedrooms that has slanted walls. I wanted this bed to fit in any configuration, so I had to take 10" off the headboard. Also, due to the impending moving, I wanted the bed to easily be taken apart. So I attached the side rails with surface mounted keyhold brackets from Rockler Woodworking. They work great.

This was my first build and I learned A LOT and watched A LOT of youtube diy videos. The main take-away from this project is not to build in the freezing cold if the finished project is for inside. I finished this project in below freezing temperatures and I noticed that the wood expanded (increasing slightly the gap between the finished boards on the top) when it was brought inside.

I built this from the original farmhouse table plans with no kreg jig although I did buy and use a pocket kreg jig to make the extensions. The main modifications were using 4x4s such as were used in the Country Living magazine spread that inspired this build and also making modifications to allow the addition of 15" extensions at each end of the table's bread boards.

My first challenge was figuring out how to build with the 4x4 legs instead of the 2 2x4s screwed together. In order to accomplish this i had to use a chisel to create the corner lip that the table top frame would sit on. I added photos of this so I hope it will help someone. Chiseling these 4 corners (one on each post) only took an hour or two and was so worth it for the look of the 4x4s. Just measure carefully and work carefully with a sharp chisel. I actually removed half the wood by sawing off the corner at a 45 degree angle. Remember when cutting your boards for the table ends that a 4x4 has different dimensions than 2 2x4s screwed together. Compensate for this in your cuts.

Another challenge was hiding the screws on the table legs and table top. I was leaving the finish natural so didn't want to use wood fill. I accomplished this by getting a countersink bit and then buying wooden dowels the same diameter. For these screw holes, after finishing screwing, I put a dab of wood glue in the countersink hole, inserted the dowel as far as it would go, used a fine hand saw to cut off the dowel flush with the table and then used a hammer to make sure the dowel was in tight and flush.

I had trouble figuring out how to attach the table top frame to the table legs with the long screws from the plans so I included a picture of this step. Its really easy but I was not able to use three screws as the plan calls for. I used two instead and it has been very solid. I used the long screws as proscribed.

Finally, I wanted to build extensions (2 2x8 boards kreg jigged together) so I could increase seating up to a max. of 12 persons, so I needed to cut out 2x2 gaps on the table ends. I also included a picture of these in place. To make room for the 2 2x2s that extend under the bread boards and table top to brace the extensions, I left out one of the 2x2 cross beams at each end of the underside of the table (the boards that the table top boards screw into).

I hope this is helpful to you!

I made this for my sister the day before her house warming party. It was a pretty easy build. I used wood glue and 2" nails. Using a nail gun, this came together pretty quickly. I do wish that I had wide enough clamps to hold everything in place while it dried, because there were a few gaps due to some imperfect boards. I used 104" stud length boards, so I only need to purchase 7 instead of 9. this was enough to make the cuts for the top and both leg pieces from each board. the price was the same and we had limited space in our van for boards, so this was a better option for us. I used a sprayer hooked up to an air compressor to apply the stain and was able to get in between the slats fine with this method, brushing over it as I sprayed. Luckily I chose the same color as her deck not knowing, so it matches great. Now I need to make one for myself! :)

Our outdoor furniture from Costco was falling apart but the cushions were still in great shape so I decided to design the furniture around the existing cushion dimensions. I used all Cedar wood and stained it with Australian Timber Oil Honey Teak stain. The table design was from a picture I saw on another site.

Took the farmhouse plan and added a Trundle.   Was initially going to build two farmhouse beds for my two girls, but thought adding the Trundle would free up some much needed floor space.  The girls love it!

My dog loves to people watch all day while I'm at work and she needed a new bed so I took the plans for the lower platform and modified them so it would stand alone. Took the platform and put it on the bottom so that her bed would sit inside instead of on top where she could more easily fall off.

I tried building without PH screws at first and all I ended up with was a lot of cracked and wasted lumber. Got the PH jig and finished the whole build myself in 2 hours. Sanding, staining, and sealing tomorrow but I'm just so excited about it I had to post now!

Thank you! You've helped me look like a true carpenter who knows what he's doing! My whole family is impressed with my woodwork lately, and now I'm addicted. I've done your seesaw, bar table and stools plus the treehouse in 2 weeks. Thank you for sharing your plans!

I built this for my daughter after building a ladder shelf for my kids bathroom. It took more time to install and adjust the drawer slides and paint the project.