Community Brag Posts

I downloaded th minimalist modern nightstand plans nearly a year ago and just got around to building them last week. Actually I modified them quite a bit because I had a small space to work with and because I wanted them to follow the design theme of some of the other furnishings and features I had made for my basement renovation. In particular I changed the top and made it out of oak stair treads. I also added pop-up electrical/USB sockets as well. I really appreciate the sequencing in the plans. Though I made some dimensional and design plans, I followed the sequencing steps. It made the project much easier to complete-particularly the drawer construction and fitting. If I had done it on my own, I would probably have permanently installed the middle shelf before fitting the drawer which would have made fitting the drawer and drawer front much harder. Thanks for teaching me that.

My wife and I recently built this farmhouse table with her grandpa. It was a lot of fun and we are really happy with how it turned out. The table is 80 inches long, 43 1/2 inches wide, and 31 inches tall. The extensions are 15 inches long and 43/1/2 inches wide, and the bench is 61 inches long, 15 inches wide, and 19 1/2 inches tall. 

It tooks us about 4 weekends (around 32 hours) to finish the project and the included rebuilding the base of the table after our first one cracked. 

We modified the plans a bit. We used 4x4s instead of glued together 2x4s for the legs on the table and bench. 

We also used the plans on this blog (http://tommyandellie.com/?p=2582) as a guide. 

This was the first time my wife and I have tired a DIY project and we had a ton of fun. Her grandpa had some experience with wood working and had all of the tools we needed but you can certainly do this without any extensive wood working experience. 

Sorry for the duplicate post. This is my first time on the website and the first time I posted it came across as 'guest'

This was the first project that I have ever attempted, and I do believe it came out very nice. The color is red oak, and it has 3 coats of lacquer on it. I adjusted the plan sizes to make it from a queen sized bed into a king size bed. It took a lot of hours to build it due to measuring and cutting and ensuring accurate cuts, fitment, and square. The bed is made out of primarily Oak hardwood, but the 4x4 posts are ceder because Home Depot did not have oak 4x4 posts. The regular lumber (2x4, 1x3, 2x6 ect.) is white wood.

I grabbed this idea from one of the brag posts linked off of Ana's easy dining table post. The entire table top is made from clear Western Red Cedar. The legs are made from 4x4 cedar fence posts (the clearest I could find). The table top is 5ftx5ft. All the joints were made using Kreg's pocket hole kit.I did change a couple of things from the original picture that was posted:

1. I notched out the 4x4 cedar legs to accept the main frame of the table top (which provides the best support possible) and also bolted though the leg and frame. Not to mention it gives it a more finished look than simply putting the legs inside the frame and bolting through.

2. I also made a custom bracket to support an umbrella so that I did not have to have bulky umbrella stand under the table (see attached pic)

I finished the table and bench with two coats of Teak Oil. I am not convinced this was the best choice, but it sure did look awesome the first month after it was complete. The colour of the cedar has faded a bit now that it has been out in the elements for two months. Any further suggestions on great finishes that hold up to the weather are appreciated.

I'm building a house for a client who wanted a country farm house feel.  The kichen cabinets are custom frames with beaded board inserts.  

Custom Kitchen Island

The custom kitchen island is unusually large for this size home at 10' 6" x 4'. The base cabinet 90" x 25 1/2".   But, there is no dining room.  I wanted the island to not look like the rest of the cabinets.  Then I found Ana's design.  I reworked the design to fit my space and the buyers preferences.  Trash pullout, larger drawers ect.  My plan was so far from typical site built trim that I decided I would build it myself or it would really be a budget breaker.  I do have experience in all aspects of building but, this is my biggest trim project.  Time?  I'm sure I have 40 + hours in it.  Money?  The columns alone were $500.  I'm sure I have $1,500+ in it.  Don't even ask how many cool tools I had to add to my collection just for this project!  

I built the custom kitchen island in pieces in the shop, and assembled it in place.  Very heavy, no way to move it after assembly. The stain went on today.  I'm happy with the way it turned out.  Thanks for the inspiration Ana!    

I had a lot if fun building this and am so glad I did!

Ana mentioned that she distressed the planks by using a screw driver between them to scrape off some of the paint, I did this on the headboard and, while it did work, it was a pain and added a lot of time. For the foot board I painted and distressed all of the pieces prior to assembly and it worked out a lot better! :-)

My 1x8's were slightly smaller than Ana's so I cut down a 1x2 using my circular saw to fit into the spaces left on both sides.

I attempted to use pocket holes to assemble the bed to minimize visible holes, it actually worked great except one side on the foot board :-( I ended up sanding it down and actually ended up really liking it. it always makes me think of it when I see that spot (and not in a bad way)

I cheated when putting this together. I decided to keep the mattress and box spring in their original frame. I used brackets from Woodcraft to connect the side rails to the headboard & foot board.
http://www.woodcraft.com/product/2003981/9364/hafele-nomortise-bed-rail…

easy build

This was built mainly as a place to bring our pond plants in for the winter. After looking at various kits we decided this was the best option for us and much cheaper.

The size was increased to 12 X 12 and the walls/ceiling were increased another 15" in height over the original plans. An entryway was added to block the cold wind as our original barnstyle door wasn't tight enough and ended up being too drafty. Also added an RV type autoswitching propane system and blue flame heater for backup. For the winter months we insulated the lower portion of the interior walls with spun fiberglass and 6 mil film stapled over it. 

This is a very utilitarian version that serves our needs well. Great original plans and easy to build.

Coffee table 

My new fav stain. Minwax Expresso Polyshades in satin.
Followed the 2x4 desk design but had so many scrap pieces of 2x4 (from other projects) , ended up changing the direction of the table top.
Finished with Minwax gray and even though it looks blue , I like it...
Going to make some benches to match , weather pèrmitting :)
Didn't take long to build , just a couple of hours - staining was the killer. Needed 3 coats to get that rich dark even look.

Used rustic x coffee table design for base. Used paint scheme someone else used in brag post. Made giant cribbage board top from redwood slab. Majority of time involved sanding slab which came rough and finishing the polyurethane. 

So a few notes... We added a base of 2x4 pressure treated wood footing around the entirety of the greenhouse which should help keep it from rotting? Blocks are an alternative here. Our lumber store didn't carry the right size of tin sheets so we added a 2x10 at the bottom which seems to work and still look okay. We picked up a 30" metal screen door there which should assist in keeping out the critters and allows us to lock out our small kiddos who might wreck the plants :) This is a great plan!!! Thank you so much! Oh - materials ran about $700 including screen door? We went through about 4 1-pound boxes of sheet metal screws and at least a large box of 3" screws?? and 2 small boxes 1.25"?? If you cut you pieces right you may end up with an extra 8' clear sheet of corrugated plastic? We spent about 20 hours building just the greenhouse but we had hauled a lot of stuff to the site by hand... We are new to carpentry and pulled this off so anyone can do this!! Dremel tool works for cutting plastic, but not as good as the tin!! Good luck and cheers!