Community Brag Posts

I loved the Idea of new closet doors and hated the idea of bi-folds. My house is crooked it seems. The doors don't sit straight and bi-folds always fall off their tracks. When I came upon the plans for Bypass Doors from Old Paint Designs I was hooked! I made 4 doors for the hallway in 1 day, oiled it with Danish Oil in Dark Walnut, hung it the next day and what a difference!! Glass is rather expensive in Hawaii and so is plexi-glass so I opted for Bead Board which gave it a more "country" feel instead of a more modern feel. I wish I could have used glass but the $150 price tag just wasn't fitting into my budget very well. My hubby loved the bypass doors so much he asked me to build them for our open closet. 2 days of work, 8 doors, 2 closets done!

We adjusted the plans slightly to better fit our room. Rather than an angled set of stairs leading to the platform, we replaced it with a short vertical ladder. We also increased the height of the bed to allow for another bunk in the lower section for when Callaghan outgrows his crib. Plus, we added handles to the bed which made it easier for Luke to get up and down.

I just had to build these for my two kids. Thanks Ana!

This was my first finished project using plans from Ana's site, and I am very pleased with the finished product. Every aspect of the finished sideboard is based on something from the site. I started with the plans for the Planked Wood Sideboard, and made no modifications as the dimensions were perfect for our basement family room. I decided to inset the back (http://www.friendly-home.net/2012/02/gigantic-rustic-sideboard.html) as Ana explained that Hillary had done, and love the final result. This will allow us to use this to potentially divide a room in an open concept space at some point in the future.

For the finishing process, I decided to follow the "Rustic Yet Refined" finish tutorial highlighted on both the Ana-White site (http://ana-white.com/2013/08/rustic-yet-refined-wood-finish) and Jen Woodhouse House of Wood (http://jenwoodhouse.com/blog/2013/06/07/diy-dining-table/). I fully intended to complete the 9 step process, but found that after we applied the Minwax pre-stain wood conditioner, followed by Minwax special walnut stain and wiped it off within 15-30 seconds, the finish mirrored the restoration hardware finish that we were going for. We decided not to proceed with layering on the weathered oak or applying the whitewash, and went straight to the spar urethane satin coats.

Overall, the project was a success, but was difficult to finish during the Minnesota winter as it was unbelievably cold and was forced to complete the finishing process in our basement/laundry room, which extended the length of the project. I am very excited to begin building other pieces from Ana's plans.

Project took a lot more time and patience than the last few little ones that I have done. I like the simple outdoor table but wanted a little bit more. I used the basic concept and mixed it with a patio table from PB that I really enjoyed but didnt want to pay $800 for. The table looks fantastic and am still debating on what type of finish, if any, to use. Hoping to make the matching bench soon for one of the sides of the table.

Farmhouse outdoor table.

This is a simple wooden step stool I built for my daughter using some wood I had around the house. I wanted to build a small stool that was easy for her to carry around and access items that she needed. 

DIY Outdoor Wood Chairs

by Tara

Built from plans from diyPETE.com.

One day project (another day for poly)

You can see the final project here: http://crabandfish.blogspot.com/2012/10/lil-archers-bed-its-done-its-do…

It was time for our son to move to a big-boy bed! We looked at tons of plans, but none were quite what I wanted. In the end, fish modified plans for Ana White's Camp Loft Bed with Stair. We wanted to make it a bit shorter because we only have 8' ceilings and there is a ceiling fan in the room. We spent about $80 for the lumber and invested in a kreg jig as well. The bed is stained with Minwax Golden Oak. We bought a 10" deep twin-sized foam mattress for the bed - if you are adding a coil mattress and boxspring, the bedside rails would definitely need to be higher.

Our son LOVES it! He is almost three and is easily able to navigate the stairs, which I don't believe will become too "baby-ish" as he grows older. If they do, the steps can easily be removed from the frame without losing structural integrity.

The underbed area has a great "cool" factor - we hang blankets to create forts, and it has become a place our son gravitates to for reading, playing, anything!

We love our farmhouse bed! Thanks Ana! We made a few modifications. We wanted the legs to look a tiny bit more substantial, so we used 1x6 boards for the headboard and footboard. We made our 4x4 legs longer and placed them on the outside to make it a poster bed. I also wanted the end caps on my legs. I glued and nailed 1x6 scraps to 2x6 scraps and then cut a square to size at a 15 degree angle with my miter saw.

For this project, I used 6 foot cedar fence posts and 8 foot cedar 2x4s. I used a pencil to space the boards and allow extra air flow. More space between boards is acceptable - even to the extent of dropping off one full board and putting an inch between each side rail.

Another option is to make your sides interlocking layers, one or two boards high - http://cedarstackingcompostbin.blogspot.com/

Since I am composting large amounts of leaves and grass clippings, mine is made in one piece. I don't turn my pile often - when I do, I can either lift the whole thing up or move the pile from side to side. I cut the 2x8x8 posts - cut a 3 foot length off of each end. Save the 2 foot center piece to brace the long sides. Affix your 1/2 (3 foot side) and full fence (6 foot side) boards to the 2x4, leaving the desired gap between each board. Affix each board with 2 weather proof screws - I used coated deck screws.

Attach the vertical posts to the inside of the cedar fence boards, including the short 2 foot boards that are just long enough to brace the long sides. I alternated the dog eared sides, so that each corner had one flat and one notched board.

I used 24 cedar fence posts and 16 feet of cedar 2x4. Note, I was able to do this all along. The trash cans acted as supports - no clamps or saw horses needed.

This was my first project ever. I had a lot of fun and it didn't quite turn out right but next time it will be perfect.

Love how this turned out!! Thank you thank you Ana!! Plans were great, I think we got it done for just about $250! 

Thanks again!