Community Brag Posts

This was my first build EVER. I had never even used a saw before, so if I can do this, so can YOU!

The original plans call for this desk to be 72" in length, but my space only allowed for a 60" desk, so I cut the 3 braces that go along the back down by 12", as well as the 2x6s that make the desktop. The cross-braces in the back were also cut down, but I did that by measuring for fit (as demonstrated by Ana in one of her videos where she made the x-bench).

I described this as a weekend project ONLY because of the time I had to allow between coats of paint, etc. I built it easily in one day (with kids at home!).

This was a GREAT experience and I am HOOKED! Thanks to Ana and Shanty-2-Chic for designing this!

This is my first attempt at making a wine rack. It holds 18 bottles and 9-12 glasses. I made it from 1/2" red oak plywood and 1x3s. I used a drill press with a 3" hole bit and 1 1/2 bit for the neck supports. The one pic shows how I kreg jig the supports to a scrap piece of plywood so I could stain all sides of the pieces at once! Plus it allowed for a quicker drying time. I kreg jig all the supports from the back side with 1" PH screws and glue. I used my router and a straight edge to dado the top and bottom shelves to the side walls. This rack measures 5'Hx 15 1/4"w x 17" deep. The wine bottles do not stick out past the front at all. I stained it in a dark walnut to give it a country feel.

I wanted to make a black and brown picnic table, this one turned out really nice and it gets a lot of compliments.

I, also, reinforced the 2x6s used for the seats by boxing in 2x4s underneath.  I just cut 4 53" (probably could have been 54" honestly) and mounted them to the bottom of the seats and screwed them into the seat cross members.  This should keep them from flexing.

I built this outdoor play area for my kids this past summer.  The area under that portion of the deck was always messy and muddy and so I wanted to make use of it.  I built the deck and anchored it with lag bolts to the deck supports.  On the one side I used rubber mulch and on the other there is play sand.  I dug holes in various locations and filled with gravel to allow for drainage under the sand and mulch.  For the awning I used plain cedar shingles.  I added a shower that is just regular 1/2" metal pipe with a hose adaptor.  The shower wall and fence are just old pallets that I had for a while, cut to size, which was pretty much random but they came out great.  I added a misting system under the awning that works great, the kids love the cool mist on the hot days. Overall, a heavy job ripping up the grass, moving the wood, gravel, stones, sand and mulch, but a fun deck build and even better experience doing this with my kids by my side!  

Took us 4 months cause we have kids so we have to work during naps and after bedtime and then we were hesitant to work on it for a while after a little stressful episode building the drawer. We had to lower our expectations for perfection when working with pine and no clamps. We're happy with how it turned out though! Reminds me of Van Gogh's "The Bedroom" for some reason. 

I built this desk so my son would have a place for his old school tv and to do his homework! It was super easy and I love how the finish came out! His room is a huge work in progress but this is the first step:)

We love this fence refresh from the previous owner's solution to enclosing the pool equipment and a/c unit! It was the first time we fastened something to our house - drilling through stucco in the process. That was a big deal for us diy-ers! We made the frame out of 4x4's (which ended up being the most challenging part to the whole thing), applied the horizontal fencing boards and then used one of those $15 fence hardware kits - it was a great project that has made a huge difference in our backyard. Yay!

The only thing I did different to the plan was add 4.5 inches to the back slats so I could round the edges and 3 inches to the right arm rest so I could cut out a track to rest a wine glass. One thing I highly recommend is to create a stencil of the stringer. I did and now I have it for the next one so the next chair will be consistent. Thanks Ana white, this site is very therapeutic for me. Already built 3 projects in the last month.

We're adding our chickens this weekend!

This is our first Ana White project and we're pretty happy with the results. We modified the plans a bit to use 1/4" plywood for the sides instead of the heavy 3/4" ply. Specifically built for our kitchen since we couldn't find one that we really liked or could afford. Pottery Barn seriously sells this for $1200?!?! Score!

We estimate that the cost of this project was right around $50, but we had a lot of tools and materials already.  This was a fun project and a great piece for the cost. I would suggest staining as much as you can before assembling those legs!  Staining and applying poly was a pain in the butt!  We used a dark mahogany Minwax stain and 2 coats of Minwax poly. It took us a while to do it because we have a 11 month old that keeps us on our toes.