Community Brag Posts

One of the projects that I've wanted to tackle for a long time has been adding built-in bookshelves to the sides of my existing fireplace. This fireplace (and I'm assuming the mantel) was original to the house and I wanted to create an addition that would look seamless and tie into the existing woodwork. I began designing a piece above the mantel to give the fireplace some height and then I designed the flanking bookcases to match. All of the project details and free step-by-step instructions can be found on my website at: www.momthebuilder.net

I modified the original plan so that it would fit in the area wher my old linen cabinet was.  I also wanted the drawers to be visible.

Made from the Camp Loft Bed plans.  Added some additional strength with 4x4 legs instead of 2X4 and added some additional supports underneath for the rambuncious kid that was going to be using it.

Also since the room was small, it was made to be dismantled with a ladder instead of the stairs.

Fun little project for a friend who is also expecting another.  So it looks like we will expand this loft bed for future expansion.

We had a dark corner in the living room that was needing some light. I had two vintage pendant lamps (amazing thrift store find) and leftover barn wood from my farm table build. I decided to build a frame to hang the lights in the corner. For less than $10 I have a completely unique lighting solution.

built to fit messy corner.  wife loves it there!

My husband and I decided to tackle this as our second woodworking project together. We have been wanting a larger dining table that would comfortably seat 6 people and easily squeeze in 8 if needed. We decided to build Ana's turned leg farmhouse table, adjusting the dimensions and choosing slightly different legs. These variations better suited our dining room space.

We purchased the "Modified English Country Dining Table Legs" in soft maple and 3 1/2" diameter from Osbourne Wood Products, which totaled $136. The rest of the lumber was made up of pine boards from Lowe's, which totaled around $40-$50. When assembling the 1 x 10 boards to make the top, we used a biscuit joiner to help our slightly bowed boards stay flat. Once the table was fully assembled, we painted the base in Lowe's Antique White (satin finish) and stained the top using Minwax's Special Walnut, then applied at least two coats of Minwax's polyurethane in satin finish.

We made a couple of mistakes along the way which actually worked out for the best, giving the table some rustic character. Being relatively new to woodworking, we neglected to thoroughly wipe the 1 x 10 boards of all wood glue before the glue dried, making it difficult to remove later with sanding. Some wood glue remained, which showed up later once boards were stained. We ended up liking how this turned out to give it some charm and more of that 'handmade' look.

Farmhouse Table with some slight modifications for sturdiness.

When we wanted a barn for our children to play in and use for their farm we discovered that nothing could be found to fit our fancy online. So with the use of some pictures of old barns and basic ideas we started on our very first wood project. Our tools consisted of a sawzal a table saw and cordless set of tools. Many hours later we have this to show for it. We used lots of scrap wood and bought only the hinges, latches and one sheet of plywood so our costs are skewed from someone trying to do it with new material.

This was my first DIY furniture project!

The materials cost less than $50! Of course, I did buy some fun new
power tools!

Thanks to http://ana-white.com for the great plans!

I learned quite a lot from this. The nightstand will go in our guest room but the next project will be Master-Bedroom-Worthy! I’ll try to share what I learned with you here so you can avoid my mistakes.

I cut all my pieces first. I used super cheap wood because I wasn’t sure how good I’d be at this. Needless to say, they weren’t all exactly straight so my “squaring up” didn’t work out quite as well as I’d hoped.
Lesson: buy straight boards

Then I went crazy with the Kreg jig and drilled all my pocket holes. I tried to use pocket holes for all the connections.
Lesson: just follow the directions

Another thing I'll do differently next time -- I'll sand and finish all the parts at this point before assembling the piece.

I can't wait to try my next project! Thanks Ana!!!

This is only the second project I've done, and I think it turned out great.  I modified the measurements so that it fits 3 on each side and 2 on each end, 10 total (but it can seat more; the table is huge).

All I have is a band saw and a drill, and that's all I needed!  The legs and support are Doug Fir from HD.  The top is all 2x10's that I bought at a lumber yard so that they would have it kiln-dried and have the edges re-sawn.  The only 2x10's I could find at the big box stores were green.

I finished it by sanding with 100 grit paper (I read not to over-sand doug fir for staining purposes), stained with one coat of Special Walnut (two coats on the breadboard ends), and 4 coats of satin poly.

This table is a tank.  So glad I assembled it indoors, as we would have had trouble getting it in the house after it was all put together!

Leaning Ladder Desk - Made By Tara Holmes - Australia - 2017

I used scrap 1x2 and 1x3s, added a piece of chalkboard painted plywood to make a fun wall decor for my kids. I resized Ana's plans to fit my scraps, all dimensions are listed in my post link.

We took the origional plans and used that as the basis for ours. We re-designed it for our size needs on Vectorworks, a design program that we usually use for working in theatre. We bought all of our supplies at Lowes for around $80. Fortunately for us we have a fully stocked scene shop avaliable for our projects. We built it one day then the next we sanded it and stained and sealed it. Its a nice heavy table that we LOVE. we wanted a project to make something nice that will last forver, but still be cheap because we are on a college budget. We used an engraver to put our initials on the table so one day we can show our kids what we can do. 

Barn door console built by Kathryn and Scott Winkler of K&S Coastal Furnishings in Pooler, GA. The hardware is a custom design by Scott and Kathryn sets it off with her one of a kind chippy finish. Fb.me/kscoastal