Community Brag Posts

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!  

I spent a lot of time looking at photos that my wife tagged on pinterest, most from builders who frequent Ana's site.  I learned a lot just from looking.

I stole particular ideas from Ana, Tommie and Ellie, and another site that I can't find right now, but they really did the trestle / farmhouse hybrid idea first and I just modified their idea a bit.  If anyone has seen their site, please remind me so I can give credit where it is due!

I didn't really use a plan other than having a general idea of what I wanted the size of the table to be.  I believe it came out to about 102" x 44"

I built 6 chairs and the bench.

All is built out of construction grade lumber, and gets lots of compliments.

The table came together in a solid weekend, the bench took a couple of evenings, and the chairs...those chairs took forever to cut out, shape, assemble, and finish.

Used plans for Alexia bench.

I used leftover 4 x 4 pine we had for the legs.  I bought some paneling and moulding to dress it up.

I also used leftover flooring for the drawer faces.

Base was made from recycled timber and the top was made with new pine.

The rails were made from curtain rails. 

One end has wheels for easy moving.

I followed the plan, but added some floor molding to the top and bottom. I did this to attempt to cover the seams from the plywood / 2x4s.

OMG!!! I'm so in love with my new table!!! I had to make a few changes due to the size of my dining area. I built it a bit big for the space I have in hopes of moving soon and having a formal dinning! I shortened the length of the table and also changed up the x to have the same angle as the original table... I decided to do a natural stain using tea, vinegar and steel wool to "age" the table I then mixed a brown wax with a clear wax to warm it up just a tad... Thanks ana so much for the amazing plans!!! Can't wait to start on another :)

My father-in-law and I knocked this project out in about 5 hours including the trip to the lumber yard. You've got a great basic design here! A few modifications we made:

1. I thought the depth of the shelves in the original plan was a little too shallow so I used 3 2"X6"s instead of the 4 2"x4"s. That made the shelves 1 1/2" deeper. Although 2"x6"s are obviously more expensive, the overall cost for the project didn't change much because we only had to use 3 boards per shelf instead of 4. This also reduced the amount of screwing and made it easier to position the shelf boards without taking measurements since we only had one middle board to deal with (instead of 2 with the 2"x4"s). We just eyeballed the spacing of the middle shelf board as we worked.

2. Since our garage has a 10' ceiling, I decided to go 8' tall with the unit. This allowed us to add a 5th shelf.

3. Some oversized tubs can be 18-20" high or more so I varied the height of each shelf -- 24" at the bottom, then 20", 18" and 16". There's approx. 24" available between the top shelf and the ceiling.

4. Due to the position of the garage door track, I had to notch out a couple feet at one side. The end support piece is only 6' high.

5. Since many storage tubs can be 16-18" wide, I made sure that there was at least 54" between 3 of the vertical support structures. This will allow us to store 3 tubs side-by-side and maximize storage. You might notice that I have two vertical supports that appear to be very close together near the back wall. I did this so I would have something on that side to attach more shelving to on that short wall where the garage door opener is. 

The only cuts we had to make for this entire project were for the 18 1/2" 'braces' or support pieces on the vertical ladder structures. The shelves are either 14' or 12' (top shelf only) and the vertical 2"x4"s are either 8' or 6'. Most lumber yards will carry these lengths in either 2"x4"s or 2"x6"s. 

We didn't use any wood glue, and I admit this may come back to haunt me. However, to get a good fit and eliminate gaps, I used clamps I already owned to squeeze the boards together before adding the screws. Everything feels very solid and sturdy to me. 

Because of the extra height compared with the original plan, I was worried about it possibly tipping over (we have a 10-year-old who likes to climb ) so I made sure that 3 of the supports are lined up with the wall studs. After leveling the entire unit, I plan to anchor it to the wall using 3 1/2" screws.

So for about $187 in lumber and maybe $20 in construction screws, I've got 76 feet of STURDY shelving that should accommodate hundreds of pounds! Not a bad investment at all...

This was my second project from the site. I wanted somewhere to read my book on the back deck. This chair is perfect. When I get tired of reading I can lay it down and take a nap. It is very sturdy and easy to put together. I do recommend using pocket holes to assemble it. I found it much easier.

My husband and I bought a milk snake a few years ago. We had the cage sitting on our kitchen table. My husband was up north visiting his family and it irritated me. So I went out to the garage to see what we had. We had some tongue and groove and some misc. Pcs of scrap pallet wood. I slapped the stand itself together in a day. 3 years later, I completed it with the live edge shelf trim and the canapy, again using live edge. The pine log Pcs are left over from our basement knee wall ledge. 

I modified this a tad from the original plans to suit my needs. I will eventually be adding a platform with attached slide and swing set.

Plans were easy to follow. My store didn't have 1x8's so I stacked 1x4's and used my Kreg jig to join them together and then I added extra bracing.

I had seen this on Pinterest a couple years ago and thought it was the coolest thing! Io excited I was able to build it myself!