Community Brag Posts

The garage loft bed was inspired by the plans on your site. I beefed up the framing with 2xs and found siding panels at my local big box. 

I was looking for something to hold my scrapbooking supplies.  I want to use my formal dining room as my craft room but have the illusion it's still a dining room. This plan was perfect.  This was my first time building anything from Ana's site.  I added feet to the bottom to change up the look just a little.  I also used a more detailed base molding.  I also added some support to the bottom to have somewhere to attach the feet and distribute the weight of all my scrapbooking supplies.  The best advice was to leave the top off until the end.  I also waited to attach the back till the very end also.  I thought I'd have the most trouble with the drawers but the doors ended up being the hardest part for me. Overall I'm very happy with the buffet!  I haven't decided how I'd like to satin it yet. I'll eventually get that done!  On to the next project. :)

Inspired by Finn's Dad's table, we decided to copy it since we wanted to build a table that would seat 8 comfortably. The most difficult part of this project was finding clear cedar for the top. It had to be ordered through our local lumber yard and we were not able to match boards. We built the frame out of treated pine and the 4 x 4 legs from average greade cedar found at Lowe's. We finished it with four coats of polyurethane. 

Much to our dismay our tiny town is not host to any sweet antique shops. So when I began designing our new guest room, I knew that I was going to have to BUILD two bedside tables. Thanks to Anna, that is much more of a possibility for us than I ever might have imagined.

So, I decided on one bookcase and one vanity. For the bookcase I adapted the Parson's style bookshelf plans. But instead of going the modern route, I stained it ebony and painted over with a white satin paint--and of course distressed. Simple, affordable, and quite cute. You can see many more photos at www.thereadinggirl.com.

Been a while since I had time to actually build anything worth posting about! My wife wanted some items for her Kindergarten classroom this year, so built several items, most inspired by the Farmhouse family.

My mom bought a similar one several years ago and I've been wanting something like this ever since...so glad I came across this site so I can proudly say I built it myself whenever someone asks!

I used some leftover boards from our composite deck for the surface part of this picnic table. I used a lot of Kreg joints to screw up into the boards from underneath, so I didn't have many exposed screw heads. I did have to redesign this plan slightly for me because of my composite board width. Ended up costing $5 for the 1x3 spruce, and I finished it with primer and exterior latex paint leftover from painting our garage doors.

In order to make this island a little beafier I used 4x4 wood for the X as well as the the top and bottom braces. Top is made up of glued up 1x3 maple wood. It looked really good raw, but decided to stain it to give a more uniform look. I bought the rustic handles and the bottle opener on Amazon.com. I used lag bolts and washers for the finishing accents...similar to the pottery barn island. Painted them with Rustoleum oil bronzed paint and then dabbed it with a paper towel to give it a rougher finish to it and then sprayed the casters as well. This was a fun project and are getting a lot of use out of it. Thanks goes to Anna for the plans and inspiration for this island. Rich

I used the Tall Corner Media Stand plans as inspiration for this, but I didn't actually need it top be very tall, so I took off one of the shelves, and decided not to add the extra section for the cable box and what not.

I also liked the simplicity to it without all the trim, so I decided to leave the sides and top slats off and just stain it and add a 1x3 at the bottom for aesthetic purposes.

Several years ago I found a lamp in the Restoration Hardware trash in the parking lot of the shopping mall. It was in great shape. The price tag was still on…$200! Huge score. They had cut the plug off, but that was an easy fix. Four years later it was in need of a new look.

Video of the Build:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xH3ABM3X3uE

Build Instructions:
http://www.instructables.com/id/Garden-Trellis/

This adjustable garden trellis for cucumber/pea/bean vines is a quick project for the vegetable garden. The trellis gets the vines off the ground and is more productive in less space. No giant rotting cucumbers to find three weeks after the rest have matured. It is made from small lumber and twine. Paint is optional but gives a nice pop of color. Just in time for the rapid growth of summer!

I designed this desk from another desk I built. With this one, I wanted the overall foot-print smaller but still something that was able to organize all our office stuff and be able to close everything to keep it clutter-free. We have a small apartment, and although this desk is about the size of an up-right piano, it works perfectly into our living space!

I made it out of raw hardwood (Ash) and because I knew just the wood alone would make this desk heavy/bulky to move I made the top hutch removable. It's held in place by wood pegs (dominos). All the shelves are adjustable and the drawers are full-extension (something I've never had - wahoo)! The drop-down door is help up by 2 pull-out boards on each side (my first desk had chains). I spend a lot of money on this desk because I knew it was a chance in a lifetime to make and wanted it to be perfect and something that would last generations.

I built the main carcass off of plans/measurements I designed, but then all the insides, drawers, shelves, doors, etc where made as I built (because just a millimeter difference in building changes everything)!

If you want more pictures/descriptions of the building process I wrote about it in a 4-part series on my blog.