Community Brag Posts

I built the beauty storage cabinet with sliding mirror door from Ana White's website.

Queen bed with shim head and foot boards

I loved that I used strapping, or furring strips, for this bead. The topper wood is a 2X4, but every other 8" piece of wood cost between $1.25 and $1.99 each. Yeah! Of course, for that price, you have to know you will be sanding the heck out of it. We had a metal frame for this bed but I wanted a headboard. Because it was going against a wall with a 45 degree angle, I had to make it a lot shorter than I wanted. I made it just tall enough so both pillows, when stacked on top of each other, did not fall off the back. I just love it.

We haven't had bed frame since we moved from Florida and as we now have our own home, it was time to get one. My friend gave me headboard they had no use, so I just had to build rest of a frame.
Notice that we are middle of the hole house renovation so we have no trims, walls are lacking paint etc :) I still need to make night stands and closet for us :) Let see how they come out.

Follow our projects and life middle of the mountains in my blog :)

http://ourleaningtree.wordpress.com/diy/bed-frame/

Followed the plans for the Easy monogram snowflake, painted it with pewter gray, and added a set of battery powered led lights to the back.  Thanks for the plans Ana fun build and now everyone wants one. 

Great project for my first attempt at building a farmhouse table.  I adjusted the base to allow a chair to slide in at both ends.  Braced breadboards on each end with (3) 2x4.  Very strong and sturdy.  Decided not to use the lower base support to see how it held up and has been extremely stable.  My wife liked the open look so that's all I needed to hear.  Excellent plans, had fun and came out better than I anticipated!

We bought a house with a death trap for a back step. Until we get to re-doing the entire back patio area I needed a temporary solution to keeping the kids from toddling off the back 'ledge'. I modified Ana's plans to make a nice border around the step so kids can't fall off when they are coming and going from the backyard. We had left over cedar fence slats from when we did our fence last spring...PERFECT and FREE!!!!!

I loved the original one posted and it inspired me to create our own version. It's getting great reviews !

This project was made from Ana White's apothecary media console plan. The finish is Minwax Special Walnut on the drawers and top. On the sides is a finish technique I found on thehouseofsmiths.com - Faux Barn Wood Painting Tutorial.

Anna White Beam Table with Benches 

This was a fun build. I used the HD Kreg Jig for the 4x4 beams and a standard Kreg Jig for the table. The bases were done with a white wash finish and the tops done with a few different stains to give it more of a barn look

The husband kept complaining that the washer and dryer were too low without pedestals. Well, no problem! I've got plans from Ana's site.

I measured to fit our machines and followed the plans. But somewhere along the way I screwed up. I think it might have been how I attached the legs with the "L" brackets. My legs were sitting away from the base, not flush with it. Anyhow, the way to correct my mistake was to attach the moulding along the sides, front and back of the base, not around the legs. But I don't mind the way it looks. Just an FYI: there was a lot of waste with the sheets of MDF, but that's not a problem because I'm using it in another project as I write. :)

First, I put on two coats of primer. Then I decided I wanted a splash of turquoise in the basement, so I mixed a blue and yellow paint until I got the color I desired. After a few coats of paint, I distressed and then decided to tone down the color a bit with a Valspar glaze. I put on two coats of poly, hoping that would be enough to withstand the inevitable water on the pedestal. I thought the piece was screaming for a quote, so I painted "The most memorable days usually end with the dirtiest clothes."

And you think with the new height he'd help me with laundry a bit more? Yeah, I think not.

I needed to use my small coat closet more efficiently (observe the disaster in the before picture!), so I installed built-in shelves along a side wall for all our board games. Not a plan really, but just a simple solution. Measure the height you want your shelves to be, install a 1X3 at that height on either side wall, making sure they are level and secured to studs or anchored (Mine are 1 foot apart up to 5 feet). Then install plywood or solid wood shelves across the supports. Screw in to secure and you've got functional, inexpensive shelving, built to fit your unique space.

I made a few changes to the chairs and the table plans.  Most notable, I added a storage box for chalk for the chalkboard table top.  The build was incredibly easy.  You could assemble the table and chairs in just a few hours.  

First project.  Was a blast and turned out great.  Mahagany strips with oak top.

I seen the plans for a coffee table made out of pallets submitted by Aud builder and just had to try it. The company where I work has tons of pallets so it really didn't cost me anything. I added an additional pallet and left the casters off. In place of the casters I put 4, 4" 4x4's at the corners and then used 1x4 at each of the corners to connect the whole thing. Then I did the white wash on it. I loved the color and had a lot of fun putting it together.

I have been looking at sewing furniture for years, but the prices always made my jaw drop. I have a small craft room, so I needed a table that could also triple as a cutting table and fabric storage. Thank you so much to Ana White for this plan! I built exactly to the plan in The Handbuilt Home, and it's the PERFECT size.

So the sewing machine can sit flush with the top, making working on big sewing projects way easier, I traced the outline of my machine on the MDF and cut it out with a jig saw. Then I built a small shelf using a 1x12 scrap and 2 1x3 scraps. Putting the 1x3s on top of the 1x12 made the shelf 3.75 inches deep, which is exactly the depth I needed. I attached it to the underside of the tabetop using a pockethole jig and screws.

I built 2 boxes using 1/4 inch plywood, and installed drawer pulls on them, giving the illusion that the table has 2 drawers built in. This is where I keep my ugly stuff--interfacing and fabric scraps.

I got the color scheme for the table from the entryway console plan in The Handbuilt Home. In order to make the MDF top look like it had a wood grain, I applied mahogany gel stain with an old washcloth in very thick strokes that spanned the length of the tabletop. It soaked in and lost the "grain" look in some places, but the majority still looks like wood. I did have to apply several coats of polyurathane over the stain; the MDF has a prickly texture that grabs fabric and makes it hard to feed through the sewing machine.

My only complaint is that I didn't quite think through the fact that seating is bar height and I'm 5'7". It's a little difficult to reach my sewing machine pedal. I may build a small stool for the pedal to sit on so I don't have to half sit/stand to sew.

This is the first woodworking project I've done alone from start to finish: from going to Lowe's and picking out the wood, to cutting the wood with a circular saw, assembly, and finishing. (My fiance did carry it up the stairs for me. :) )

I'm so in love with this table! And now to finish the quilt I started 6 months ago....