Community Brag Posts

I always wanted a cabin-type cat tree where my cats could crawl in and feel safe, but still have a great view of the birds out of a window. I tried to draw my vision on paper, but that had a hideous result. Learning Google SketchUp (at least the basics) was an absolute necessity. I could never have built this without drawing it in 3D first, and seeing how the boards would connect, etc.

For the scratch pad, I built a frame out of 2x4s on top of plywood, covered it with carpet, and dropped the standard size scratch pad in place. This is the cat's favorite feature. I put barn doors on the window with tiny hinges so that I can close for added privacy. The tree sits against a window so that the back side is totally open. I made cozy zippered cushions for the platforms (that can be taken off and washed). I covered the carpeted areas with spare carpeting.

I built this A-Frame Chicken Coop using the Ana White plans. It turned out adorable, strong, and I am very pleased. Final cost was $250, and it took me 4 days (in real time, as a mom of 3). One Saturday at Lowes shopping, one Sunday afternoon cutting, and two days of assembly. Then a 5th for painting. Give or take a dozen extra runs to the hardware store! My brother-in-law helped cut the angles on his miter saw, and my uncle helped with assembly. I kinda doubt this could be done for $100 - maybe if you have a bunch of scrap materials and spare paint. We even have 7 or 8 hens in there! I only intended 3 to live in it, but my uncle added the extras and they all get along happily. I found the roof cap at Home Depot (didn't find at Lowes).

I would also like to point out that I was very afraid to do carpentry - I was afraid to even buy the lumber. But I asked for a lot of help from a lot of Lowe's and Home Depot people, and resisted the naysayers, and just got brave and did it. And it came out beautifully! If you are new to using power tools, get someone to assist, and you would need help anyway with holding things up while another drills.

Shared on Facebook by Jenna Schultz 

My husband built your Rustic bathroom vanities into 3 drawer dressers to hide our children's toys on each side of the fireplace. They turned out amazing!!!

We had bought a house in New Mexico that was sadly lacking for closet space, as well as square footage for furniture. I was looking at Ana White's website, and saw the plans for the Farmhouse storage bed. It was good, but needed some steroids. I got out the calculator, and started upsizing EVERYTHING. What happened was, BEDZILLA!! King sized bed with 12 giant drawers. I also added lighting to the headboard for reading. It was a blast to build, and I was very pleased with, and proud of the finished product. 

I went with my own measurements to accommodate my old cooler and leave a little room for storing extra water or whatever. As you can tell, I'm a Coca Cola nut...so I had to go with the Coke theme.

The cooler I used was actually a battery powered car cooler, so it didn't already have a drain. I just drilled through the bottom; added a drain and then ran some pipe over to a faucet at the end.

I glued some coke lids that I had been saving in the bottom of the "cap catcher" (not sure exactly what it's called), for special effects.

Because I'm always looking for a paper towel (I hate having wet hands); I added a paper towel holder on the end, instead of a shelf.

This was made entirely from scrap wood from other projects, so except for the faucet and of course my coke accessories, it didn't cost me anything and that's always a plus.

My husband loves it - every time he sees me looking at this site on the computer, he wants to know what I'm planning to build now.

My 2 year old daughter played in a playhouse at a farm and was just amazed by the "little house" every time we would see them at the store or driving down the road she would just scream "mom, its a little house, little house!" I knew I wanted to get her one and started to search. Couldn't believe the price of playhouse kits so I figured I could build it. This playhouse took about 2 weeks to finish but I only worked on it a couple of hours at a time just a couple times a week. Total cost for me for just the playhouse not including paint was $343.90. Thanks Ana for posting the plans and showing everyone that anyone can build!

While staging my sister & brother-in-laws home so they could list it for sale, I ended up with an "empty wall" in their living room and nothing to fill it with, but knew a small bookshelf would work perfectly! I loved the look of the Kentwood bookshelf plan. I'm not the fastest builder, but after a couple hours, I had everything cut, all pocket holes drilled and everything fully assembled. I only applied one coat of stain and a single coat of poly and skipped adding a back...for now. I may go back and add a back later, but for now I'm thrilled with it (and so was my sister!)

Edit:  I finally added a back to the shelf - just in time to sell it to a friend. ;)

Created the stand for the raised planter using 2X2 assembled using dowels. Painted the stand mixing black with a bit of white to simulate metal. The actually plastic window box fits within a wood open box with mitered corners fir clean log. Bottom of the stand provides a shelf using (9) 2X2s with a dado placed on either end to fit on the runners of the stand.