Community Brag Posts

As my husband and I were slowly piecing this shelf together, I began to worry if it was going to end up rather unattractive. Turns out I had no need to worry and the completed project was better than I had imagined! It's extremely sturdy and a good size (I actually brought down the width a notch). I painted the shelves and supports separately which turned out to be an excellent idea.

I followed the plans exactly except I made the legs 5 inches taller to allow more room on the bottom shelf. this was my first project with doors and drawers and my third big project after building a chicken coop and the Ana White triple pedestal table. I couldn't find 2x2s so I stripped 2x4s (the dimensions aren't exactly the same but close enough). Took me longer to build than it would most people because I'm not that experienced.

Based off of the Ana White design w/ pocket holes. This was really our first big project, so we made plenty of mistakes. Some lessons learned:

1. Pick non-warped wood to start with!
2. Clamps are pretty important to use when screwing into your kreg jig holes. It is REALLY hard to keep things flush without some strong clamps. Biggest lesson learned!
3. Always do your polyurethane coats in 60+ F temperatures. I did one coat when it was pretty cold, around 40 degrees. The liquid ended up beading and it was extremely hard to get out, eventually I just put many more coats on and called it a day.
4. Sand, sand, and sand some more!

This build is very rustic, but next time I think I could build a pretty perfect one. We're going to use this one, I like how rustic it is.

first project ever, made a few alterations to both plans and came up with this.

For our small 1960's Master bedroom, I needed more storage for under-the-bed totes. When we were all done, I made a bedskirt with the needed drop-length to hide all of the totes.

My husband built this bed for our son by combining 2 of the plans from here. The Loft bed and the Camp Loft Bed w/ stairs. We knew we wanted to build a loft bed for our son but liked the idea of the platform w/ stairs so it wouldn't block his window. We also wanted to incorporate a bookshelf for his growing collection of Legos to display as well as books, etc. The next project to add to this will be the desk for underneath. I'll add pictures when we build that. Instead of using 2 x 4's for the top rails of the bed, he improvised and created his own version of a panel for the top. I love how it turned out!

This was the first table we built.

I build these basically with leftovers from our new fence.  The coffee table is 4x4 post legs with a 2x4 frame attached underneath.  For stability, I used a 12" wide scrap of 3/4" plywood on the top before attaching fence pickets.  Old tags were used on both sides and ends.  The (two) end tables were 2x4 legs with 1x4 side trim pieces, but without the plywood stabilizer, and a single cut down picket for the top.

This bunk bed project was absolutely perfect for a small cottage bedroom for our son. We selected this plan when noticing that this could essentially be built as 4 flat sections and easily transported.

We were able to construct the bunk beds prior to owning the cottage and were then able to move in and bolt together.

I completed this project almost entirely by myself. I had a malfunction with the saw & needed assistance from my husband in the beginning, but borrowed a saw from a friend & completed the rest by myself. I made the platform bed one weekend & made the headboard another weekend. Fun project! And it turned out beautiful!! Thank you, Ana White for your awesome plans on your website!!! 

Comfort meets staves

I chose to make this great looking desk out of Walnut wood. So, obviously its not the $55 dollar fancy X desk that Ana White has posted, but it does share the same design. We were looking for a heavy, sturdy, and large desk for our office and I simply added linseed oil to bring out the natural beauty of the Walnut wood. Thank you so much Ana for giving me the tools I needed to complete this project. Feel free to email me or message me if you have any questions, comments, or suggestions. [email protected]. Thanks

29.5" square, 25" high

Absolutely love this Console!  Going for a coastal theme and could not find exactly what I was looking for so decided to make it!  Love to use my hands and now I will be off to my next project!  Used Cedar board for the top, pine for the remainder.  Love the thick, rustic top.  This console is two inches less in depth than the original plans due to the shape of my living room.  Thank you for the plans and everyone's DIY projects!  They were all a big influence on the final design.

I saw someone's brag where she used this plan for shoe storage. I thought it was a great idea. It sure lets me clean the floor better, just roll it out of the way, clean, roll back. It is so much better than the shoe rack that occupied the space before with such piles of shoes that it was arduous to clean the floor at all. Next month I will take care of the second shoe rack for my own shoes.

It was so simple, I loved making them. Grandpa and I had fun. The best part, you can make them quick because the don't have to be perfect. And Grandpa's nail gun made quick work of all the attached boards. All boards were also glued and sanded.

Ana your site gave me the confidence to solve my own furniture problems with custom solutions. Thanks, I can't wait for my next project.