Community Brag Posts

I make these double benches with storage in the middle… very sturdy and comfortable…. Will last a long time….

Based on the 2x4 Simple potting bench but added shelves and a roof!

Made an outdoor sofa inspired by Ana White's plan. I made a few modifications including using 2x6's, hiding more of the non-pocket hole screws, using HD pocket holes in more areas and building an incline for the backrest. Cushions are Sunbrella from Lowe's.

I built this book shelf for my daughter.

I made both the top and the bottom shelves an angled.
I used a finishing nail punch to emboss the name.

I mixed 3 different color stains to match the other furniture.

Used 2" caster wheels from Home Depot.

This project was pretty dang easy. My husband and I whipped this out one weekend and were pleasantly surprised with the outcome. It now sits in our dining room and we LOVE it!! We used Rust-o-leum's Kona stain and it could not have been more perfect of a color. We used a brush to apply in sections and wiped it off immediately. Before staining we beat it with chains, hammers, screws, etc. And we also scraped it up and gouged it out with screw drivers, crowbars, and any other items we could find. Be sure and sand it down really well. We finished it off with a matte finish polyurethane. Thanks for the designs! We are on to table number 2 now! Jordi

Time to get organized in 2017....and what better way than with some custom shelving. This was not too bad of a project to complete. It only took about 6-8 hours to cut, frame, and assemble everything together (thanks to an interruption or two). 'Twas nice to have a project for once that I didn't have to care about finishing the project with wood filler, sanding, painting. I am sure my wife thanks me more as I would have been another week getting things just right​​​​​! 

A few changes that I made from the original plans:

- used 2x8 for the shelving runs as I only was dealing with a 10ft run and was a few bucks cheaper to buy 8 boards vs 16 boards. Plus less cuts!!! 

-installed adjustable furniture feet in the supports to deal with sloping basement floor. Unexpected side effect was it was easier to slide the unit around in the basement as I assembled it. 

Outside of those changes I remained faithful to the original design. I didn't bother filling the screw holes as we will be hiding the shelving unit with a curtain once  we turn the room into a TV/Office area. 

Also as it wasn't 100% clear from the original plans, but the height measurements for the shelf supports are to center... not sure why it didn't register with me right away... but just in case anyone else didn't realize that as well. 

I made a few modifications from the original plans as I wanted to have some visibility into the cabinets. I used natural pine and finished with a tea, vinegar/steel wool solution to give it the reclaimed wood look.

We really wanted to give our 2 year old a play kitchen for Christmas. We also didn't want to spend the money on the likes of the Pottery Barn set, and weweren't sold on the lesser-expensive options. Fortunately, a quick internet search led me to Ana White's website and plans for this play kitchen. As someone who has never built anything before, the plans seemed very doable. All of the brag posts were also inspirational and sold me on starting this project. I worked on this an hour or so after work for a couple of weeks, and then a few longer nights running up to Christmas Eve (always a bit of a procrastinator!). As neither my wife or I know how to sew, we decided to turn the space underneath the sink into a cabinet. The paint color was left over from painting our kitchen and family room, and we decided to stain the stove and counter tops. Overall, we are very pleased and proud with how this turned out, and our 2 year old loves playing with the set!

Using the Junior Height Camp Loft Bed plans...

I raised the height from 65 to 67 inches to better accomodate a bottom bunk.  Added bottom rails and extra 2X4s for the head board.  

I shortened the width and length of the stairs to better fit in the room, and in doing so, made a small mod to the post by the stairs to prevent the boys from falling down the stairs.

Kids Love them

Was a fun build. Took 3 days. Ana your awesome. 

Outdoor pallet bar with sink I found in the garage. Just a dumping sink under cabinet,not hooked up to plumbing.

LOVed building and painting this. Although using European wood is a headache as of course the standard wood sizes are different. ... always 4-6 mm off... so all my things are crooked. I don't care though and it is my new favorite chair. I used ArchiTect blue exerior color, two coats, and pine wood.
I am grateful for Ana White's metric conversion chart in the book I now have but when going to the hardware store here, I am confronted with numerous standard wood sizes that are not the same as in the US!

New table for our patio space. This was a fun, relatively easy project. The weather was my only hiccup in the building. Spent an afternoon making cuts, the next day sanding and staining and then assembly. Hubby saw the pieces laid out before staining was complete and loved the two tone look, so I went with it. I used minwax Kona for the stained area and covered everything with Spar Varnish.