Community Brag Posts

Being a newby to woodworking, I wasn't sure if I could tackle this build. I saw pictures on your website and decided to give it a try. However, my wife wanted drawers so I made the doors a little shorter in order to add the 4 drawers but keep the height at 36". Thanks for your inspiration. I'm getting more comfortable everyday.
 

After searching the town high and low for a 10" high wooden stool, I decided to make one. Ana had the perfect stool pattern to modify for our needs - A little shorter, a little wider.....et Voila!

It's the perfect height for little ones to reach the taps in the bathroom, as well as helping out in the kitchen from time to time. And, the cedar smells wonderful.

Finished height: 10"
Top measures: 11.25" x 16.5" (2 boards, cut 16.5" long + a space in the middle)
Footprint: 12.375" x 17.375"

I also lined up the rails (instead of staggering them), similar to the Harriet Higher Chair plans. The joint will be weaker, but I prefer the cleaner lines on such a short step stool.

Thanks Ana for the great plans!

This was one of the first projects I've ever built, so I would put it at a beginner level. It's a great, sturdy bed, very simple. The drawers are huge, which is surprising, since you don't realize how much space you gain when you add the drawers until you see how much they store. Thought I'd fill in details that worked for me that I had to figure out. As the plan says, the drawers are on caster wheels and slide directly on the floor, so make sure you have an area rug down if it's going to be on bare wood (especially pine, like this one is on). As another reviewer said, use 2" caster wheels, 12 total. This gives it the right height on a wood floor. You can get those in bulk at a home improvement store. I would recommend a slat system and not just a piece of plywood for under the mattress, as I was warned bacteria and mold can grow when the mattress is not given a way to vent. You can see in the picture, I had a bunch of 2x4 scraps and simply made a slat system out of that. I pocket holed the slats into the front of the bed, so no screws would be showing. I only finished the sides that would ever show, so the entire back of the drawers and bed itself are unfinished. I like the look of the drawers without handles, and they are just as easy to pull out without them. The drawers can get off track easily when being pulled in and out, so be careful when you use them. Otherwise, no problems with the drawers. I used wood glue and cheap drywall screws to attach the drawer bottoms (plywood) to the drawers. If you want to put anything of any serious weight in these drawers, really consider supporting the middle of the drawers on the bottom with some 1x2s or 1x3s, as it is a bit weak in the middle of the drawers. One more thing: I noticed standard dimensions vary slightly between finishing wood (1x12s, 1x2s, etc) and structural wood (2x4 studs), so keep that into account. Things were not flush because the finish wood was scaled larger than the structural wood. This bed is all about the storage underneath, which is great.

I'm a beginner at this, so for the most part I followed Ana's plans to building the Camp Loft Bed with Stairs. I made a few tweaks, including adding a slide to the front, putting the stairs on the other side, raising it by 7" (since there is a toddler bed underneath), and using hemmed shower curtain to create a fort underneath.
I made all the cuts with a miter saw and sanded all the wood down. I then glued and screwed the stairs, platform, and end pieces together. All the wood then got 1 coat of primer and paint. Then on Christmas Eve the bed was assembled in the kids' room. The sanding, priming, and painting took the longest. Cutting it and putting it together didn't take long.
For the railings, I did all screws from the outside to give a stronger hold than the pocket holes, and used 3 3/4" screws for the weigh bearing pieces. I counter sunk all the screws and added buttons to cover them (not yet painted in the photos). I also mounted the 45 degree 2x6 cuts in the 4 weight bearing corners to add extra bracing (not pictured). To brace the slide, I glued and bolted a 4x4 on the front of the bed. The curtains are just 2 off the shelf shower curtains that got hemmed to the correct height, and then were mounted using small teacup hooks. I plan to add an eyehole to each side, so they can be pulled back and hooked open.

I am not a carpenter, I do not even have a tape measure. I got tasked by my leadership dothan class to build a farmhouse table for the academic dream room which is part of the Bright Key Program. Which is being renovated at Honeysuckle Middle School. Found your plans and got inspired. One glitch they wanted this table to be able to sit fourteen chairs. So I had to make a few adjustments like increasing the main boards to twelve foot. Because of your plans, many urban middle schoolers will have a place to get tutored considering cafeteria tables are so expensive. I am a believer of your plans. The positive feedback I received was well worth my time and would not of been a sucess without your plans. I did mine with pocket holes as well. 

We have a 2′x4′ metal furnace cover that takes up a big portion of our dining room wall. To say it is an eye sore would be an understatement! We both love chalkboards, so I decided to make a cover out of chalkboard. Since it still needs to function as a furnace I made a cutout where the vent is. I covered that portion with a tin sheet. It looks so much better!

Learn how to make your own chalkboard paint in any color!

Had to buy a new washer and dryer several months ago and wanted the front loaders.  I was unwilling to pay $600 for the pedestals at the hardware store so I had been dealing with them on the floor until I found this plan.  Built these and absolutely LOVE them.  No more killing my back getting laundry done.  These sit higher than the ones from the hardware store so even better!!! I keep 3 laundry baskets underneath.

I really liked the Large Wooden Dog crate but wanted the sides to be lower and wanted to make sure there was no easy chew escape.  Not sure if you can see from the photo but the cats have taken over... Will need to make a larger one for the dog!

I followed the plan pretty much other than lowering the panel on the side and replacing the wooden bars with rebar.  The rebar was a bit of a learning curve getting the holes lined up perfectly but I figured it out and I think it came out pretty good!

Used all pine 1x3 and 1x2s.  Picked up a pine panel for the top and the bottom is a 3/4 plywood. Made our own chalk paint for the finish and sealed it with wax.

Oh, forgot, added tongue and groove pine for the back and finished it and the top with Antiguing wax.

Lots of fun and I think I will make a double one next!

We decided to build a daybed after we discovered that the space we needed to fill was a bit of an odd size and nothing we saw was going to work. We fell in love with West Elm's rectangles daybed but it was very much out of our budget as we are getting married in June. We recently acquired a kregjig and this was the perfect project to really test it's worth. Once all the cuts were made and the pocket holes drilled, putting this together was quite easy. We were lucky that it fit through our front door, and we attached the support beams after it was in place. We opted for spray paint to finish it off, but we didn't sand everything down beforehand so we may pull it back outside at a later date and smooth things out a bit. We are really impressed with how sturdy this daybed is and EVERYONE compliments us on it. This is our second Ana White plan we've used and only the second major woodworking project we've completed. We bought the ready to use slats at IKEA along with a twin mattress.

You can see the whole project here: http://nearlydomesticated.blogspot.com/2013/03/here-comes-sun.html

Our old picnic table was falling apart so I made a new one with it

After seeing the patio table with beer/wine cooler, I wanted to build this for my brother and wife who recently bought a house. I asked them if they were interested and of course they said yes. I modified the original plans by adding a 2x4 on each side of the cooler to make the table wider. I also made the legs out of 4x4 vs the 2x4s that were originally called for. I used redwood and then stained it and used a varnish for the final coating. I probably wouldn't use the varnish again for an outdoor table, because it looks like it should be an indoor table vs outdoor. Overall, I'm pleased with the results and the best part about it, I get to enjoy it every time I go over for a BBQ.

I used a 4'x8' sheet of oak plywood. The only thing that I had to cut back on was the center shelf. I made it a 1x6 so that I would have enough wood. I used veneer for the front pieces and amber stain with polycrylic.