Community Brag Posts

Thanks to inspiration from Ana's post on the Sand Box with Built-in seats, I've retrofit our Jungle Fort (http://www.detailedplay.com/Jungle-Fort-Swingset.htm) with the sandbox cover/bench system. I've upgraded the lumber dimensions to 2x4s and 2x6 to accommodate the increased 67.5" span.

My grandson wanted a set of peg dolls and a house to play with them in.  I wanted to build something that was gender-neutral - so many doll houses are pink and feminine!  This doll house is sized just right for his peg dolls and playmobil people.  It's made from 1/2" poplar, although it could also be cut from a sheet of 1/2" plywood.

This is my third build and it took about 1/2 a day and cost $50 for lumber and $15 for hardware (decking screws). I previously built Ana's Farmhouse Table and doll farmhouse bed and cupcake stand. 

I used the small kreg jig for part of the underseat frame, but it is not necssary. I wasn't using kreg screws so I found it easier to just attach through the end of the 2x4s. I recommend checking for squareness often for this project, especially as the arms and stretcher are attached.

I wanted a good solid desk for my office and I thought these plans were perfect. The wood, screws, paint, and stain all cost less than $30. Instead of using 2x4's for the top I used a solid piece of aspen. I then stained the top and painted the bottom white.

This was my first DIY build. Having been inspired by my good friend, the brilliant Jen Woodhouse of The House of Wood, I decided surely I could do this too. So I picked something that looked like a challenge, but that we also needed. We have an old piano we bought from Craigslist that has heretofore been benchless. So I used the Flip Top Storage Bench plans, headed to Home Depot, collected the wood (and let them cut it - but made a few of my own cuts, too), and got to work.

I had a little trouble at first, simply because, after assembling the sides and aprons, the unit did NOT square up. I took a few pieces apart and realized it wasn't user error (what?), but warped wood. That's right: one of my 1x3s was warped and bendy. So I rebuilt that side with some of my leftovers, and made sure to square up after each step, and lo and behold it came together!

It's not perfect - one of my legs is a bit off, so it wobbles when no one's sitting on it, but there's no issue when it bears weight - but for my first build, I'm quite pleased! And now that I know I can do this...well, this is just the beginning!

Total time it took me was probably around 15 hours, which includes practicing using my circular saw and kreg jig (both of which were straight out of the box when I started), along with my rebuilding the side.

I used Minwax pre-stain wood conditioner after sanding, followed by two coats of Rustoleum spray stain in Kona. I sanded with 400 grit sand paper after each coat of stain, and finished with one coat of semi-gloss polyurethane. I considered a few more coats of stain, but so fell in love with the weathered look that evolved from the staining and sanding that I just left it!

I also spray painted the hinges - that was a bit of an accident (I didn't know how NOT to cover them in stain...), but turned out to my liking!

My estimated cost is about $100, which covers the wood (including the extra 1x3s and an extra 1x2 I needed for a screw-up), nails, screws, three cans of spray stain, polyurethane, wood conditioner, paint brushes, two packs of sandpaper, and my hand sander. All but the wood will be used in my next few projects too, so that cost covers QUITE a bit!

I made these super easy herb planters for my daughter. When I say easy I really mean super simple. I built 4 planters within 1 hour, that includes cutting the wood. I used all cedar pickets from Home Depot. The black rack was sitting under my patio collecting everyone's junk. I decided to use it to stack all the planters. I spruced it up with a little touch of black spray paint. The planters look awesome outside next to the elevated planter I also made. Thanks Ana!! You rock!! 

Built this desk for my parents to fit in their office space. It is made to look like the Hendrix desk except smaller. I sandwiched together 2 pieces of plywood to make the desktop thick and sturdy.

Our 6 month old is crawling now and we had to hurry up and baby proof the house. As an added bonus this dog proofs the down stairs at our house as well. The "barn door" side is made from 1x6 and the back is 1x3. The stain is called Gunstock which my wife is obsessed with. She is talking about staining every piece of wood in the house with the stain which I will NOT be doing. It took me around 4 days to finish it completely and put it together. I built the frame in about an hour. I let the wood glue set for a day, then stained one side. I gave that stain 24 hours to dry and stained the other side. Then I followed the same process to clear coat it. I clear coated it three times and sanded between each coat. I had bought a latch kit and installed it. I am very happy with how it came out.

My adult son needed a bigger computer desk for the new computer with double monitors and lots of accessories that he received for Christmas from his Dad. I ripped a sheet of plywood in half length-wise using Ana's tip of clamping a 2x4 to the board to be cut in order to get a long, straight line with a circular saw. The front edge of the plywood desktop is covered with flat trim to make it smooth and give it a finished look. I built two basic bookshelves to hold up the ends of the desk for storage of software and other accessories. Since the desktop is 8 ft long and will be supporting a lot of equipment, I decided it needed a 2x4 framework in the middle to keep it from sagging. My son wanted space between the desktop and the wall for lights and wires, etc., so that's why there is a 6inch gap between the back of the desktop and the wall.
The bookcases and desktop are stained with MinWax "Golden Oak" and sealed with Varathane Premium Polyurethane. I didn't use any wood prep because I was going for a more rustic look. The underside of the desk and the 2x4 framework is painted with Benjamin Moore "Copper Mine" in a Pearl Finish.
I didn't use any particular plan, but put together several ideas that I've learned from following Ana's blog for a few years now. My son is thrilled with his desk and we both are looking forward to furnishing his entire apartment with hand-built furniture from this site.
Thanks, Ana!!!!

Farmhouse Trestle Table 

6' Table

Check my work at https://www.facebook.com/Custom-Patio-Retreats-1764656797122875/

This was for our mudroom, obviously. I wanted to use up some ply that I had ill-advisedly had the store cut into quarters, so each of my storage compartments are 48" long, supported in the center by that divider piece you see in the second pic.

The beauty of DIY of course, is that you can modify everything. But if you do, you spend a week on a 4-hour project (but you do use up a lot of scraps). I cut nearly every piece out of plywood with the exception of the 1x3 front legs. It was time-consuming, but I think it was worth it as it allowed me to impulsively deepen the storage from 3.5" to 5". It also meant I only had to purchase the cedar, one pine 1x3, and a hinge.

The top is bare cedar boards which we'll allow to weather naturally. The hinge is the longest piano hinge they had at the blue store at about $7. The white is just a base Behr ultra with no tint because it's classic and we already had it.

Here's a dog bed that my boys and I built about a year ago (our very first build). Pretty basic but our pups love it! 

Spent my time home from work building this for the cabin this summer. will be using coushions from ikea that are water and uv resistant as well as double sealed with removable covers for washing. 

I've built many custom pieces for local folks but this one with all it's half circles really threw me - how was I going to do those, make them precise and not spend 3 days doing it. It's simple really.... I cheated!! LOL I used a 3 1/8" hole saw for the larger ones and a 1" hole saw for the smaller ones. I also took two boards and clamped them together with pipe clamps and then drilled two at once! It gives it a more consistent look and cuts the time literally in half!

I used a home brew for the stain. Had a friend of mine do the engraving for the front header piece. I think the whole project took between 10 - 15 hours to do because there was a lot of experimenting with the stain and there was also readjusting the sides and top to look how I wanted.

The client loves it and I'll post a pic on my Facebook page of the whole thing loaded up with wine, later today.

After searching all over the internet, we came up with this. I love how it turned out and how it change the look of the room.

This is the cooler stand presented by Jenny from Birdsandsaoap. Very easy to build and always ends up with someone asking to buy it or have you make them one.