Community Brag Posts

This is my first build ever! Since we recently moved into a place with little kitchen space, I thought this island would be perfect for extra storage we needed. I modified it from 5 2x6 on top, to 4 2x6 so it would fit in the corner we wanted it in. So the overall dimensions were 54" wide x 22" deep x 36" tall. I also changed the 1x2s that make the shelves to 3x5/8 boards, 15 per shelf, with approxinnately 1 inch between each. I predrilled countersink holes and screwed them on using 3/4" wood screws. The stain is a walnut colored water based stain, and I coated the top surfaces with a matte finish poly.

I am so thankful, Ana, for your website.  I would have never attempted this without such detailed plans and instructions.  This is the first thing I have ever built.  I even had to watch your video on how to use a Kreg Jig, but I was able to build a solid piece with absolutely no prior knowledge in woodworking using your site!  My grandson absolutely LOVES the step stool.  His new favorite past time is to play at the sink since he can now reach it.    I will be building more as we are in the process of building a house.  I keep telling the men in my life that they are going to build the kitchen cabinets.  They keep telling me no.  While my skillset is not yet to the point I am capable of building my kitchen cabinets, with such a wonderful site available I feel confident to get there.  Thanks again!!!!!    

Jo Lynn

After doing some string art with the Kindergarteners in my class, the were anxious to pound some nails in "all the way." I remembered seeing this plan before on Ana's website, and earlier in the week our science teacher had been talking to the Kindergarteners about how the seeds they had planted were starting to get too big for their containers. The students themselves suggested a bigger box to put them in, and just like that... our next project was born!

The students did every part of this build, except for the cutting of the boards. They loved it, and couldn't believe how quickly they put it together. Here are a couple of tweets to show these little #elemakers at work!

https://twitter.com/JimTiffinJr/status/830163344057327617

https://twitter.com/JimTiffinJr/status/830164086847655936

https://twitter.com/JimTiffinJr/status/830164527304077313

Thanks for sharing some very simple projects and plans that even the littlest of builders can do!

This was my First project i still need to sand and stain.

My son loves rocketships so this was a nobrainer.  I made it a bit taller than the plans called for, it's about 6 1/2 feet tall.  It should hold all of my son's books and then some!

I came across this plan and decided to make a chair for our patio from some wood that I happened to have in the garage. Well, people saw the chair and just had to have one.  I've made 10 so far. 

People passing on the street would see me working on them and stop to ask of they could order one!   

Took a while biting think it came together well. Removed the top drawer so I could use it for the iPad. Then added the bottom shelf to hold the lap top.

This was my first project using designs from Ana White, and I am really pleased with how it's turned out. My son loves it! There were a few small errors but it was always going to be a learning curve and the good thing with wood is you can hide most errors. Using the pocket hole system was new to me, as it's not that big over here in the U.K but its a great system if joining wood. Also over here we tend to use different measurements and we pay a lot more for wood. I am looking forward to building more projects if the wife lets me ;) 

Great project we did for a local customer. Super happy with the way it came out, and the contrast between the brown top and white base. Making the inset shelf a different color provided an additional later of difficulty, but the result is worth it.

This was a bathroom remodel. We installed new windows new tub new sicks. Made a tub suround and tiled the whole bathroom with marble tile. Lots to watch for on projects like this. Yu need to watch for tile spacing and gettin everything square. Also watch your cuts. Get fast setting mud for yur walls the slower it sets harder it is to go up the wall. Crown molding watch your angles we used cheater blocks in tge corner one thts what the guy wanted and liked. The pillar is fasted into a rough joice and the bottom is also fastend same with to each ends of rhe wall. Then wrap with trim. Its a long process thtll test your patients but yull get it start small and then go big

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.