Community Brag Posts

Used the plans for the twin bed, just added the difference in mattress size to the measurements. Pretty simple really. Used a cam lock centered above the door and a sawtooth picture hanger on the inside as a locking mechanism.

I have to say, there is something about listening to music on vinyl that just gives me the warm fuzzies! A little bit of crackle, fuzz and hum.. physically having to flip over the record to get to the next side, & listening to an album start to finish just has a nostalgic feel to me and I love it.

We’ve started quite the collection of LP’s and quickly found we needed some good storage for them. Since vinyl isn’t exactly the most popular form for listening to music, I just had to make my own.

I knew it had to have 3 things.. size to fit, wheels and easy of searching through records.

I had some scrap poplar plywood lying around, and just had to purchase some casters and furring strips to frame out the box. I even had an extra cabinet handle laying around to use.

I made it 12 inches wide by 16 inches deep, framed it out shaker style with furring strips and then stained it.. added casters and a handle ;)

We started this project a few months ago. My husband made most of the construction, and I decorated the inside. We added many little details, including a clothesline, windows with plexiglass, a BBQ, a little kitchen, a doorbell, a solar light, a slide, shelves, a table, a bench, etc. The kids loooooove their new house. The whole project took many many hours, but I am really happy with the results. Thank you so much Ana for the plans!!

This is a Murphy Bed that I made for my daughter Alicia for their getaway home at Canadian Lakes, MI. Due to limited space i had to make it horizontal instead of the normal way of being vertical. It really comes in handy and takes up very little space.

We recently had our 6th child and needed to rearrange our kids' rooms.  We decided to put our 3 oldest girls together and wanted a triple bunk.  We used the classic bunk plans, but increased the height to allow for a middle bunk.  We wanted L-shaped to give each child some headroom.  We used pine wood, common board and select pine.  We finished it off with two coats of Behr interior latex paint/primer in one, satin finish.  Finished dimensions--height from floor to base of bottom bunk, 10 in.  from floor to top of top rail, 79.5 in.

Modified to have more of a modern style. Removed shelf and half the X. Also, lengthened it to 11ft. Love!

I had been asked a few times for these plans, but as someone else posted a similar one, I'll just stick to a blog post for now and describe my differences. I made this shelving unit January 2010, just after I found out of I was pregnant with my third child, and it's been a lifesaver since then. I desperately needed a toy storage solution (and purging), as shown in the 'eek' kids closet below. I didn't like the shape of triangular Ikea ones, as they spanned more floor space than I cared to give up. Plus, I wanted a place to put *almost* all of my kids toys, so I wanted it to be tall. I'm so glad we did, since we've moved twice (also, 'eek') since than, and it's made packing and unpacking the kids toys super (SUPER) easy. At first, I was afraid that the kids would go crazy and just tear down every bin at once, but it hasn't happened yet. Unlike the other plan that was posted, I used white sliders that ikea sold. I'm not sure if they still sell, as I don't see them online. It cost an additional $24 (they were $1/2), but seemed worth the extra money. I didn't have a router and wasn't particularly confident with our table saw skills. Plus the Ikea version had some really thin areas that made me nervous that it would break easily. I tried to keep it easy and just had to line up and screw the sliders in. Now that I'm a little more confident with a table saw, I'd give the router style a-go. I used two sheets of cabinet grade plywood, each costing about $30. I ripped down some pine boards to cover the front edges, which made the unit look loads nicer. However, I wish I would have used maple, instead of pine as they got dented almost immediately. Not a big deal though. The three shelves were sort of an afterthought, but turned out to be great for puzzles and other type toys. I didn't use backing or cross supports initially, but put some in after we moved. You can see them in the last picture below. The heater in our temporary house caused the slightly-bent sides to become very bent sides. That caused the drawers would spontaneously fall out, which was always quite the shock and disappointment. I put in some supports in the back, which I wish I did initially as it would have made manufacturing easier. Also, If I were to go back, I would put one cross support in the front-middle, as the boards are so tall, it needs something to help maintain the shape in the front. I've found that even in a perfect fitting slider, really heavy buckets would bend just enough to flex out of them to crash... so don't plan on filling one of the large buckets with matchbox cars and sticking it on the top. Regardless, we've learned our lessons, made it work better, and has been a huge success in our house for a while now.

American Girl Doll House

My parents needed a table for their newly expanded dining room at our cabin. I love the look of butcher-block, and wondered how I could design a table with the thick chunky look. I decided on using 4x4's for the majority of the build. This project took me a while to complete because in the middle of it, I twisted my ankle while lifting the table! Ha, building can cause some damage. Although, the ankle did slow me down, I was still able to deliver the table and benches to the cabin in time to give it to them for their anniversary present.

When it was time to re-do my son's bedroom (past time, really), I decided to build him a loft bed to help maximize space in his small room. A quick search to the internet brought me to Ana's site, saving me lots of hassle on trying to design my own loft bed for him from scratch. My son, who loves everything science and is especially fond of volcanoes, wanted a volcano themed room, and I had the bright idea to make the bed itself into a volcano.

I modified the loft plans slightly to create a bookcase headboard - because I always wonder when looking at loft/bunk beds where the kids put all their STUFF (books, reading lights, glasses, special treasures, etc) - but other than that its just the plans from this site minus the rails and with plywood tacked on to the exterior (the plywood takes the place of the rails). The plywood was cut with a jigsaw after it was put up so I could get all the ridges and holes in just the right spot and height.

Honestly, the painting took much MUCH longer than cutting and assembling the bed did, but I think it really turned out well. The inside of the volcano on the cave's back wall is my favorite part. There's still a few things left to do, but no project of mine is ever really completely finished anyway! On on end inside the "cave" under the loft I built a cushioned reading bench and bookshelf, but the other end of the cave is still empty. Eventually it will house a built-in desk that looks out of the lava holes in the walls.

The cave under the bed is so cozy, I've found myself sitting on the reading bench more than once while working on the project, enjoying some me-time when the kids are at school!

This is my homemade backyard inspired by plans from Ana. Used Ana's previous post to build all pieces. Stained in Mission Oak and bought pillows from Lowe's. Succulents from a local nursery.

Coffee Table
2 piece lounge
2 chairs
Ice chest
Planter Box

This was a fun project for my husband and I! My 4 year old absolutely loves her bed. We have plans to add a curtain to the bottom to let her open and close it for her reading nook (or as curtains for her "stage")! :) 

Greenhouse for extended growing.