Community Brag Posts

This is an adaption of the shoe shrine shelves. Since I didn't have a closet or other room than the bedroom to put these, I put them on their side. I modeled these off the shoe shrine shelves.

Each cubby is 11 3/4 deep x 8 x8 for the long version. The 2nd version I made was only 48 inches wide and did not divide well so I simply left the center cubby wider. I also made the 48" version to have different height shelves for purses in the middle and flats on the bottom.

I basically flipped the shoe shrine's on their sides and added LED lights. This also inspired a tall version for a cubby we had upstairs.

I used a panel saw to cut the plywood and then assembled with a Kreg pocket hole jig for horizontal pieces and biscuits for the top and the dividers. I did not want to fill the holes or I would have used Kreg instead of the biscuits.

I used 3/4" paint grade plywood and a 1/4inch back panel.

LED lights came from LED wholesalers on amazon. This step requires electrical knowledge! Not much more than a wiring a light but do not attempt if you are not qualifed to do so. LED strings required a fine tip soldering iron, wire and heat shrink.

These shelves were easy and easy to customize the size according to your needs.  They are fun to decorate and add a rustic flair to my living room.  

I built this A-Frame Chicken Coop using the Ana White plans. It turned out adorable, strong, and I am very pleased. Final cost was $250, and it took me 4 days (in real time, as a mom of 3). One Saturday at Lowes shopping, one Sunday afternoon cutting, and two days of assembly. Then a 5th for painting. Give or take a dozen extra runs to the hardware store! My brother-in-law helped cut the angles on his miter saw, and my uncle helped with assembly. I kinda doubt this could be done for $100 - maybe if you have a bunch of scrap materials and spare paint. We even have 7 or 8 hens in there! I only intended 3 to live in it, but my uncle added the extras and they all get along happily. I found the roof cap at Home Depot (didn't find at Lowes).

I would also like to point out that I was very afraid to do carpentry - I was afraid to even buy the lumber. But I asked for a lot of help from a lot of Lowe's and Home Depot people, and resisted the naysayers, and just got brave and did it. And it came out beautifully! If you are new to using power tools, get someone to assist, and you would need help anyway with holding things up while another drills.

Built this with the help of my Dad! Learned about threads as I've never used them before. Because of all the controversy surrounding having pressure treated wood touch the veggies and because I could not afford or find cedar 4x4's I decided to use the left over cedar to build a little cover around the 4x4's so my soil and veggies will never come into contact with it. Love it and the veggies are growing great!

Using your shed plans, modified to use the 2x4s I already had on hand, I designed this 4'x8'x7' shed to match my house.  I replaced the ceder fence boards with a hardiboard, but the construction was pretty much the same.  My husband and I are so happy with this shed,which looks very similar to the $4000+ sheds we have seen, and it cost us less than $400 to make and matches our house perfectly.  Your instructions were great, and I know you saved me a lot of time and trouble.  Can't wait to load it up with our snow and gardening equipment!  Thank you!

Used repurposed lumber for most of the project. Only thing I bought was the cedar pickets. This project cost less than $9

I also chose to cut the tops off and add mitered boards on top.

I had worked on this project a while ago, but did not had time to add my brag post. I actually modified the dimensions to fit my needs. I enjoyed making this pedestal along with my son.

When I first saw the outdoor sectional plans from Ana I had to build this! The sectionals at potterybarn cost at least $1500 and that is without the cushions. I chose cedar for the lumber because I wanted a high end stained wood look that would stand up to the pacific northwest weather. I purchased most of the lumber from Orange and some of the smaller boards from a local lumber yard. Every board was cut first then sanded and stained before assembly. This made it look a lot more professional and no drips! There are just too many tight areas to do this after it is assembled. I made 2 Weatherly outdoor sofas and used the plans from the Weatherly loveseat to leave the end off of one of the sofas to make an L-shaped sectional. This fit perfectly for my narrow deck which is the beauty of DIY and Ana's easy to modify plans. I  followed the suggestion of another brag post to attach the 2 sofas together with carriage bolts and nuts. It is important to be very accurate with all of the cuts because they have to fit together perfectly for the final product to look straight and measure correctly. Because there a about a million repetitive cuts in these plans I took the idea of another brag post and youtube and created a stop out of leftover lumber which really helped me keep my cuts accurate and saved me a lot of time. I really enjoyed using my new Kreg K5 pocket hole jig on this project which saved me time and my new Ryobi brad nailer that I convinced my husband I needed. I plan on using it on several projects which "require" a brad nailer! I bought six 25" cushions in turquoise from Pier 1 in mid-July which were on major sale and several pillows to match the color. I am somewhat of a beginner so I didn't adjust te plans to fit six 25" cushions so I had to have one cut down to 22" by a local upholstery shop (I could have purchased a 22" cushion but of course they were all sold out). I suggest at least a 3-4" depth cushion that is fairly firm, which Pier 1 cushion were.

I love the outdoor coffee table with built in beer cooler idea that another brag post had suggested.It uses a planter box as the cooler.  I used the same stain which worked well and adequately waterproofed the table. It also has a cover for the cooler when it is not in use. I thought it was a nice addition.

I loved this project and how it turned out! Thanks for the plans and inspiration!!!

I built the farmhouse table and needed a farmhouse bench to match. The building plan helped make it so simple and I couldn't have done it without the inspiration of Ana White. I used leftover 4x4"s for the legs and then pretty much followed everything else that the building plan said.

I've tried to document better at: http://www.tommyandellie.com/Site/Home/Entries/2011/6/14_Farmhouse_Benc…

Nice, fun project!