Community Brag Posts

This media center was my hubby and I's very first project! It was definitely a learning experience and its definitely not perfect, but we love it! We love how much it looks like the pottery barn version and that WE MADE IT!!!

This project took us quite some time to complete..... and its still not 100% done as we still need hardware for the 2 outermost doors but are having a hard time finding ones similar to the pottery barn ones that aren’t going to cost us a fortune..... My hubby and I put this together piece by piece as we had time (which seemed to be few and far between). If you had uninterrupted time to work on this , one could probably start and finish it in a weekend. But because of lack of uninterrupted time and the learning curve of this being our first project it took us months to finish.

We got the TV base (the bottom middle piece) done first and we were so excited about it that before attempting the rest of the project, we painted it and set it up in the living room :) We were so excited to get the rest of the media center made but my hubby got busy with work and was unable to help me. I got antsy, so antsy in fact that finished the rest of the project COMPLETELY on my own!! And I am SO PROUD OF IT!!! I made and painted the rest of the media center except for the doors because i (not sure why) was completely intimidated by the doors so I procrastinated making them, so the media center sat in the living room for a month or 2 without doors or the adjustable shelves on the towers lol. Last week I finally got up the courage to make the doors and they (to my surprise!) really weren’t that bad!! I painted them and the adjustable shelves and finished assembling the media center. Its now finished and decorated except for some of the door hardware!!! SO EXCITED!!!

Since this was our first project we hadn’t bought a Kreg Jig jet (we have since bought one) and I HIGHLY recommend getting yourself one. It would have made this project so much easier.

We built this outdoor table and benches using Western Red Cedar for a patio area outside our house.   The cedar is pricier than doug fir or other woods, but is highly rot resistant and the best choice for an outdoor table.  We used Ana White's 4x4 Truss Beam Table and Benches plans and Kreg blue kote screws since they are weatherproof.   The breadboards were a little wobbly, so we reinforced them with black metal corner braces (http://www.truevalue.com/product/Hardware/Miscellaneous-Hardware/Corner…) and black coated exterior screws (http://www.homedepot.com/p/Everbilt-12-x-1-1-4-in-Phillips-Flat-Head-Wo…).   These braces provide a cool architectural look and provide much needed support for the table ends, and especially the bench ends.    We stained the Western Red Cedar with Minwax Weathered Oak and finished it with two coats of Man O War Spar Urethane in Satin finish.   Hopefully it will stand up to the elements and last for years to come.   Thanks for the plans Ana!

We made this a bit taller then the plan. But everything worked out well. It was our first project. I would NOT recommend this as a first project. Also, wipe the stain off quickly. We let it sit way too long and it came out very dark. It took us a long time to build because we both work. And, Home Depot didn't cut miters so we had to get a neighbor to do it.... fyi

I love it though.

These nightstands span the entire wall of our master bedroom. My husband's side features a mini-fridge, whereas mine has a space for an ottoman that I have yet to buy (or make?). It is a combination of the "Modern Nightstand" and the "Parsons Desk".

I saw the plans for this nightstand and loved it! It was exactly the piece of furniture I was looking for to use as an end table. I decided to stain the top and paint the bottom. The outside is a greenish-teal color and the inside is a light, fun yellow. I also submitted this project to Canvas Corp Brands' Blog and they published it! See the blog post here: http://blog.canvascorpbrands.com/diy-end-table-painted-with-tattered-angels-paints/

This was my first project! WIth some guidance from my husband, we were able to complete this during naptime (minus paint, of course). It was a fun project and I can't wait to try a different one! (Not sure why it looks so crooked in this picture! It looks nice and even in person.)

I wanted to get my nasty pot scrubbers out from behind the kitchen faucet, so I thought this was an ideal solution. I substituted the paper towel rack for a length of vinyl rain gutter. I cut a piece of a baking cooling rack for the bottom of the rain gutter, so the wet pot scrubbers would not sit in dampness. I also made the rain gutter removable, because I knew it would get nasty and need to be washed occasionally.

kuyaLars

A few years ago our family vacationed in Watercolor, on the northwest Florida coast. We loved the house we stayed in so much when we returned home we put our house up for sale so we could build a home similar to the one we stayed in. One of the features we loved so much was the large covered front porch and most of all the swing bed it showcased. My wife spent every morning and night that week relaxing in that swing. I promised my wife then that I would make sure got her own swing. Thanks to Ana White, she was back in her (new) swing last night.

I began with the "Large Modern Porch Swing" plan and made some changes. I wanted to use a twin size mattress so I increased the size of the swing's base. Also, because the mattress was 6" I lifted the arms and back. The arms are the biggest and best change I think. I had seen someone else do similar arms, but I they used an 1x12 I think. I wanted a heavier look, so I used a 2x10.

A few weekends ago, I went into our tool house to get my bike out so I could ride to work, and I had to remove so many obstacles, that I was too late to ride to work, and as a result, boiling mad. Several of the objects I had to move out of my way were my kids bikes that don't have kick stands, which my kids just haphazardly dump on their sides on the floor of the shed.

I had had the idea to build a bike rack out of spare 2x4s for the kids' bikes for a while, but this incident cemented my resolve to finish it quickly.

I had some scrap 2x4s and 2x6 wood left over from another project, which I used to compose my bike rack. It has 4 slots for 4 bikes.

I did some light sanding to prevent splinters, but I did not apply any finish because of the way it was going to be used and it would not be exposed to the elements.

It took very little time to put together. If I had more claps, I could have done it more quickly.

If you are interested in making something that looks just like mine, stop by my blog to get the details.

This was a fun and relatively easy weekend project. Shaping the legs and getting the rounded header and footer were the only challenging parts. A good stretch project for the novice DIYer. 

We built this fireplace where nothing existed before. The instructional video was very helpful. We are so proud of how it turned out.

I'm just starting out. I built this from scrap wood I had laying around. I followed the plan except for the table top. Here I used a 2x6 that I cut on the miter saw, and used bowties to help give the middle more strength.

My daughter needed a step stool to reach the sink in our bathroom. I simplified the jigsaw cuts for this design to accommodate my learning curve. :) I used leftover plywood for the sides and 1x6s for both steps because it was what I had on hand in my garage. It was fun to make and is something we use every day!