Community Brag Posts

I used Ana White's awesome design, but needed access for my printer scanner combo, so I modified the design and created sliding shelves. I also substituted a sheet of butchers block for the top in lieu of plywood.  

Thank you for an incredible design, that has been used by at least 3 of my friends because they loved mine so much!!

Upsized to a king. Couple of changes:
Mitered all the trim. Routed a rabbet in the back for the plywood panel. I mount to the wall with an offset to clear the baseboard (I attach wood blocks on the back and use adjustable furniture feet for leveling and floor protection.

5 board bench with a few extra boards.
I had some leftover hardwood flooring pieces that i cut for the seat of the bench. I love color so this was a lot of fun!!!
Thanks!

another clara table and chair.

I tried to replicate the original post on this site (which is awesome by the way!)  I did make a few changes so this might help others:

1. Made total table length 72" to fit our dining room.

2. Flipped the stretcher boards towards the inside part of the table for more leg room while sitting on either end of the table

3. 2 inch pocket hole screws to attach table top to the frame (instead of 2 1/2 inch so they wouldn't go through the table top)

4. Two 2x10s (instead of 2x8s) for the breadboards.  For extra support, I used four 3 inch metal brackets (purchased at Lowes) that I painted white and attached under each breadboard (8 total brackets used- 4 under each side)

5. Olympic brand latex white eggshell paint for the legs/apron for the table and bench.  I then applied 3 coats of Minwax Polycrylic Matte (water based) to help protect the water based paint.

6.  To help with the gaps between the boards that create the table top (I have two kids so you can imagine the crumbs!), I used Dap white caulk in between the boards and wiped away the excess.  I then proceeded with the Rust-Oleum chalked ultra matte white paint (using 1:1 ratio of water and paint) to create that lighter foundation for the next step.

7. After using the Minwax Dark walnut stain 2716 (one coat), I used 3 coats of Minwax Fast Drying Polyurethane clear satin to finish and loved the result.  

Here is my very first project.

Loved Ana's original of this and we saw cedar plans on sale over the holiday weekend we had to give it a shot. Loved how it turned out. Thank you for the inspiration.

I wanted this console but not as long. 

My daughter is finishing her last week of preschool. I wanted to make a small "thank-you" gift for her 3 teachers. I pieced together different ideas from ana's site and other places on the Internet. The printout is from shanty 2 chic's website. I created 3 boxes using 2 six-foot cedar fence panels. I cut mine down to size based on the dimensions of the flowers I used. Drilled a few holes on each edge and used 1/4" sisal rope to make handles. Used hemp to tie the label's to each box. Each box took approximately 15 minutes to make. Including the cost of the flowers, each box cost less than $5 too!!

All scrap lumber was used on this, cost was $0

3/4 plywood 2'x4'

1x6x24"

1x4x24"

1x2x13" front trim

Balustrade Coffee Table! Love it!

I saw this plan and knew that I had to build it for my home office. The top of the desk is the perfect size for my HP printer/scanner. I added the cork backing as suggested in the plan - works great for adding notes and papers to the back of the desk.

Because I am taller I modified the plan by not adding the middle drawer to the desk. This gave me the knee room I needed to be able to get my desk chair underneath and close enough that I could type. I also cut a hole in the desk top to place an cable grommet in so that I could run wires for my electronics through it. I added two pocket holes in the back plate to further secure it to the desk bottom.

The only disappointment I had was not with the design but with the stain. While I like the color, at a distance it ends up looking like paint rather than stain. I don't know if the wood was drier than normal and soaked the stain more, or if it just stained darker than I thought it would (i.e. should have stayed with one coat rather than two). But, when I'm sitting at the desk I can see the wood coming through the stain so the dual character of the stain isn't so bad.

The design is quick, simple, and easy to follow. It came together in no time.

I wanted to build a really neat table for the patio and came up with the idea to do a concrete top with LED lights and a built in cooler. I loved Ana's plans for the pedestal base and so I used her plans to create the base. I did modify the plans a bit to help it hold up the the heavy concrete top. I have the modifications listed on my blog. There is also a complete 17 minute tutorial showing how to do the concrete top.

Started this about a year ago, working for an hour or two at a time, all nights. Then the little one started talking about having sleep overs once the bunk bed was done. Luckily i had a week of vacation this summer and spent most of that time completed the bed. I still have to complete the storage boxes for under the bed, and just need to find some nice hinges to mount the upper window shutters. We let the girls pick out some stickers and decals, hence all the awkwardly placed Elsa & Anna Stickers. Girls love it.