Community Brag Posts

We built the Farmhouse queen bed and fancy X desk for our bedroom. It was relatively easy and looks so great! The bed is made of pine and cedar. (It is really really hard to find pine 4x4 posts that aren't pressure treated around here.) We used pine for the desk. Paint color on the bed and base of the desk is Behr "Polar bear" with a coffee stain distress. The desk top is Benjamin Moore "Dash of pepper." The bed cost about $175 to build and the desk cost $30. (We used a lot of scraps for the desk.)

I used Ana's plans and Hillary's suggestions to build this extra large buffet.  It took probably 25-30 hours if you consider the extra trips to Home Depot and Lowe's because I didn't yet have the proper tools.  I used Annie Sloan's French Linen as my base coat, Old White as my dry brush coat, Annie Sloan Clear Wax throughout and Dark Wax in the crevices.  This was my first big league build, so I had to recruit a skilled neighbor for assistance with the drawers and doors.  My two recommendations would be to ensure the piece is square at every step, and to cut the wood as you go.  Don't make all the cuts at once because there will be adjustments.

I made this longer using two 8’ 1x4 pine boards and added a center brace inside. I added a pack of simple hinges to the top so that the face could flip up and we could access the inside. I also routed the face and back.

I made matching step stools for my kids.

This was the first table i built a couple of years ago at the age of 19, it is just a simple trestle leg table made from white oak. The dimensions are 10 feet long by 3 feet wide.

My husband built this bed for our 4 year old son and let me say its just perfect! His room is on the smaller side and this made a huge difference for him to have more play room. When my son seen it his eyes filled up with tears he was so excited! My husband built this bed on a Sunday afternoon. He torched the wood along the grain, and then over a period of a week added clear (he used 3 coats as the wood just soaked it up pretty good ). Highly reccomend this project!

Substituted the galvanized pipes for heavy grade (Type M) copper pipes for a prettier, warmer look (I'm obessed with copper accents!) 

So happy to have found these plans, and proud of how it turned out! It was even better than what I was hoping/looking to build. (I can't stop staring at it! :) It looks like I paid over $1000 at some high end furniture store like West Elm, but managed to make it for under $200!!!

Thanks Ana White for these plans and all of the others on your site. You have shown both me and my 65 year old mother the confidence and joy of woodworking! (And saved us a lot of money, too!)

We built this tilt-out cabinet for our trash and plan to build a matching one for our recycling. We modified it a little and used bead board on the face of the cabinet to match some other elements in our kitchen. We painted it bright red using some leftover paint and absolutely love it!

We ended up not using any mechanism to prevent the drawer from falling to the ground - the trash can we purchased is JUST big enough that it stops the drawer from opening all the way, which is great!

There are more pictures below and on our blog, http://strawbridgestuff.com

This is a country style dresser I built from one of ana's plans. I slightly modified the top and the dimensions to fit my needs. Painting this dresser was the biggest challenge. First I stained the entire dresser, then I applied 3 coats of ce ce caldwells chalk paint. I then used a wet rag to wipe away the yellow in areas I wanted distressed. Last I applied a paste wax to seal it.

First time I designed a piece of furniture.  Made out of pine.  Slat top and bottom with book shelves on both ends.  Joints held with glue and pocket screws.  Minwax pre-stain conditioner.  Two coats of Minwax Provincial stain.  Three coats of polyurethane.  

This was my first shot a farmhouse table. It was pretty easy to make overall. Frame and tabletop were put together mostly with dowels and wood glue but I put a few pocket screws and corner braces in for extra support. I also added a decorative trim board to the sides, which I put on the face of 2x3s. The tabletop is four 2x10s and two 2x6s for the ends. The stain is a dark Expresso color and I coated with polyurethane. The legs were bought from Lowes at a reasonable price since I lack the tooling and know-how for a lathe. 

The benches were exactly the same except I used two 2x6s for the tops. 

One of my first projects and first attempt at sewing since 7th grade!

I used Ana's plans for the Simple, Cheap and Easy Console Table and modified it. I used 1x4 boards for the top of my table and added a bottom shelf using 1x3s. The top is stained with Minwax Early American and the bottom of the table has 2 coats of red paint and a chocolate glaze. I lightly sanded some areas of the table (it was my first time distressing a piece of furniture so I didn't want to overdo it) and then I used a chocolate glaze to get a distressed look. I finished it with 3 coats of Polyurethane.

Built the console (without the hutch) and my wife wanted another one a little diffrent for the other wall so I modified the plans a bit and made the second one. this was our first "distressed" paint job. I think it turned out great!

Great project and fun to do. I've actually made 6 tables off this same plan, all different sizes,from 4ft. To 8ft.. 

First project. Followed the plans exactly. Since it was my first project I used furring strips to save money. It still ended up costing me a bit for some extra tools (counter sink drill bits, wood filler, sanding paper). Used a cream color water based paint for the base coat followed by a very light coat of bright blue on top. I sanded it to the desired distressed look I wanted then sealed it with a clear coat.

edited the plans a little bit because the original plans were too tall. my cabinet is only 36 inches high. I did the inlet doors but if I had to do it over again i would ABSOLUTELY do overlay doors to cover up any imperfections in the opening. this project is a little bulky to move around and therefore get the shelves level, at least it was for me.

Also, I cut the back two inch strips to fit more snuggly. I ripped one piece at a 45 so it fit more flush against the other 1X2 on the back. This cut around the back of the shelves better in my opinion but isn't necessary.

I chose to do a similar paint treatment. i sprayed on a nice dark grey with my wagner 590 sprayer and then did a white wash with a big 4inch brush and just brushing on liberally (and mostly dry)

GREAT Project and fits the space very well. THANK YOU!