Community Brag Posts

Our guest bedroom has been utterly neglected and stark. When I found a pair of lamps at Goodwill recently, I knew it was time to make bedside tables.

These were created on the fly, without even a sketch or a trip to the lumber yard, though I had to select a plan title for this post.

I took a plywood scrap, cut it in half, framed it with 1x2 furring strips, added 2x2 legs, and then used more furring strips to stabilize the legs.

They were assembled quickly, and then I faced choices about how to finish them. I ended up using Minwax Provincial for the tops, then taping them off with trash bags and spray painting the rest.

They're plain, but versatile enough for whatever I end up doing to decorate the guest room in the future. I plan to stick baskets underneath them, when I find a good deal.

Next up will be a headboard for the bed.

My dad and I built this toybox for my son on a weekend afternoon.  We were able to use some tongue and groove boards that my dad had pulled off a job site.  We glued them together to get the width we needed then cut them to size according to the directions.  Its not perfect, and I think I might paint it this spring, but my dad and I made it for my son and I think that is pretty awesome! 

Very easy to make, and not too expensive. I'm not that great with a lathe. I tried it a couple times but not too good. So I buy my table legs online through osborne wood company. These legs however, came from an old table that I got for free from an antique store. The rest of the table got cut up and used for 2 night stands, and this is what I used the legs for. I used pocket holes to attach everything. Support the middle with cross supports and there you have it. The benches are just 1x12x8's cut into shape and supported by 2 1x4's on either side.

I had fun with this one. I was in a race to complete 4 major things before entertaining a group of 30 people in our home. My wife was searching Craigslist for existing pieces. I love to build things so I had to intervene. This pine desk/table was preceded by craftsman wainscoting, the hutch and buffet on this site, and a large framed mirror.

I went by the plan pretty much exactly. I made it 6 feet long. I used middle grade pine from Menard's, glue, brad nails, and screws. My finish process was min-wax wood conditioner, min-wax special walnut stain, and a per-catalyzed lacquer satin clear coat.

Total buy, build, sand, finish was around 8 hours.

I would love to build for you. To your exact specifications. Message me.

Built this from Ana's plans over a weekend and spent a few nights painting/staining/finishing. We decided to use a true quarter sawn red oak for the top. This is not a cheap wood (~$180) for the top alone, but I wanted it to be solid and thick. It is extremely hard so you will not want to use this if you don't have the necessary tools, like a table saw. It is usually purchased rough cut, which means the width can range in size by inches. You will need the table saw with a sharp blade in order to cut it down to matching widths. For the stain we used a General Finishers gel stain in Java from Woodcraft. That was followed with a General Finishers Gel topcoat. This is an excellent topcoat as we have 0 scratches in almost 6 months of regular use. My wife painted the base in a Cream Puff color from Behr I believe with a dark stain glaze, followed by a wax coat. This is a solid table that cost a fraction of what this would be in the stores. Most of our friends think we bought it! Thanks Ana! 

Thank you so much for the plans! My wife is extremely happy with the results and so am I. I am in the process of adapting these plans to make a matching end table. Once again, thank you!

This was my very first "Ana project"! It was a special Christmas treat for my boys and their expanding train collection. This table has had many, many hours of entertainment and enjoyment. It is a great beginner project and has very easy plans to follow! I didn't do the storage carts at the time. I may go back and do them later though...for now they like playing under the table as well. My obsession began :)

Two little girls we know recently celebrated their 1st birthdays, 4 months apart. I thought chairs would make perfect gifts. I finally got around to finishing both chairs around the time of the second girl's birthday. The other one was rather belated. The parents didn't know I was making it so it was still a nice surprise. My own 1 year old rather enjoyed testing them out.
I've previously made one of these full size chairs for my 8yo. but for these I changed the measurements to be smaller and easier for a one year old to sit on. I made the seat 28cm high and adjusted all the other measurements to suit. I enjoy using Sketchup so resizing the plan was a good excuse to use it again (I used an old ikea chair we had on hand as a guide for the sizing.)
I primed and painted the wood used for the slats before I cut it to size. This was so much easier than trying to paint in between them. Filling the screw holes was a bit of a chore and I'm not totally happy how some of them were still rather visible under the paint. A bit more practice needed I guess. Finishing took quite a while because of all the drying time. Chose to distress them to help disguise any bumps and marks they're likely to sustain. I discovered there is a fine line between distressing and distressing too much.
Really happy with how they turned out. Thanks for the fantastic plans!

This was my first woodworking project. 

Super easy, super fun

When I saw this table I knew it would be perfect for this space! I was so excited I copied "Sweet T" Table and added a faux handle (which is now my husband's new favorite word) I primed and painted it and then put a coat of poly on it. Was a fun project

These shelves were absolutely perfect for hiding behind my daughter's bedroom door. Space is tight in her little room, and that 27-inch stretch of wall was not being utilized.

These shelves were so simple and took no time at all. I think total cutting and assembly time was about an hour for all four.

I put them together using pocket holes, so the order of assembly was a bit different than the original plan. I screwed the sides to the bottom, then added the front beam, and attached the back last, using pocket holes and filling them with spackle.

I can't wait to find more nooks and crannies to build creative storage from plans on this site.

THANKS!
Anna

More pics and details on the blog post:
http://lassothemoon.typepad.com/lasso_the_moon/2013/07/emmas-secret-lib…

We wanted to transition our two year old out of the crib and skip the toddler bed and this worked perfectly. 

I made the cuts over a lunch hour and assembled in one night. 

If you have never used a pocket jig, just practice on a piece of scrap. Also make sure you consider how you will attach the rails before beginning. Depending on what you use you may want to make the headboard more narrow to accommodate for the rails not being flush with the insides of the posts. 

I made steps out of the scraps from the outer rails and the slats. Our little guy loves it!

Don't mind all the mismatched furniture in the room, isn't the master always the last to get paid attention to?

My husband had a birthday on Monday and I had drawn up the plans for this a couple months ago hoping to surprise him. Building it then didn't happen....Day of his birthday rolls around and I looked at the clock at about 11, thinking what could I really surprise him with but didn't want to break the budget. I thought to myself, "I could probably get that built by the time he gets home" And I DID!!!

I sandwiched together two 2x4's puttied and painted to make the chunky leg here.

FYI- My husband is really into selling things on craigslist right now so he told me to see what I could sell it for. I sold this within a few hours for $135. That is a pretty amazing profit while still being way more affordable than any store!!! I LOVE that.

For this project we needed a piece quite a bit smaller than the original plan called for. We ended up keeping it simple by only altering the width. We kept the height and depth the same in order for the x's to keep their angles. So we shortened the width and only did one shelf section instead of two! Vwala...our first project-complete!

After moving to our new home, we needed an entertainment center to house our TV. I had build a DVD/Bookcase several years ago and I wanted the entertainment center to match design-wise. I was amazed how similar the Smith Media Wall is to the bookcase I built years ago--simple, clean lines with the moulding along the top.

I adjusted the plan to fit our TV and went with one cabinet door on each side instead of two. I also used some leftover beadboard for the cabinet panel inserts. I broke the first rule of carpentry and in a rush to finish, mismeasured the side hutch in comparison to the side base cabinet. (I actually had the correct measurements, I just made a calculation error when reading the plans I quickly drew up. Usually, I'm meticulous with plans, but with so many projects to do, I rushed these plans and hopefully learned from my mistake)

Very sturdy table and benches!

I originally started making this for a friend, but I think I may decide to keep it! I didn't purchase any wood or paint for this project - I had a lot left over from a previous project and was able to rip down other boards to 1x2s. The fabric was another left-over... I bought WAY too much to make cushions for the outdoor sofa as I decided I didn't need so many sofa pieces in the end. The only elements I purchased for this chair were the hardware and 1 can of primer... so it turned out to be under $10!