Community Brag Posts

I made this hallway table for my gf's bday. It is really simply apart from taking apart pallets and squaring them off. The project only costs about $40-50, which most of the cost came from the purchasing of the table legs. I angled the pallet boards to be approximately 45 degrees. For this project, I used a table saw to cut, pneumatic brad nailer, tite bond wood glue, kreg jig pocket hole and paint/stain.

I built your 2x4 shelving to fit a small space in my garage. The unit is really easy to customize and ended up being a perfect fit for my saws. Thanks Ana!

This project is the mirror from page 37 of The Handbuilt Home. I received my copy on Thursday night, built this and painted on Friday, then (impatiently) waited 24 hours for the paint to dry before distressing and hanging it up yesterday afternoon. The mirror was a plain one I found at Lowes for about $20 and attached with mirror clips. I attached to the wall with 2 1/2" screws through the frame into the wall studs. I was going to leave the screw heads exposed for decoration, but now I think I'll add a dab of gray on them to blend them in. This was a super fun project, easy to do. Love the book, and can't wait to build more projects from it! Ana, fab job on the book!!

I saw a post some time ago from brookifer86 for a wedding guest bench...I knew I would build one someday. First I'd like to thank Ana for her plans Fancy X Farmhouse Bench, and Whitney at Shanty 2 Chic for the wonderful instructions/pictures for this build. I would also like to thank Brooke at Killer B Design (brookifer86) for the mods to this plan.

This bench had to be able to break into the top and legs as it had to go from Texas to California. That is why I used Whitney's idea for pocket holes to attach the top to the legs. I used 2" screws. Brooke shortened the table with just two legs, and used a project panel for a smoother top for writing. I did, too. She also added a 1" x 2 " board around the edge of the 3/4" panel to beef it up. I used this idea and mitered the corners of the board and filled in the space between the board and the panel to make it very smooth. I sand a lot, and I painted three coats, so this took several days for me to complete.

For signing the top, I purchased fine-tipped oil paint pens. I learned from other brag posts that permanent-type "Sharpie" pens would smear when a finish was applied later. Also, you should use spray poly-acrylic finish to avoid yellowing the white paint.

My dear friend's daughter was thrilled with her surprise, and the guest bench was a hit at the reception. Thanks to all the brag posters - I studied every single one.

My inspiration for this piece was the Grandy Sliding Door Console - I made this piece to fit behind a sofa so adjusted the plans to customize my piece. 

I used plumbers pipe instead of barn door hardware - much more cost effective and still gave me the vintage look I was after.  I stained and distressed the wood and added some hardware! Voila!

I am hooked to your site, stay tuned for more projects! 

I needed a way to store and organize my make-up without taking up drawer space. It is built very similar to a small dresser, but with no drawer slides.

I found that if you use (16) 1x4's in lieu of the (8) 1x8's as for the panels no cutting is necessary for a standard full size bed.  Worked out wonderfully!

My very first project, made it for my girlfriends birthday. Did not have time to stain and paint them yet, will add finished pictures.

I've been wanting to build an outdoor farmhouse table for quite some time. Getting it to look old with new materials was the idea.Using notches to hold part of the base and experimenting with finishes got the 'rustic' look. I took a few ideas from the Gaby Kitchen Island and implemented my own; it turned out to be a great weekend project!

Update 8/2017: This project started with the Storage daybed, which I built in 2014. My daughter is a book lover and I wanted to provide her with more space for her books. I recently added the following plans to the Daybed with Storage Trundle Drawers:

- Twin Storage Headboard Base

- Small Hutch for Storage Headboard

- Cubby Hutch Plans for the Storage Headboard

I also made one extra storage headboard base and added more shelves along the long side of the bed so she could be surrounded by books. There are two additional supports under long bookshelf and I placed them roughly behind each of the trundle drawers.

For the bed (I built two), I opted to use the alternate slat system. I also used 2" caster wheels and added dividers to the drawers--one drawer has three compartments, and the other two drawers were divided in half.

Note: In my main brag photo it looks like the drawers don't close flush... I didn't notice when I took the photo because I was focused on the new shelves. But they do close and line up perfectly!

This was my next attempt after hte end tables. I used several ideas from different tables to get the finish i wanted. I also had to increase hte length and width slightly to suit my room. Had numerous complements from it and very happy with the finish

My wife found this plan so I decided to tackle it. Spent about $80 in supply's and had some 2x8s from a shed we tore down. Planed them down and made this beautiful piece. Now my wife can't get me out of the kitchen. Sorry for the mess in the back ground.

Built this for my cottage out of 3/4" birch purebond and pine. I finished by pickling the purebond and painting the pine and then used a laminate countertop.

I took these plans and changed the dimensions to match my dining room and made the cross members out of 4x4's. I wanted the bottom to be bigger, as well as making the top look like used yarn wood planks. Turned out great. It was wonderful to be able to have all the family around the table for Thanksgiving. Thanks Anna for the inspiration. 

We were able to pick up pallets for free. There were 6 boys aged 10-13 years old. They each took apart 5 pallets. Their pallets with time and patience became two adirondack chairs each. We love the chairs and the boys learned quite a bit. The challenge was that the pallet peices differed in thickness and widths so the boys had to really focus on each piece and the overall look. They look fantastic. The finishes were all different. We are so thankful that Ana has put together such a wonderful website.

Thank you Ana! These boys learned that if they need something, they can make it themselves! They also learned that trash can be a treasure.

Thank you,
Amy

Very easy and fun project.

This tower is from two or three plans found on Pinterest as well as the plans on Ana White.  The materials are from 2 x 2 or 1 x 5.  Length of legs are 34 inches, all cross members are 17 inches  basically your cutting list is :

Quantity         Size                             Description

4                      2 x 2 x 34                     Legs.  You can change this to taller or shorter.

14                    2 x 2 x 17                     Cross members

3                      1 x 6 x 17                     Safety sides

1                      1 x 6 x 16 7/8              Door (optional)

3                      1 x 6 x 16 7/8              Floor

2                      1 x 2 x 17                     Floor Braces

1 set                                                   Hinges (Optional)

1                                                          Latch (Optional)

1                      ¾ x ¼ x 3                     Door stop (Optional)

Distanced between parts-I used Ana Whites dimensions.

Basic unit.

1. Cut, sand, rout, sand, to size.Do not rout the floor as yet.Save that for later.
2. Drill Holes for fasteners on the cross members.I used the Kreg unit for this.Be careful as the 2½ screws can come out on the finished side (the point) if you tighten too much.
3. For the Safety sides, drill using the Kreg unit.
4. Finish sanding.I finished with 220 grit.
5. I stained before I assembled.Worked great.If you are going to spray paint, assemble and paint.See floor assembly now if you are going to paint.
6. Assemble is easy.Use glue if you want.Fasten 2 cross members to the legs at the top.You now have 4 legs and 2 cross members fastened but do not have cross members fastening all four legs together.They are two separate units.
7. Now measure for the cross members for the floor and attach.Install the top cross members first and work your way down.
8. If using the safety sides, attach these.Install the door if you want at this time.I waited unit I finished spraying the finish to install the door.Install the doorstop when you want.
9. Now attach the remaining cross members to form the basic unit.
10. Admire what you have accomplished.

Floor Assembly

1. I did not use the Kreg drill to assemble the floor.I used glue and 1 ¼ inch nails to assemble the floor.
2. Lay the floorboards on the cross member as if the unit was finished. Scribe a light line on the bottom of the floorboards next to the cross members the floor is sitting on.
3. Remove the floorboards and turn upside down.Put some glue between the boards and clamp.Lay the braces near the line you drew about 1/8 to ¼ inside the lines.This is important-you must have wiggle room for the floor to wiggle.
4. Fasten the braces to the floorboards.After the glue dries, check to see that it fits.
5. Sand, rout and sand the floor.
6. Stain the floor.

Final Finish

1.         I love rattle can finishes.  Deft is my favorite.  Use what you like.  Take your time.