Community Brag Posts

This bed was made from Ana White's plan for the farmhouse bed with storage drawers (twin size). I made this bed for my daughter as her first "big girl" bed. I did modify the plan somewhat to make the footboard taller and act as a bed rail on the end of the bed. This bed came together really well! Plans were great! 

Best looking greenhouse and great size!

X Bookshelf. Followed Ana's great plan, only change was to spare 1x4s that I planked for shelves. Finished with antique white milk paint. Very happy with result.

I loved this plan when I first saw it.  I did make mine with metal that was 36 inches for the legs, it was the length available at my local hardware store and it also allows me to have plants on two levels and still be high enough for sunlight (unplanned bonus).

My new fav stain. Minwax Expresso Polyshades in satin.
Followed the 2x4 desk design but had so many scrap pieces of 2x4 (from other projects) , ended up changing the direction of the table top.
Finished with Minwax gray and even though it looks blue , I like it...
Going to make some benches to match , weather pèrmitting :)
Didn't take long to build , just a couple of hours - staining was the killer. Needed 3 coats to get that rich dark even look.

I took the plans for ana white's benchwright coffee table and created this end table.  This is an exact replica of the Pottery Barn benchwright end table.  The wood was distressed by hand and finished with dye, dark walnut gel stain and three coats of satin poly. 

- Brad 

I designed this bench based off Ana's workbench to get the job done template.  I added a few features like a pegboard, under-cabinet lights, and a recessed saw table and spent some extra time to stain each piece before adding to the bench.  I took my time to build this - using free hours on the weekends and evenings over the course of about 4 months.

I loved the idea of re-purposing fence pickets as siding for a cedar shed, but the plans on the website were much too big for the space I have. I ended up modifying the design to make a smaller shed, with approximately a 4 foot by 2 foot footprint. It turned out beautifully! Cedar is expensive, but I was able to save money on the project by buying much of the material at local salvage and second-hand stores.

I've wanted a pergola for a long time. I liked some parts of the Weatherly Pergola, but needed some different aspects because of my deck, property and locale. I did some research, laid out a modified design and plan - and voila! Easy as pie - you just need 2 people (or more) because of the weight of the cross beams support. I did it myself using clamps, but I don't recommend it.
My current project is designing cabinets and a bar for an outdoor kitchen to go under the pergola! :D

This project took a week to build.  Working during my boys' nap time and late nights, I was able to complete everything in about 7 days.  I used cedar, and sealed with Cabots Bleaching Oil.  The cost of wood for the beds and stairs and drawers came to about $700.  The extra cost came from the additional side rails on the top bunk and the stairs and drawers.  Still comes in about $500 less than if bought commercially.  The famiy loves the bed and as my kids are 2 and 3, I expect to get many years out of the bunk bed.  Side note:  I had to add quite a few brackets and angle joists to secure and minimize wobble due to the additional weight of the top bunk.  (2 2x4s from the 4x4 to the side of the cleat and side rail of the bottom bunk, on the back side only, made a world of difference)

Two tone 3 ft long slat bench

I found out what the rack in the drive up area of my local Lowes was!
I often see piles of wood and sheets or plywood and such sitting there, but I never paid it much mind-turns out its a clearance rack of sorts they call it the "cull" rack, because they are culling the items from inventory that may be cut, chipped marked etc.
So I was at the store buying something for my Bocce Court and saw this pile of 16ft 2x4's and saw they were only $20 and there was 8 of them- so I picked em up for a "future project".
Needless to say they weren't the truest boards but they worked well enough for something like this. I had to buy a 2x6 to attach the top to because 2x4's aren't wide enough to give proper clearance as the plans showed(and I really didn't want to reinvent the wheel on this) so i bit the bullet and bought a $3 2"x6"x8'
Now if you notice I used all 2x4's for this instead of 2x6 so I adjusted the top to 14 1/8 to accommodate 4 2x4 pieces separated by spacers I use when installing wood floors. I made no change to the seat dimensions, but there is 4- 2x4's vice 3- 2x6's.
Great plan- perfect for more seating on my weekly bocce nights and they hold in excess of 600 lbs easily for those concerned about load limits.
(Note for those curious, that is my Bocce court in the background, it is 10'x60' and built with pressure treated 4x6's and 2x4's and a whole bunch of DG and crushed oyster shells.)