Community Brag Posts

You can see the final project here: http://crabandfish.blogspot.com/2012/10/lil-archers-bed-its-done-its-do…

It was time for our son to move to a big-boy bed! We looked at tons of plans, but none were quite what I wanted. In the end, fish modified plans for Ana White's Camp Loft Bed with Stair. We wanted to make it a bit shorter because we only have 8' ceilings and there is a ceiling fan in the room. We spent about $80 for the lumber and invested in a kreg jig as well. The bed is stained with Minwax Golden Oak. We bought a 10" deep twin-sized foam mattress for the bed - if you are adding a coil mattress and boxspring, the bedside rails would definitely need to be higher.

Our son LOVES it! He is almost three and is easily able to navigate the stairs, which I don't believe will become too "baby-ish" as he grows older. If they do, the steps can easily be removed from the frame without losing structural integrity.

The underbed area has a great "cool" factor - we hang blankets to create forts, and it has become a place our son gravitates to for reading, playing, anything!

This is actually the third doll crib and high chair set that I've built for a grandniece. It is inspired by the one Gina from Lady Goats built. She just used 1 x 2's for all of the rails. And since I am trying to make each bed a little different, this was a great option. Again, I used the vintage lamb theme on the crib and high chair from my first two sets.

Modified from original plans to fit the area and our 70" TV.

From our blog, 1885 Prospect Hill Renovation:

Annie and I have four kids.  One of the most amazing things about Annie is that three of them are not biologically hers, but she is an intensely loving and caring parent to them.  I brought them with me into our relationship and she never saw them as "baggage", but as more outlets for her seemingly unending displays of love and affection.  We bought this house, in part, because it was big enough for our family. One of the best features was this "bonus" room between the dining room and the kitchen.

Now most houses of this period have a front entryway, a front parlor, a second parlor, a side room and a kitchen.  For some reason, the builders of our home stuck an extra room that we lovingly call our "family room".  This is where the kids play.  Where they do their homework.  Where we have our family game nights.  Where we sing happy birthdays.  It is the heart of our home and we needed a table worthy of accommodating these things.

Now, Annie doesn’t like to spend money on things.  Ever.  So it was up to me to build this table.  So I leaned on my favorite website, the queen of all DIY projects, Ana White. She has plans for many great projects, and she makes them easily accessible and affordable.  My favorite was for her Farmhouse Table.  It was big and it was doable.

I used stock wood from my favorite lumber place in Western New York, Lenco Lumber.  Using my new compound miter saw, my grandfather's old dado blades on my table saw, and about 1,000 screws, I built this guy.  It is so sturdy the kids can all dance on it and it won't budge.  It is now a permanent fixture in our home and when we die, it stays behind.  

We painted the legs white and stained the top a dark red oak.  Because we wanted it to be durable and stand up to anything the kids could throw at it or spill on it, we gave it a thick epoxy bar coat.  This was a challenge.  We had to mix the two parts and spread evenly across the table, letting the epoxy drip over the edges to cover the sides.  Then came the blow torch.  Heating the wet epoxy forces the bubbles to the surface and allows them to burst, leaving a smooth and even finish.

We built a bench to match, also thanks to Ana White's design.

Finally, we found some chairs on Craigslist from a family that was moving.  They look pretty old and needed some reinforcement, but we think they look great!  Oh, and we also painted the walls to a brighter, more playful color.  Now it is truly a Family Room that we love!

I used the Ana White "Country Kitchen Island" plans to build.  The only changes I made was the table top, bead board instead of pine planks, three drawers, and mostly 3/4" plywood.  For the island top, i used the top of a maple desk and applied butcher block oil.  To make things easier I used plywood to keep everything square and used bead board (very easy to install) instead of having to join boards together.  After putting the shelves together I just used pine boards to cover the edges of the plywood.  I also installed three drawers for convenient storage.  

I wanted to build a desk for each of my 3 kids. We have an unused loft space in our home that I wanted to convert to a kid's homework area. Initially, I was going to build cabinets and create two walls of built in bookshelves and desk space. But decided I wanted free standing desks in a style that would last them into adulthood. (And possibly move with them into their own homes:) I really liked Pottery Barn's Printer's Keyhole Desk for the first desk but couldn't find a plan to build something like that. I ended up modifying the Turned Leg media console plan instead. It was a lot of work trying to figure out the correct changes to the plan. It totally made me appreciate how easy Ana's plans are to follow. I changed the depth to 24 inches and also changed the basic box from the plan into 3 boxes (left side drawers, middle drawer, right side drawer) then attached the boxes to each other then to the top. It was a heck of lot easier to say that in a couple of sentances then to actually do it. I also found it easier to put face frames on my drawers to hide my not perfect drawer boxes.

This project took me about a month to complete. I am a SAHM, and was not able to work on it every day.

The finish is Minwax Ebony oil based stain. I've had success using Annie Sloan waxes on other projects but was not happy with how the top looked after using it on the desk. Eventually I sanded the finish off and re-stained it 2x then topped it with 3 coats of Polycrylic. I left the rest of the desk with the original stain/Dark Wax finish.

I am too lazy to attempt sanding off the rest of the desk and restaining and sealing it. Kid #2 is already asking when I'm going to start on his desk (I'm thinking RH St. James style) and Kid #1 came home from school today and wanted to do his homework in the basement (where his desk is currently drying) so I think I should just say it's done and move on!

My experience comes just from reading this site and a few others. I've made AG doll furniture, picture frames, a console table, 2 benches, built-in bookshelves and a dollhouse bookcase. I used pocket hole joinery, glue and nails in this project. I don't have a table saw, so I made my long cuts with a circular saw fitted with a Kreg Rip Cut and occasionally a jig saw.

I would like to add some sort of hutch to it and am considering the Channing Hutch from this site. Thanks for reading!

milled a bunch of cedar with the intention of building adirondack chairs, but we got chickens instead :)

My 4 year old kept asking for a bunk bed, so my wife and I went to the furniture store and saw we would be paying close to $1000 for a junkie bunk bed. We told him it cost too much and left it at that. Then he started bringing us pennies, dimes and all the change he could find to pay for the bed. So I found this website and decided to attempt to build him one. I started building it after work on Monday, continued for a few hours every evening and finished Saturday morning. It turned out amazing, and both the boys love it. It is extremely sturdy, and will last beyond my lifetime. It's just a good quality design. Total Cost was about $300. Not bad for what we would have been paying for a lesser quality bed. Changes I made: I added the railing on the front of the upper bed to match the headboards and railing on the back side because my wife is a worrier. I also designed and built the stairway and bolted it to the lower bed. I am no professional carpenter, a novice at best. Most people with a little carpentry knowledge can build this. Thanks Ana, we all love it!

My first attempt at a country farmhouse style dining table, my children managed to also use it as a playhouse within minutes!!

When my wife and I bought our new house, our little apartment-size table looked dumb in our new dining room. With the help of Ana White's plans, my first ever building project was a great success. The project took some extra time because I was doing it by myself in the afternoons and whenever I found the chance. The plans were for a 9ft table and matching bench, but our dining room wasn't quite that big. I shaved about 14 inches off the length and planed the boards for a flat surface (making the table and bench slightly narrower.) As an absolute amateur, I cannot stress how important the use of the Kreg Jig was for this project! With a little bit of patience, love, and faith in yourself, you can do anything you put your mind to. I am so honored to have built the table at which my children will grow up sitting. Thank you, Ana White!

First large wood working project my husband and I completed. In love with Projects and plans by Ana white !

I saw the idea for this bed on Pinterest originally. It linked to a blog that had the step by step plan (http://www.thehandmadehome.net/2011/08/how-to-build-a-loft/). However, I would have never even approached the idea or project without a few of Ana's plans under my belt first. I have gained so much confidence in my building on this site, and will always be a HUGE fan here :) Thank you Ana for all the fantastic plans you continue to share!

I still want to finish out and make the under bed area more fun and creative with curtains and such, but we LOVE having the full floor in the room for our play area. My boys absolutely love their bed!!