Community Brag Posts

With Christmas approaching and the realization that my three young boys had way too much “stuff”, I enrolled the help of my dad to build this amazing basement play area. When I found Ana’s plans for the play gym with monkey bars, I knew we were in business. I modified the design to fit our space and we were off. Such a fun build and my boys absolutely love spending time down there. Thanks so much for your continued inspiration and the confidence you give us mamas to build with the big boys, Ana!!

My wrist has not taken well to the work at home requirement of the pandemic. So, I decided to replace my desk with a similar one that I have at work. Only, this one is much prettier.

Essentially, I built two desks using the farmhouse desk plans. One of them I made less wide than the plans by simply making the horizontal pieces 36" instead of the plan's 47 1/2".

For the middle portion of the corner desk , I based it off of the Office Corner Desktop plans. I made just the middle portion for those plans, but made the edges 46" instead of 38" for a deeper desk as well as to allow more room for my legs not to hit the uprights of the farmhouse desks. I made the corner desktop detachable, so it was easier to fit down the stairs to the office, using some small ~2" cubes placed on the bottom. They just serve to keep the desktop from moving around on the frame. The base of the middle portion I made up using the same ideas used to create the farmhouse desk frames.

I made plenty of mistakes along the way as I'm a software engineer, not a carpenter. I think next time I'll buy a miter saw, most of these cuts were by hand and aren't as straight as I'd like them to be. But, I like to work with my hands and this has made my day job less painful while I'm working from home.

Started with building the table for our ever expanding family. We priced out a new table and chairs at the price of $3700 and was able to build the table, bench and 5 chairs for $400. The table is perfect for our big family and very solid. The bench and chairs went together fairly easily. I adapted 1 of the chairs for my son who has to have arms to keep him safe. Great for any family.
2x4 chairs are from morelikehome.net day 4 build

Based on the rustic x console plans with a few small changes to cater to the space available.

Built entirely from 2x4 with the exception of the X's which are 2x2; I choose to use half-lap joints to make these, ordinarily I'd have these a lot neater but chose to leave them visable to add the the rustic feel.

For the finish I've oxidised the wood with a steel wool and white vinegar solution and then applied a light grey wash over the top.

A 2-month long project to create an entertaining space in our small backyard. I started with a dining set for 6, then went on to seating around our firepit. I actually doubled the size of the Modern Outdoor Loveseat and built a 4-seat couch (added a center section for support. I also built 2 loveseats, 2 small side tables, and took some creative liberties to design a coffee table/foot rest combo. The major modification I made to the couch and loveseats was adding a back for some additional height. This really improved the comfort when leaning back. Had a great time completing this project! When lumber prices come down I'll continue the build. (2 pictures keep uploading and converting to an upside down image - no idea why, but sorry for the weird view)

I built the 2 chairs and side table using Ana's plans. Wood in the UK is perhaps not as cheap and ubiquitous, so I managed to get hold of some rough siberian larch to build them. After what seemed like a lot of sanding I started cutting. I've used stainless steel screws and have used a plug cutter on a mahogany board I had to plug the screw holes. I really liked the contrast and neatness that this has given the project. I also used some rubber feet to raise it off the ground and try and reduce any water damage. The side table is reduced in size from the 2 foot version in the plans, this was easy enough once I'd worked out the impact on all of the other measurements. My wife has commented that I should have used less wood in my next project as they are very heavy, they certainly aren't going anywhere! My wife did produce the lovely grey cushions that you see in the pictures.

I kept coming across photos of this step stool plan in the brag pages and felt very envious that I hadn't seen it before I built the other set of steps!  So I decided I likely had enough scrap wood lying around I could make one for our upstairs bathroom too!
I used two pieces of pine rough barn board for the sides and for the treads I used 1x4 scraps I had, two pieces that already had an edge routered in them from some trim I did for my sons World Map Mural. 
I used my Kreg Jig for everything except the treads which are nailed.

I'm thrilled with it!  It's nice and light and easy to move around and holds up my little guy with no trouble!

I LOVE these plans. This was my first project, and although it was a big one to start with, the plans were easy to follow. If I can do it, anyone can. I added the rock wall. My kids and I love it. Total cost for me (including all lumber, nails, paint, slide, etc.) is about $850.

After watching Ana's video I decided to try to build the Christmas tree shelf this year in time for the season. It worked out alright. The build is straight forward. Doesn't take long and it's a fun seasonal project. Now I just have to figure out what to put on it.

Used your youtube instructions for the square planters and revised them to create these! Thank you so much for your video it helped me so much. I was trying to make a small backyard for my dog at my condo without breaking any rules not to have a fence. Gary loves it!