Community Brag Posts

This was our first attempt at making furniture and even though the difficulty rating was ‘intermediate’, the detailed instructions made the process less complicated. Our version of Anna White Essential Entryway Bench turned out better than we expected! Once it was built, I stained it grey, painted it white, then distressed it to make it look antique. I added a custom made foam cushion to the top and, voila!

TammyA

Our large lap dog finally discovered he could easily get whatever he wanted out of the trash, so I built the tilt out bin to help keep him out of trouble. lol. I made it cabinet height so we could move the microwave off the counter, and added a drawer to the extra space to keep garbage bags and such in.

Ive been looking for a sewing table to fit my space. but found none for less than $500 and they were quite small. I found a post at quiltedcupcake.com that linked me to another blog, linking me here. I modified the plan to be about 2 feet wide and cut a hole to fit my sewing machine. There is a support in the bottom to hold my machine level with the tabletop. When I make this in the future, I will splurge on a fine hardwood. This plan was easy to build and looks great! Just what I was looking for :D

Great bench

I'm so excited Ana created plans for this table!  When I first came across it on Pottery Barn Kids it was love at first sight. :D  I built it over the weekend for my little toddler.  Unfortunately, he's too short for it, but he'll grow into soon enough. :)  (I secretly wished it was an art table appropriate for my height!)

It cost me about $75 to build.  I splurged and bought select pine boards for the project.  The art table was also my submission for September's Fab Furniture Flippin' Contest.  September's sponsor is General Finishes and the theme was geometry!

Now, I just need to build matching seats! I love the little stools Ana built; maybe I'll do something sorta like that. :)  

Thank you Ana for inspiring me to build!

My daughter wanted her room redone for her tenth birthday. We decided to go big with Ana's storage bed plans. I had so much fun building this and really learned a lot. It took me three months to find enough spare time to finish it, but it was worth the wait.

Expecting our second child, my wife and I decided to do away with our guest bedroom and combine it with our office. The only problem was our queen bed took up way too much space and it didn't get enough use to justify the sacrifice. We looked at the wall bed options available for purchase and decided they were way too blah and very expensive. I then found the "A MURPHY BED YOU CAN BUILD, AND AFFORD TO BUILD" post on Ana's website (thanks for the inspiration)! 

 Using cheap pine boards, plywood, door hinges, vinyl upholstery and stain I constructed the wall bed you see here. It really wasn't that difficult but facing it took the most time. To give the boards a more rustic look I used a utility knife to shave off the edges/corners and stained them with the Minwax American Walnut water based stain and the Minwax White Wash Pickling. When this started we thought we were going to have to settle for something unattractive and less than desirable. Seeing it in our office now, we love our new bed and actually think it makes the room look much better!  I didn't keep track of costs, but it couldn't have been more than $150.

Instead of building a free-standing, 4-poster Pergola, I attached one side directly to the house. There are various Pergola design types and shapes. Simply Google for "pergola" images and decide which design you like best, or combine design ideas together (as I did).

Couple things to consider:
A: Is your Pergola more for decorative purposes or actual shade?
My design was more for actual shade (but with a decorative design), which is why I added the 1in x 12in x 12ft Pine boards between the cross beams at the very end (last picture). If your design is more for decorative purposes, you can space out your support beams and cross beams wider (using less wood and money).

You can also choose to use 2x4s as your support beams with 2x2 cross beams on top (essentially furring strips) either close together or spaced farther apart. This would also reduce the overall cost of your Pergola and make it much lighter as well. I chose to use all 2x6s for both support beams and cross beams.

B: What path does the sun follow across the sky over your Pergola?
If the sun passes directly over your Pergola and you want a lot of shade, you'll obviously need to consider this in your design (i.e., more cross beams that are close together).

C: Do you want your support beams and cross beams to inter-lock (by cutting square notches and assembling them like linking logs), or simply stacked on top of each other? (Again, Googling for Pergola images will help you see the differences in designs.)

I chose to interlock all of my beams by cutting notches and fitting them together. Obviously more time consuming to measure each notch, cut, and chisel them but the stability of inter-locking beams should hold up a little better in the strong winds of Las Vegas.

HOW TO (abbreviated)

Overall Pergola Dimensions: 10ft Height, 12x12ft

Tip: Paint or stain all your wood prior to assembly. Much easier. You can always touch-up scuffs and scrapes after it's built.

1. 2x6x12 installed directly onto the house (thru the stucco into the studs) using 3/8in. x 5in. lag screws. (Tip: Seal the top edge of the 2x6x12 that's against the stucco so water doesn't run behind it and down into the lag screw holes.)
2. Install the 2x6 Double Shear Hangers (as many as you need for your design)
3. 4x4 post anchors secured directly into the cement patio using Tapcon 3/16 in. x 2-3/4 in.cement anchor screws.
4. 4x4x10ft posts screwed on top of the anchors. Ensure level on all sides (use a partner to help hold the posts).
5. Attach the front and side 2x6 beams to the 2 posts (again, use a partner to help hold posts while you're up on the ladder screwing your beams to the posts)
6. Attach the remaining 2x6 support beams.
7. Attach the 2x6 cross beams on top (whether you inter-lock them by cutting notches or simply resting them on top, be sure to toe-nail screw them in with 2in exterior screws).
8. Lay 1x12x12ft pine boards on top in between the cross beams and secure with 2in exterior wood screws.
9. Construct the post bases ("sleeves" or "leggings") which greatly adds to the look, as outlined in the "Weatherly Pergola" plans.
10. Touch-up paint / stain any areas you need.

I made this using the $10 Cedar Tiered Flower Planter plans. Painted Red White and Blue with stars.

This was the second building project I've ever completed. I had to make a few adjustments to make it fit the size of ray's closet, but it was totally worth it. most of the work was in the measuring, sanding, and sealing of the wood. Ftting the frames can be a little tricky if your planks aren't perfectly straight. Otherwise, this project was pretty straight forward and can be done in just a few days depending on how much time you have to dedicate to it. Thanks Ana!

We built these Parson chairs to go with our farmhouse table. We wanted to save some money as well as have chairs that matched our table perfectly. We absolutely love them! I modified the plans a bit, so please check my blog post to see how I made these to fit our table.