Community Brag Posts

My wife and I wanted a changing table that could also function as a bookshelf, so after a quick Google search, I found the Ana White Ultimate Changing Table plans. I modified the original design by making the legs 36" and by adding side and back panels so that the piece could convert to a bookshelf when the baby gets older and we no longer need it to be a changing table. This was easy to do by using my table saw to cut 3/16" stopped grooves in the legs before attaching to the table and slotting in 1/4" plywood cut to fit before attaching the tabletop. Opted not to cut rabbets for the back panel as it would have changed the measurements for the drawers by recessing the rear 1x6 apron by 1/4". 

My wife and I are very happy with the results and the amount of storage we now have. She's so happy in fact, that I will apparently be building one of these for each future child as well! Thanks Ana White for the straightforward and easy to follow plans.

I made this as a special housewarming gift for a family we are helping out this Christmas. I didn't need to buy anything, but I love how it turned out.

This was my first time building something big :) and im sooo happy with the results. Had been looking for a sofa table/console for so long but couldn't decide on what I wanted , when I saw this on the first page I fell in love. It was fairly easy to build. Took me 2 days, one day sanding, cutting, staining it and the next putting it together. I love how it turned out.

I didnt make the side 'X' bc I want to do something different than the original plan, just trying to figure it out what exactly.

Oh! And I still need to add the decorative hardware, I have it, just need to remember to do it.

Thank you so much for the plans.

That was fun. Got a new dog, built her this for double duty. A crate and a table. The finishing was the lengthy part, by a LONG shot. Can't wait to start a new plan.

I wanted a place for a flag pole, but I didn't want to put one in the ground or screw into my siding, so I modified the cedar planter to hold a flag pole. It was a fun project!  Check out more here!

This my expanded Christmas Stocking tree. With a growing family we needed room for at least 9 stockings. I decided to hope for one more and made it large enough for 10. Decided to make the sides look more like a candy cane and added red stripes. Thanks to Ana for the ideas.

RBM

We turned a formal living into a bedroom so we needed a door to close off the kitchen/nook beyond. Since we were on a tight budget, we knew we could not afford the barn door hardware, so we found the next best thing:

Stanley Trolley Box Track (from Lowe's). http://tinyurl.com/2z6wpn Yes, it's ugly looking, but we painted it black and modified how it was used. We got the 6' track with the box track hangers without apron. We bought the mount bracket, but that was a mistake. The door could not pass the mount on the right side and we ended up just attaching the track to the wall without the mount on that side (pic of door open shows both mounts before we were able to close the door and before we removed the mount on the right side). Had we known, both sides would have been attached to the wall without the mount. But, we went ahead and left the mount on the left side as we didn't think it hurt the look too much.

The door: We made another mistake. We meant to buy 1x tongue and groove wood (3/4" thick) to make our door and we somehow got 8' lengths of tongue and groove paneling 1/4" thick (OOPS): http://tinyurl.com/7ea6b3r It looks good, but it's ultra light weight (stain first, then put it together). We used a flat piece of aluminum to hold it together (also painted black - along with painted screws). Due to our mistake in depth, our screws were too long so we located a 2x4 directly behind the aluminum strip on the top and the bottom of the door for stability. It helped a lot. The location of the aluminum strip at the top is strategic because the 2x4 behind it is also what holds the box track hangers that roll on the track above. We put them a few inches in on each side from the edge of the door, drilled a hole vertical through the 2x4 (a little off center so the door wouldn't rub the track) where longer bolts were used to go all the way through the 2x4 and hold the door onto the track while being hidden behind the door. I also had to get smaller screws for my door handle to go on since the door was only 1/4" thick. But, it all worked out.

The backside: Due to the fact the door is so light, we added felt to the 2x4 at the bottom so it wouldn't damage the trim.

This was my second wood project and I am really happy with how it turned out. I basically followed the plans but made mine alot bigger. It measures roughly 6' long, 33" tall, and 20" wide. I wanted to let people know how I made the center door because the video used alot of tools and skills that I do not have.
I made the doors out of 4" and 2" select pine with PH's on the back. I then cut a 5/16" groove in the center on the outside of the stiles. About 7/8-15/16 of the way up the door I installed a 1/4" wooden dowel. On the cabinet frame I installed another wooden dowel that the door dowel rests on when closed, this is also the dowel that rides in the groove that was cut on the door.
The other difficult part (for Me) was the cut out design on the bottom of the frame. I did this by using a big bowl for the center and a really thin strip of wood. Once I cut out one side I just flipped the cut piece over and traced it to the other side.
I finished the top off with 3 coats Minwax Dark Mahoganey and 3 coats of Minwax Polycrylic.

TV console table made of poplar wood. Shaker style inset doors. Solid wood construction. Painted with General Finishes Milk Paint and High Performance Top Coat.

Modified DIY Coat Rack! We call this our "Bear Proof" helmet rack. My daughter's chihuahua (named Bear) likes to mark anything at his level, lol. So I took Ana White's free coat rack plan and added helmet hooks to keep everyone's helmet off of the floor and safe from our little Bear. Thanks so much Ana! We all thank you so much for your generosity!

After following Ana's blog for over a year and bookmarking dozens of projects, I finally built my first project. (I built it months ago and have since built 3 other things...so this is addictive!)

I love the modern West Elm look but didn't want to shell out over $600 for two low Parson's shelves which still would not fit my dimension exactly, so this was the perfect project for me. Initially I had intended to stain the bookshelves a warm pecan color, as I think "modern craftsman" is more my style, but honestly the outcome was so wonky that I couldn't see that the shelves would look nice stained. Instead I painted them with what was supposed to be a color match to BM's Weimeraner -- lesson #1001, BM's paint cannot really be color matched. I may repaint in the future as this is not as warm as the original, but it's been fine for the past few months.

Honestly I had many building problems with my first project -- I had mistakenly thought working with 2x2s (pine) would be 'easy', but I found the opposite to be true (and since I have done another project with 2x2s since then I can confirm that we are not meant to be bffs). I did choose straight boards, but I had the guys at Lowe's cut them. Unfortunately in the future I will have to buy my own saw (and pick up truck and workshop, lol), because literally every single time there has been a problem, even when I check the boards at the store. The problems are generally small--1/4" or so--but of course this makes your project off square.

As a result there were noticeable seams between the 2x2s and the 1x12 boards. Of course caulk and paint hid all of that, but this was the main reason why I couldn't stain the project. I also had trouble with the 2x2s splitting when I used the Kreg jig -- luckily this happened only a couple of times, but in my next built it happened even more often, using Douglas Fir. (if anyone can help me with this, I would love to hear!)

Long story short -- it was a lot of work, it wasn't exactly what I had envisioned, but I love the final product, seams, warts, and all. It fits our space perfectly, it's incredibly sturdy, and the power of making something myself--even imperfect--is amazing. Since then I have built an activity table and a picnic table for my kids, and I even felt confident enough to design and build my own window box. (sure, it's not complicated, but I credit Ana's "training" entirely. of course I haven't yet installed it, but that's a different problem)

Thanks, Ana!!!

I mostly followed the plans except for a few modifications in order to use the wood I got for free. I did use 4x4s instead of 2x2s for the legs because I wanted the chunkier look. I might chop them off and put on some fancy feet, but for now I think they look fine. The most expensive part was the foam cushions. I got the good stuff because I wanted the chairs to be comfortable, and they are!

Thanks Ana for your amazing tutorials, you are starting to help bring my house to life!

I built this Coffee Table from plans I found online. It's made from furniture and construction grade Pine, with a two-tone stain. I sealed it with polyurethane. Now if I could figure out a way to keep the cats off of it!

please see the full post here:
http://crabandfish.blogspot.com/2012/05/aaaahhhhi-love-our-bed.html

we built the hailey platform bed, modified for a king size mattress. we included four extra feet under the bed for additional stability.

This a great project that I built for a friend. She wanted it to be a little distressed, but she gave me creative license to I found a middle ground between rustic and distressed. I hand planed the top to create a great distressed look on the top.
This is a great project, but I would just pass along to make sure that you have enough room and enough help. This table is large and heavy.

I wanted to make use of the twin size mattress from my son's old bed and I thought it would nice to have an extra place for his cousins and friends to sleep when visiting so I added a trundle.  I had to slightly alter the plans to accommodate this, and made some little happy mistakes along the way.  Because  I wanted to be able to take the bed apart I had purchased some surface mount hardware for the rails.  What I didn't account for was the extra width it would add for the platform.  It ended up making the frame large enough to fit a queen size mattress.  This would have been fine if I hadn't already purchased a new full size mattress!  Ha Ha.  I ended up having enough of the bed slats showing that it bugged me so I ended up taking a 2 x 4 and cutting out a notch so it would sit flush on the rail and cover up the slats.  I stained it using an American Chestnut Satin Polyshades Mix and overall I am pleased with how it came out.  This was a good learning experience and now I'll get started on a nightstand shortly.