Community Brag Posts

Fancy Farmhouse Bed

Submitted by henryholub on Tue, 05/07/2013 - 13:16

With a child on the way, our house has been undergoing some changes. We were in need of a guest bedroom for family members and needing to store my wife's childhood twin bed with a hidaway twin underneath that was set up in the room that would become the nursery. We also needed to clean all the backpacking gear out of the closet in the nursery room to get ready for it to be taken over by all the baby stuff. I decided a "King-sized" bed out of the two twin mattresses would be a good solution as it would keep us from "storing" the two mattresses and meet the guest bed need. After I came across the plans for the fancy farmhouse bed, I knew if i just added some height to it, I could meet the storage need too! There's 14'' on my version of the fancy farmhouse bed between the carpet and the rails, plenty of room for medium sized plastic tubs to slide in and out (as seen with the "test tub" in the picture. Under my bed there are currently 9 tubs, two large suit cases, a PA speaker, Power speaker head, a large double sleeping bag, and a little room for more. I'll try to add pictures when I finish the room out with night stands (wine crates mounted to the wall), a bedskirt, lamps, and a headboard. Once I got the wood home, it was a fast build. The slowest part was painting

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
$75
Estimated Time Investment
Afternoon Project (3-6 Hours)
Finish Used
Flat white valspar paint
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Comments

Shoes? What Shoes? (Ana's shoe cabinet)

We have two young kids who don't want to take their shoes and put them away (as well as two adults who are the same way) so I asked my hubby to make Ana's shoe dresser. He did a great job and we were so excited with how it turned out!

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
75.00
Estimated Time Investment
Day Project (6-9 Hours)
Finish Used
We primed it and then painted it gray.
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Kids Storage Bookshelf

Submitted by Malka on Wed, 09/13/2017 - 00:29

Project was super easy to build, and fits a TON of books and toys. Perfect for our nursery. Stained in Minwax Classic Grey with a satin poly finish.

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
$100 +/-
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
Minwax Satin Polyurethane
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Rustic X end table to cover up dog kennel

Submitted by Tashism on Fri, 06/21/2013 - 07:12

We are getting a puppy in a couple weeks and we want to crate train her. We have a small house so the only place we have to put the crate is in the living room. Needless to say, we needed a way to make the crate look good in our living room. That's when I found the plans for the rustic x-end table. The dimensions were almost the same as the dog crate. I only had to change the dimensions by a couple inches and wallah! Now the crate doesn't look out of place and I have a place to put my laptop and phone! I ended up ripping the 2x6's just a saw blade width down to get rid of the rounded edges and that made the top come together smoother. I also planed down the top a bit as well. In some spots, you can hardly tell they were 2x6's laminated together! I used two different stains on it. The first coat was a tudor stain but I wanted to warm it up a bit so I put a coat of antique walnut on it as well. I am very very happy with how this turned out. Now my husband would like me to build a coffee table to match!

Estimated Time Investment
Day Project (6-9 Hours)
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Comments

onenutsprague

Thu, 02/25/2016 - 08:59

This entire site is click bait. yet to see one actual plan. its like all stolen data from pinterist. which is equally as bad

Sofa table

Submitted by kgclark31 on Sun, 01/02/2022 - 18:33

I built these sofa tables for my wife’s client. She has a interior paint business. Her client was talking about wanting she sofa tables, so she volunteered me to build the tables. I didn’t have a design for the tables, so I looked at several different designs and talked to the client on what she was looking for. So I just did some rough sketches and got some ideas from my wife. I used mostly 1 bys for the build, just depends on the size on what width and length of board you are going to need. The top of the large table is a 5/4 preglued board that Menards has in store, again depending on width and length on the size of board you use. I used the 5/4 board for better stability and strength. I used a red oak stain then applied several coats of poly to finish. On the top I used a 200 sandpaper after a couple of coats of poly to get the top smoother for more coats of poly. Over all the build was pretty easy if you have good woodworking knowledge. Used pocket holes (Kreg) to attach sides and frame to top. On the large top side I used two 1x8’s to get the width i needed. Joined them with pocket holes (Kreg). If you can dream it, you can build it.

Comments

Garden Bench

Submitted by Amras on Fri, 08/10/2018 - 07:31

Used the plans changed some dimensions a little bit.

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
minwax wood stain and sealer
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Three story doll house

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sun, 01/06/2019 - 13:53

I built this American girl doll house for my daughter. I wanted to give her something to keep her youth alive! 

Estimated Cost
$150-200
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
Light grey paint for all the walls and ceiling. Classic grey stain by Minwax for the floors. I also added baseboards to all the rooms with some small trim I found in the window trim section at Home Depot.
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Comments

Tessa2009

Sun, 01/06/2019 - 21:46

Thanks Ana! This is her momma that built it for her. I wanted to tackle something on my own and challenge myself. Your plans were amazing to work with. Thanks for taking the time to make these plans so easy to understand and follow. She is very happy with the doll house! Happy New Year! -Abbey

DIY Farmhouse TV Console

This was the second piece of furniture that my husband and I ever made. We had built a coffee table that had a lift up top so that we could eat dinner on the couch and store all of our board games. Once we tackled that, I thought we could conquer the world (even though the table was pretty basic). So when my now-husband was about to move into his first apartment without a roommate and I saw it as an opportunity to decorate my own place (even though I wasn’t living there). Luckily,he agreed it was time to get rid of his tiny Ikea TV stand that was probably 2ft off the ground and not a great height for a TV, and agreed to build this awesome TV console with me. To this day, it’s still my favorite piece of furniture in our house.

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
500
Finish Used
dark walnut

Comments

Concealed Wall Desk for Computer

Submitted by Gabie on Mon, 11/20/2023 - 10:51

I built this fold-up desk, out of sheer necessity. It's rather unassuming when closed, yet fully functional when open, with built-in power outlets and light, a large screen, a nook for the laptop and the chargers, etc. It's tailored to my needs and specific size limitations, but I think you could make a great general plan of it for anyone needing a small-space hideaway desk.

Barn Door Bookcase/ Side Pantry

Submitted by BmoreITguy on Wed, 04/22/2020 - 05:57

This took a lot of time and money but I like the way it looks. We have 4 kitchen cabinets and one drawer and no room for more so storage is tight.

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
400
Estimated Time Investment
Week Long Project (20 Hours or More)
Finish Used
Same as Ana’s
Recommended Skill Level
Advanced

Comments

BmoreITguy

Wed, 04/22/2020 - 06:00

Why is my picture sideways? Ana, one of the most frustrating things with this build was the mobile version of your site. Very laggy, typing lags, pages crash in the middle of typing or viewing and persistent ads are a nightmare

Weatherly Sectional

We modified the Weatherly Sofa plans to fit the 29" cushion covers we found on sale at Pottery Barn, and we filled the cushions with the DIY inserts from Cushion Source. Instead of using 1x2's for the X's, we used 1x3's and my husband spent the better part of an afternoon trying to figure out the angles!

The wood and paint came to about $100, and the cushions were $500 for the inserts and covers (6 cushions and 14 pillows) when all was said and done. A bit expensive, but we love it!

Estimated Time Investment
Week Long Project (20 Hours or More)
Finish Used
Antique White paint from Sherwin Williams - we're going to cover it with a satin clear finish once we get our energy back!
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Comments

Ji

Tue, 07/31/2012 - 08:49

I am surprised at how good white cusions look on white wood. Where did you get the cusions and how did you build the feet?

ojessiesgirlo

Thu, 08/02/2012 - 17:03

We got the cushion covers from Pottery Barn during their summer sale and used a 20% off coupon, then filled them with inserts from Cushion Source (DIY section)

The feet were just feet from Lowe's - we just screwed them on!

MelTheHandyWife

Thu, 04/11/2013 - 13:07

I'm gearing up to build my own sectional and I'm wondering if you changed any other dimensions besides the ones for the X's. I think it looks amazing and I'd like to know what size lumber you used for yours. Thanks!

Marieb52

Wed, 03/12/2014 - 16:03

I would REALLY like to get these new measurements from you. I like the way this looks better with the 1x3's and I don't trust myself to be able to figure out those new angles. Could you please give me the measurements you used to make these X's out of 1x3's? Also, it looks like you used 3x3's for the posts? And maybe 2x3's for the sides and bottoms of the x's. I'm not sure and I'm dying to know because this is beautiful. I'd like to make it soon. I really appreciate your help. Thanks!

We built our kitchen cabinets and hood!

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Thu, 06/25/2020 - 16:50

It took us awhile but we built these white cabinets from scratch. It turned out great and looks better in person. Thank you for your articles!

Estimated Time Investment
Week Long Project (20 Hours or More)
Finish Used
White acrylic latex.
Recommended Skill Level
Advanced

Comments

Rustic Storage Bed

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sat, 06/15/2024 - 13:44

King size farm bed with storage, modified from queen bed plans. Used 1x10’s instead of a solid sheet of plywood and routed the slates to add some nice depth. Used reclaimed barn wood 1/4” for the border of the drawers.

Michael Gallatin

Toddler Farmhouse/Platform Bed

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Thu, 01/19/2017 - 09:54

Our 18 month old was constantly climbing out of her crib so we got a cheap toddler bed and tried it out. She liked to go under the bed and almost always got one of her legs stuck between the slats on the under side of the matress. 

I decided to build a bed and found Anna White's Toddler Farmhouse bed plans. We modified the plans ever so slightly to make it a platform style to address our original issue.

For the stain, we used 1 coat of steel wool and white vinegar that sat for 24 hours and prepped the wood with 3 bags of black tea steeped in boiling water for 10 minutes. The color was exactly what we were looking for.

This is my first project and there was a good amount of learning involved but it turned out amazing!

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
$35
Estimated Time Investment
Day Project (6-9 Hours)
Finish Used
White Vinegar and Steel Wool - 24 hour soaking time - 1 Coat
Large Mason Jar of Black Tea - Steeped for 10 minutes in boiling water, 3 bags - 2 Coats
Recommended Skill Level
Starter Project

Children's Playhouse

Submitted by Markb25 on Wed, 10/28/2020 - 08:54

A few years back I decided to build a playhouse for my daughters birthday, the ones available locally were plastic garbage. Since then people started coming forward asking me to build ones for their kids, which is great as it's kept me busy and sane after being forced into early retirement. I've stuck mainly to the more traditional looking on ground house but, soon requests came in for treehouse-style ones; taking Ana's playhouse deck plans and adapting them slightly I now starting my fifth order for a platform house. Being in Cyprus all our timber is imported and very limited, I've more chance of seeing a Unicorn than a piece of Cedar which has meant a little more work involved to make sure they withstand up to the elements, we only get around 20 days of rain a year but, the summer heat is like the surface of the sun. Fortunately, with this not being a new problem there are plenty of options available for preservation/protection, the 'colours of Greece' range by Kraft paints perfect, its sprays beautifully and the colours spot-on for kids.

Estimated Cost
$1000
Estimated Time Investment
Week Long Project (20 Hours or More)
Finish Used
For the main part, the houses have been finished using wood aqua by kraft paints using the 'colours of Greece' range, lots of soft pastels and Mediterranean inspired colours. the application was using via HVLP spray gun and four coats. Sanded lightly with 220 grit in between coats and finished with up to and including 1500 grit post paint to give a glass-like finish.
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Comments

Drop Leaf Kitchen Island

Submitted by Boab on Wed, 03/01/2017 - 19:01

When I recently moved into a space with a kitchen and living room attached, I quickly realized that I wouldn't have room for a full size dinner table. I had seen extendable kitchen tables but none fit the bill, I was looking for something more compact. I also liked the idea of a bar / island with storage underneath, and I had noticed some had a drop leaf on 1 side which would be useful – but why not have 2 leafs for more dining space? When I decided to build my own table to fit these requirements it was difficult to find any plans out there, especially with drop leafs. Through lots of experimenting and research I finally built what I had envisioned: a kitchen island / bar with cart storage and two folding table leafs which expand to about 31/2 feet squared of eating / drinking area. I went through this trial and error process so you don’t have to, find more pictures and instructions here: http://bacheloronabudget.com/diy-drop-leaf-kitchen-island-cart/

Estimated Cost
$250
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
-Minwax Special Walnut Stain
-Minwax Wipe-on Poly
-White Paint (I used Rust-oleum Linen White)
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Christmas 3-tier cookie stand

Submitted by calcowoods on Thu, 12/31/2020 - 12:51

Inspired by Shara of Woodshop Diaries, created this 3 tier tray for displaying cookies for Santa. Added a 3 dimensional star as the topper and simply followed the excellent photos and schematics on Shara's website.

Estimated Cost
$5
Estimated Time Investment
Afternoon Project (3-6 Hours)
Finish Used
Minwax paste wax
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Comments

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