Community Brag Posts

Built the console (without the hutch) and my wife wanted another one a little diffrent for the other wall so I modified the plans a bit and made the second one. this was our first "distressed" paint job. I think it turned out great!

My husband built this as my Christmas gift. It couldn’t have turned out any better. We shortened it to 75 inches and added a butcher block top to match the floating shelves and island in my kitchen. The plans were very easy to follow. We did have to spend quite a bit of time planning out the barn door track, but it was worth it.

I loved that I used strapping, or furring strips, for this bead. The topper wood is a 2X4, but every other 8" piece of wood cost between $1.25 and $1.99 each. Yeah! Of course, for that price, you have to know you will be sanding the heck out of it. We had a metal frame for this bed but I wanted a headboard. Because it was going against a wall with a 45 degree angle, I had to make it a lot shorter than I wanted. I made it just tall enough so both pillows, when stacked on top of each other, did not fall off the back. I just love it.

Although I know the original idea for this plan was to save space, I ended up building a bigger version. I loved the design and overall look but wanted something with more counter space. My husband does property maintenance, and is always coming home with scraps of wood he salvaged from work. I dug through his wood pile for 90% of the wood I used on this project. I repurposed most of the accessories and bought the rest (including the hardware) from the dollar store. I spent a total of $38 on the entire project! I absolutely love how it turned out and can't wait to see the look on my daughters face on her birthday!

I kind of took this project to the next level.  I have never built anything like this before, some shelves and minor wood working projects but I wanted this piece to be really special for my wife who requested I make this for our family room.  I made it out of solid poplar and used birch plywood for the sides.  I decided to dovetail the drawers and recess the drawer bottoms.  The entire frame was assembled using biscuits, dowels and glue rather than screws or nails and it took me 6 weeks to complete but I didn't work on it daily.  The project cost me about $450 in materials but it was worth it.  

I wish I had used joined wood for the sides rather than plywood because it did not take stain well (blotchy).  I upgraded the drawer slides to side mounted ball bearing made by Amerock that I got on Amazon for a great price.  The stain was custom mixed from two standard Minwax stain colors I used oil based semi-gloss on the top and water-based semi-gloss on the remainder.  I had some experience with doweling and biscuits but had never dovetailed before.  I purchased the Porter-Cable 4212 kit and opted for the through dovetails for added strength.  The drawers barely needed glue, and it was very easy to use!   I mounted the top using figure 8 fasteners which was another first for me but I highly recommend them.  The hardware I found on Amazon at very reasonable prices compared to big box stores but couldn’t find a silver colored label holder so I purchased brass and used Rust-Oleum Flat Antique Nickle to get them to match the pulls. 

I am a beginner at this but feel that this was a great project there was only one error in the list of materials to cut but other users have already identified that.  I anyone has questions on this project I will be happy to help! 

We built our daughter a cabin bed from the Ana White websit.   Plans were for a twin size mattress and we converted the width to accomodate a full size mattress.  After completing the Cabin bed and installing the full size mattress is when we discovered that the plans have an error in the length of the the cabin bed.  Plans call for 71 inches in length when 75 inch lengths are what all mattresses come in unless you are getting an oversize one which measures 80 inches in length.  The good thing is we purchased a 9 inch memory foam mattress which compressed enough in lenght to fit. 

We bought a house with a death trap for a back step. Until we get to re-doing the entire back patio area I needed a temporary solution to keeping the kids from toddling off the back 'ledge'. I modified Ana's plans to make a nice border around the step so kids can't fall off when they are coming and going from the backyard. We had left over cedar fence slats from when we did our fence last spring...PERFECT and FREE!!!!!

This was a very simple pot rack and spice shelf using 1x3 for the pot rack and 1x4 for the spice shelf.

Spice Shelf is 7ft and the most complicate part was cutting the uprights for the large baseboards in our house. I used a profile gauge but this wasn't quite enough. Eventually I did some sanding on the spot to get the best fit. Having gained my addiction from Ana for Kreg Jigs the shelves and mounting pieces were added with pocket hole screws. By placing the screws on top or on the bottom I was able to avoid the necessity of plugging holes. Shelf spacing is completely custom for our needs and the large bottom portion will receive a cross brace in the front to hold in our shopping bags. Butterfly bolts were used to mount the shelving through the lathe and plaster walls.

The pot rack is simply a 1x3 ladder where I used a 1x3 for the spacing between the rungs. Large bottom to hold pot lids. Hooks were hand bent using a jig to ensure they were all the same. Mounted to the old brick chimney in the kitchen using TapCons.

Both items were finished in MinWax Mahogany and had one coat of of poly to keep the rustic feel.

Length of project depends on drying times.

Any questions please let me know!

I just finished my first project with upholstery!  I built a bench following Ana's plans from a couple of 2x4s and used this gorgeous fabric from Minted.  Minted is November's sponsor for the Fab Furniture Flippin Contest.  The paint color is Behr's Island Aqua.  I used 3" thick upholstery foam (and WOW that stuff is super expensive).  I love diamond tufting and followed a tutorial from Addicted 2 Decorating.  

The bench is super compfy.  I love it and I love the bright cheery colors.  

Made it a little taller and a little deeper.  

The husband kept complaining that the washer and dryer were too low without pedestals. Well, no problem! I've got plans from Ana's site.

I measured to fit our machines and followed the plans. But somewhere along the way I screwed up. I think it might have been how I attached the legs with the "L" brackets. My legs were sitting away from the base, not flush with it. Anyhow, the way to correct my mistake was to attach the moulding along the sides, front and back of the base, not around the legs. But I don't mind the way it looks. Just an FYI: there was a lot of waste with the sheets of MDF, but that's not a problem because I'm using it in another project as I write. :)

First, I put on two coats of primer. Then I decided I wanted a splash of turquoise in the basement, so I mixed a blue and yellow paint until I got the color I desired. After a few coats of paint, I distressed and then decided to tone down the color a bit with a Valspar glaze. I put on two coats of poly, hoping that would be enough to withstand the inevitable water on the pedestal. I thought the piece was screaming for a quote, so I painted "The most memorable days usually end with the dirtiest clothes."

And you think with the new height he'd help me with laundry a bit more? Yeah, I think not.

Our original sofa and loveseat turned out so well that my parents asked that we build them a set. It was our first time converting the plan to a single seat so I was nervous on how it would turn out, but it looks great!

This TV console was made on request.  Its made from maple plywood and Pine top, trimmed with Small crown,  large chair rail  and base board moulding.  It has one media shelf a larger shelf for Pictures. The very bottom has two 18 inch drawers that are 5 1/4 inches deep for dvds or games.

Followed the plan, adjusted the height to accomadate a trundle bed in the future. Tapered the edges of the 2x6 material for a shaker/craftsman look. If you cut the board at a 25 degree angle the 2x6 material will rest right in line with the 2 x 4 material below. Be sure and add 2 to 2 1/2 inches to accommodate the taper edging.

Used Minwax gunstock stain to match the furniture and three coats of fast drying gloss poly.

I worked on this over the past couple of months (would have been quicker, but you know..life gets crazy sometimes!!)

I used the farmhouse table plans to a tee and then stained and poly'd it. It turned out great!!! My Wife loves it and now all I have to do is build the benches. The wood is cut for them, just need to find the time to do it. This is my 4th Anna-White project. I have also built a bench for the end of our bed, some laundry cubbues, and a day bed.

I love this site and plan on using much more...I have friends and family wanting me to build them stuff...the only thing now...is how much do I charge..... :)

I built two of these bad boys!
I used the cheapest spruce wood as I knew I was going to paint them.
Not sure how much everything cost in the end - maybe €50. Am making 2 beds to go with them too but they'll be a little longer in the pipeline!
I cut the wood myself using my circular saw and joined the wood with pockethole screws.
I painted the tables white and then used a chestnut brown woodstain on the table tops, shelf and knob.
Hard to say how long it took me as I just did a bit every now and again when I had a bit of time.