Community Brag Posts

Modified from the original plans to make it longer and thinner to fit the space/need.  

For the "X" cuts I just built the frame, clamped on a rough length of 2x2 and drew lines where the cuts should go.  I ended up cutting those by hand since they were well over 45 degrees.  Next time I will make a jig for my miter saw to handle those angles.

Finish is just vinegar and steel wool.  The picture with the clamps is before the top coat was applied. Once the poly was put on it gave it a nice gloss and nice, rich colors. 

Now it just needs some decorative pieces sitting on it :)

I am close to completing an outdoor set with only the table to go. My parents are going to love this at their new house they are building!! I found the cedar 1x4's at home depot for about six dollars a piece. I painted the base a basic semi-gloss white before I built the bench. It's so much easier to paint first and build later. I have a few more touch ups but I am happy with it. I used the Kreg Jig Jr to screw in underneath($40), which made this project and every project I've done so far that much easier.

We made this loft bed for my daughter's 4th birthday. I did all of the cuts, sanding, and painting on my own, and had my husband help me with the assembly of the bed. It took us 2 full days to complete this build. The sanding and painting was the most tedious part of the project. I think it cost us about $150 for all of the lumber, paint, screws, etc.

My daughter's really into playing with 18" dolls right now, so I decided to make a mini version of her loft bed for her dolls. I think it turned out really well and she absolutely loves it! The doll sized loft bed only cost about $15 to make (including wood, foam for the mattress and fabric). You can't beat that price for a wooden doll bed...and what little girl wouldn't love a matching bed for her dolls?!?!

I'm so happy with how both beds turned out!

In need of outfitting the spare bedroom for overnight guests I came upon this site and found the storage bed plan we liked.  After building the bed of course a dresser was in order.  My sawyer has some northern white pine that came from the Wisconsin Northern State Fair grounds in Chippewa Falls.  Having never worked with white pine before I found it rewarng and was happy with the finished product.  Hope our guest enjoy it as much I had building it

Made a couple modifications:

• Used 4x4 for the cross beams instead of 2x4. 
• Used 4x4 anywhere there were (2) 2x4s together. 
• Used a dowel jig to attach the (4) 45 degree pieces on each post
• Sanded down the table top until the seams disappeared.  Thank you, belt sander!

That last bullet was super-important to the Mrs.  She was adamant that the table should not have spaces in between the boards, yet she did not want any seams for crumbs to collect.  The result was that I had to sand down the table top about an eighth of an inch... but the seams disappeared.

Also, we initially used Ebony stain... until we realized it was too dark.  Sanded that down a bit, then went over top with the Kona stain.  Result was a dark brown with some black detailing.  Finished with some minwax wipe-on poly.  Turned out really nice!

Thank you, Ana - This project was a ton of fun, challenging, and ultimately, very rewarding!

Easy to follow, we made in a weekend. We tweeked our dimensions a bit but otherwise pretty straight forward. We ended up staining half and leaving other half natural then put a varnish over the entire shelf. Turned out pretty neat with the two tones.

I built this in a full size.  Took some time to adjust all the measurements.  I used cheap lumber since I was painting it and it cost a little over $350.  Then I spent another $75 because I screwed up measurements.  :). This was only the 3rd thing I ever built, so I think I did alright.  The plans were great!  Watched several videos on YouTube about squaring drawers and that helped.

This was an adaption of the Fancy X Farmhouse Table using 4x4s as the base. Please check out my blog article for more details. Thanks for looking!

When looking for floating shelf book storage, I couldn't quite find what I was looking for. So, I built a simple box out of 2x6's, and drilled them straight into studs. I used a 10" width to take advantage of the perfect little unused space in my laundry room. Each cube holds roughly 10 hardback books, and with 3 4" screws into studs I don't think they're going anywhere!

My wife wanted a farmhouse, rustic, restoration hardware type table but I wasn't about to spend the crazy money on one.  So I told her let me see if I can build one she would like and she loves it.  

Modification of Ana White's Farmhouse Table adjusted to bar height.

I fell in love with the darling bunk bed built by so many of Ana's readers. Since seeing it I've made several for my granddaughter, neighbors, and friends. What I've learned is that although they're cute, they take almost as much time as a full sized bed!