Community Brag Posts

I am currently making the matching 2 seater Loveseat (making 2 of them) so I wanted a square table to go in the middle of the 2 sofas to make it look nice, so the rectangular table was not quite what I needed.

I used 2x3's for the legs and adjusted the side measurements of the square table for the extra width.

I didn't want to paint it, so this is Rustoleum Kona stain with polyurethane (clear semi gloss) over the top to protect it from the rain - which you can see was exactly the kind of weather I had about 10 minutes after it was put outside!

Using Anna's plan for base cabinets, I expanded our small kitchen island from 20" deep to about 40" deep and added a pecan live edge top made of 1x4's. I made two bases 34" wide so I could exactly match the width of the original island. By doing this I could match up the ends while leaving a small gap in between the base for adjustments. Then that was covered by a 1x2 so it is not noticeable. The live edge pecan top matches our "Fancy X Farmhouse Table" built a few months ago. My wife painted the base with a mixture of flat black paint and plaster of Paris to make chalk paint. The top is just 7 coats of semi gloss polyurethane. The build was less than 2 days and I got to use my new Kreg Foreman pocket hole machine for all of it. The poly was several more days of sanding, application, and drying time.

We needed to fill the corner in the house, wasn’t sure what project to do forever!  We liked the look of the rustic furnitures and decided to go forward with this truss shelf design.

We used a crackle paint with a black base and turquoise top layer and finished the wood planks with a pickling solution to weather the wood. 

Let me know what you think. 

Maldonado thanks for the prints for this awesome design!

I am more excited about building now. I started this project Saturday, started on the cuts, almost immediately and assembled later that afternoon. By Sunday Morning the whole thing was done. I have 2 Children (2 yr.old and 10month old) so breaks were VERY frequent in between. I am so exciting about building now, my husband has even offered to help in the near future for more must haves! We are planning my very first Birthday Party ever! (including childhood) so I wanted to have comfortable and beautiful seating, I’ve been drooling over these plans since Ana posted them up and thought to myself, there is no way I could do it. But…I was wrong, with hardly any help I was able to do it all on my own. The only problem I came across was the small end X pieces, I am not sure what I did, but I needed to make the cuts at 9 15/16 instead of 10 3/8 in order for the 1x2’s to fit in the center, I thought it would affect the rest of the plan, but it didn’t. Another little hiccup I did was at the HD- I went alone, I couldn’t carry the 2x6 by myself, so I got 2 2x3’s instead, I think it still looks exceptionally well. What am I saying?! I LOVE THIS THING!

My husband and my live in brother were impressed, as was I! My mother even made a comment that my grandfather’s spirit is in me! (He was a carpenter) So, with all these compliments it only motivates me to continue and build! Build! Build! My mother wants one for her Birthday as well, so I will be making another beautiful Weatherly Sofa for her, she deserves it! She takes care of my little angels while I work…the least I could do is make one for her. As many of us who started building due to income deprevation , I am living pay check to pay check, so the little wiggle room we have will be 1 project + scraps. I don’t care how long it takes to get the material, this hobby/love is going to be a long beautiful relationship.

Cushions, the lipstick on this outdoor sofa…so hard to pick!!!
I’ve been eyeing beautiful cushions online that I could afford, and Walmart was the only place that had reasonable prices, although $20+ dollars is always a stretch for me, the ones I settled for were $24.00 each, and I cringed when I stepped to the register…but, if I were to go anywhere else to purchase and outdoors sofa as lovely as this one, I am looking at $500 easy!!! So, that helped me out in purchasing them. I love the pattern on them and I was debating on another set, which were red, beige and white with wide stripes, I loved it…but the Blue one, won…husband had to vote too.

We built ours for a queen sized mattress. We used the plans for the stair case since our son is only two and can't handle a ladder. We decided to go with stain on the trim instead of paint and feel this makes it look a little nicer. The inside has Christmas lights hung from the ceiling and a "secret hiding spot" under the stairs.

Tweaked the plans a bit. Used 2x6s for arm rest (to support a cocktail better) and back rest. Also tilted the back 2x6 to make it more comfortable. Burnt wood with a torch.  Then stained and used a spar urethane.

I used Ana's outdoor daybed with canopy pattern to make this awsome daybed. I made a cover and matching pillows.

I was in Home Depot one day and found a large piece of MDF & straight 1x4 in the "scrap bin". Because my to-do list is longer than any christmas list, I knew I could find a use for it. I ended up buying a quality piece 1x4 for the legs. The remainder were scraps. My total cost of the wood for this project was approximately $20.

My living room space is narrow and awkward, so I subtracted 4 inches from every horizontal measurement. This plan was very easy to adapt for your space.

To round the edges, I traced with a circular piece of tupperware, cut with my jigsaw and sanded. To build, I used a nail gun and kreg jig on some parts. I also stained before putting it completely together.

I'm very happy with these plans and how the finished project fits right into my space. This project was easy to follow and easy to adapt. I would recommend it to anyone starting out

PS: I could use some help with my shelf styling. Recommendations welcome :)

My version is a 7' table. I made the distance between legs 60" with a 8" overhang on each side. The stain is Olympic Driftwood. I also added 1 x 2 pcs on the ends for a more finished look & to secure the 2 x10's. One last thing, I used a router to round out all the outer edges of the table top and the legs.

Highly recommend....

I used some T braces/plates on the bottom of the table to connect legs with 60" pcs. Otherwise there is nothing to keep the legs square with the table.

Love the look...thanks so much for the plan!

Other notes: I used treated lumber so it's VERY heavy.

A lot of time and planning when into making this bench!  Love how it turned out

I wish I could get a better picture, but the bed is in an odd-shaped space and I can't back up enough to get a full picture.  We used Fusion Mineral Paint to finish it.  I love that paint, no need to prime OR add a protective finish!  After it fully cured, this paint is so durable, and marks easily wash off.
This was our first build ever, and the plans were very easy to follow.  We had it built in one day, and painted in the next.  Definitely gave us confidence to continue on to other projects! 

Made these for my guest bedroom!

I used the Reclaimed Wood Look Headboard plans to make a headboard out of found, discarded wood. The only new wood is the vertical 1x3s and 1x2s that form the sides of the headboard. The bed is also made of reclaimed wood, using a modified version of the Hailey Platform Bed plans.

The plans are modified to create a patchwork look using scraps of wood in different sizes and thicknesses. The wood scraps were cut so that when put together they make up the total length and width of the horizontal planks in the plans. I glued and nailed all the patchwork pieces to a piece of MDF board I found, and added a vertical 1x2 for added support down the middle of the back.

The top 2x4 is made up of two pieces glued end-to-end with dowels in between, because I didn't find any long 2x4s I could reclaim. I didn't put the top and bottom trim on the back side, because it was already quite heavy and sturdy.

My daughter needed a new bed and I really liked Ana's Hailey Storage Bed plans.  I adjusted Ana's plans to fit a full size bed and I also made a different headboard and footboard.  To see how I made the headboard and footboard follow the links below:

Headboard:  http://www.betterwhenbuilt.com/diy-headboard/

Footboard:  http://www.betterwhenbuilt.com/diy-footboard/

My son and I made these beds for a couple of his friends.  We made them so that if they were ever together, they could bunk them up for their dolls.  I had a great time working with him and incorporating his ideas into the project.  He is very excited to give them the doll beds. http://www.ana-white.com/2012/12/plans/kid039s-kit-doll-bed

We really needed a place to organize my daughters books in the living room. These were fairly easy to make - my husband built them and I did the finishing.

I HIGHLY recommend the water-based poly. It is almost twice as expensive but it isn't near as smelly and it has a much lower VOC level.

When my daughter asked for a dollhouse for her 3rd party I decided to just make her one and this Dream House plan was just perfect. I got a little carried away and added an extra floor. I also made some furniture out of scrap wood and I plan to add an elevator. This was a very fun project and my little one is already making requests for more furniture, pillows, blankets and a TV and video game room for the house.

I only spend about $50 total but that was using the cheapest wood I could find. The floors were made using plywood that was pre-cut at 24" x 24" . This project was a big hit with my little one. Thanks for the plans Ana.