Community Brag Posts

I followed Ana's plan exactly, but increased the dimensions to the standard XL crate size (42L x 28W). The base is painted gloss white and the top is stained espresso.

Made this sideboard cabinet for my kitchen using the plans for the barn door cabinet. Just modified a bit by hanging the door instead of doing the sliding barn door. Turned out great and I love the look of it. Provides lots of extra storage and counter space in my kitchen. 

This is the storage bed. We having matching ones! I am so proud of my hubby!

This Farmhouse Queen Bed for use with a box springs is the first woodworking project I have done in almost 30 years (high school shop class). It was so much fun.

I did buy the No-Mortise Bed Rail Fittings from Amazon to hook the head board and foot board to the side boards. I also bought the Mantua Steel Bed Frame System at Overstock.com for $64 after a discount I found online.

To support the rails I screwed and glued 2 X 2's at the very lowest part of my side rails. It seemed to work well and I didn't have to worry about having a good sturdy support system for my new mattress and box springs. This rail system has three rails and each rail has a center support that extends to the floor.

I finished the bed with a good latex paint then sanded where I wanted the aging and then topped the paint off with some Winton Burnt Umber on the sanded areas and rubbed Minwax Antique Oil Finish over the entire piece. See pictures for exact products. I've used these same products in the past to paint furniture I have repainted and aged. I like the finish it gives.

My total price was around $225 but that includes the bed rail system and the brackets.

Enjoy!

My dad actually built this. I had been drooling over the table at Pottery Barn for two years but couldn't afford the $3000 price. Found the plans here and gave it to him with adjustments on the turnbuckles underneath. I wanted the V shape instead of straight across. The tabletop was obtained from an old wood bridge in Eastern WA. I love, love, love this table. The materials cost was $250. The labor was my birthday present. 

I was asked by my Mother in Law(and when you are asked of anything from your Mother in Law, you do it!) to build a dining room table for my brother in law.  She bought all the wood(all Oak), and all I had to do is design and build it.  I used your Pub Height table plans and tweeked it a bit.  My Single Brother in Law bought a house, and needed a dining room table.  It was my first Dining room table build, and learned a lot.  Had some trouble with the boards twisting when I screwed them together, but nothing a little sanding took care of.  Overall, I am pretty proud of it, and my BIL loves it.  

I think that the names of beds shouldn't be gender decided!! Just sayin' :-p

My sister wanted a Hailey storage bed for her son, but she really questioned if it would be too girly. Since I have girls, I hadn't really thought about it... but after looking at it for a few (VERY open mindedly, since all of the ones that have been built have been painted white, and made for girls), I decided that it wasn't a girly bed at all. Then I worked on convincing HER of that. I don't think she was convinced until she saw the pieces built...

My step-dad (a VERY skilled carpenter) and I put together the storage bed with a few modifications. We used 1/2" ply instead of 3/4" (the price difference in Vegas was insane for the same grade ply). We also bought an additional sheet of ply for the head and foot boards, since my sister wanted it stained. After the first bed was finished, she asked us to do an identical head and foot board for another bed, but to put side rails instead of the cubbies. This turned out perfectly, since the additional sheet of ply had enough scraps for another full head/footboard AND to make up for the dividers that weren't accounted for in the plan.

We also bought an additional 1x2 to trim out the middle dividers, which was my own preference. I think it looks stupid without it. Not sure if my sister would have cared... AND... the last mod we made was to use 1/8" ply for the backs. It was super cost-effective, and does the job just as well as 1/4".

All in all, this was a wonderful experience for me. It felt REALLY great to be able to do this with my step-dad... intimidating as it was... And there were points where all 3 of us were outside working (my sister, step-dad and myself) while all the kids played in the driveway with us. I can't tell you how awesome that felt :-)

First time builder with a brand new kreg jig! (My husband surprised me with the jig! I am such a lucky gal!) I used minwax dark walnut stain and glidden paint (plain ol' white) with a bit of distressing. I shortened the 2x4s on the top so I could have 2x6 breadboards at the ends. I loved the look from the original tryde table! Really enjoyed the process of building this coffee table! Plan to make matching side tables to complete my "Tryde collection!" Thanks Ana! LOVE THIS SITE!

my wife and I had our first son, Mason, over the summer and I was in love with the idea of building his crib. It was a lot more work than I had anticipated but it was well worth the hard work. it came out beautifully. I made a 2X4 spacer that we can remove as he gets older to lower the mattress height. i used all pine lumber for the crib.

Used in an old farmhouse for storage. Used beadboard for doors and distressed to make it look antique. :-)

Here is a High Chest of Drawers (Highboy)I built. The original was built in 1748 by Christopher Townsend in Newport, R.I. It is made of Cherry with Maple as secondary wood. It took about 300 hours to build. All joinery is either mortise and tenon or dovetails. I worked hard to avoid any nails or screw, but the back it held in place with nails. All wood started out as rough lumber and I milled all wood myself. Moldings are of my own design, but based on the original. Brasses are from Horton Brasses. Drawers are all wood-on-wood with no glides, per original. I made a little tiger maple foot stool to get to the top drawers. All escutcheons have working locks.

Ana,
I want to take a minute to thank you for your website and all the free plans. You inspired me to make my first piece of furniture. I made a farmhouse bed using off the shelf lumber. The stain is weathered gray. I used your link to making your own stain (vinegar and steel wool). The bolts are 3/4 inch and are decorative. Also, I notched the posts so they can support the full weight of the rails. Thanks again, I can't wait to start on my next project!

What do you do when your child gets too many toys for Christmas? Build a toy box of course. I went with a 1X6 instead of 1X4 as the top front apron, yes it’s not easy to put books in, but when you have a 9 month old I was more concerned with a place to put Legos so I won’t step on them. That small change made a world of difference. The toy box is sturdy which is what I needed, knowing he is going to use it to pull up on while learning to walk. I primed it and then painted the front two aprons and sides with chalkboard paint and the remainder grey to match the table I made in the same room. The chalkboard paint takes a ton of coats and requires a lot of waiting (neither of which I am good at), but I think the outcome was worth it.

Went with regular cheap studs and extended the couch to make 4-across seating.  Probably should have used better wood because it was hard to find studs that were straight and not full of burrs and knotholes!  AND...studs are actually 1.5" x 3.5", so keep that in mind if you go that route when you're cutting from detailed plans because your dimensions will be off slightly.  Staining and adding spar urethane coat took the longest amount of time.  Cushions are 24" x 24" from Lowe's.  Wood = $80, Cushions = $180.  A little extra for screws and a few pieces of hardware.  This pic shows the couch without a back brace that I added later.  It's a beast, too!  After all that wood the couch probabaly weighs close to 150 pounds!     

I got inspiration from your pattern, but decided to make it more realistic since my four year old grandson is a stickler for detail. Because I had scraps, the only cost for me was the propeller and wheels from a hobby store (about $8).

The body of the plane was cut from a scrap of 4X4 post; the corners were cut off at 45 degree angles to make it more rounded (sanding rounded it more). I used a dremel to carve the engine indentation. I used 5/8 inch dowels for the wing struts (only because I grabbed the wrong drill bit; you could use 1/2 inch). The wheels were attached to 2 1/2 X 4 inch pieces, which I mitered to make smaller at the bottom.

The backing was cut to fit the length of the shelf and 18 inches high. I painted the background a soft blue and then applied white for the clouds. After attaching it to the plane; I decided to add some pegs.

This is a Christmas gift for him because we are going to redo his room after the first of the year. I will be building him a loft bed from Ana's plans and adding some more airplane decor.

I had to modify the plans. The Size is 14" x 48". I also added a shelf at the bottom for shoes. Can't wait to replace the ugly shoe rack at the front door with this! I also used 1 x 4's for the apron. I found 1"x4"x14' at homedepot for only 3.40per piece!! So I was able to build this for less than $15. The wood has more knots than the other 1 x 4's, but if you look thru you can find some good pieces. I'm going to use this same wood to build the outdoor sectional too.

Not the best picture.  This was my first project using plans from this site.  What a breeze! Took about 8 hours total to build and 2 hours to finish (sand/paint/stain)