Community Brag Posts

Very easy project. It took a few hours from beginning to end including measuring, cutting,assembling and painting. I used salvaged wood from a pallet I got for free. The only cost for this project was for a can of spray paint. Great shelf for the playroom to organize art supplies. You can see more details of this project in my blog: http://blueberryjunkie.com/uncategorized/diy-number-cubby-shelf-a-potte…

My husband really wanted our sectional couch, but we had the hardest time finding a coffee table that worked with it. I went back to the store that we bought it at to see what they suggested, and they showed me a $700 that I fell in love with. Since I was not spending $700 on it, I did some research. Found these plans that were almost my dream coffee table, the only difference was the wood border around the outside. So my husband and I modified the plans a little and got to work! We made it the exact dimensions of the coffee table I wanted and are absolutely in love with our final product!

My front closet was transformed into a mudroom. Hidden storage is a genious idea. Thank you Ana!!! It wasn't easy though.

This is a variation of the green egg table to fit my husband's homemade smoker project. He loves the table!!

I loved everything about this island, and knew I needed it for my craft room.

This was my first try at furniture building, and the step by step instructions were amazing, and so simple. It took me about 5 hours to build, and another 2 to sand/paint.

For the top, I used a table top from Ikea, and also added the rod and baskets from Ikea to the end of the island for holding craft supplies.

Made this desk custom for a friend and I am so happy with how it came out. Took around 4 days with finishing. I didn't put a back on it because drilling those holes for cords always goes rather splintery. If he wants a back we can easily put it on. The top ended up having strange coloring with the Dark Walnut stain, I think because of the wood filler, but I like it because it gives it a rustic old world kind of look. I saved a lot of money by hounding the scrap bin at Home Depot several times a week, looking for wood on Craigslist, and raiding my leftover stash. I modified the side so there was a tower partition and a shelf on shelf pins- courtesy of Kreg shelf pin jig. I used moulding I had sitting around to cover the exposed edges of plywood.

I was in need of two more parson chairs. So, I thought that I could maybe buy them from the same place I originally purchased my set, but they only had something close. I don’t mind mismatch when it reasonably works together. These did not. So I started my search…. Anything I liked was either out of stock, or way too expensive. I’ve been making and updating a few furniture pieces lately, but never made any chairs or stools. Why not? I guess I thought that they were too intimidating. I started doing some research on the web and learned that they are intimidating. But then there is a very talented person out there by the name of Ana White. She has plans for a parson chair that really made me say that this is not as hard as I thought. So I used her plans as a basis for my own. I used left over pieces of wood I had from another project. So why not try one and if it works I’ll do the second one.

I did however make a few changes to make it my own.

So our oven died back in July and we ended up having an unplanned mini kitchen remodel. One of the things I wanted to implement was magnetic spice racks in drawers, simply because we had a little space left on either side of the oven. Note: we hired a contractor to modify the existing cabinets because we had already been without an oven for over a month by the time home warranty decided they would have to replace the oven and we knew us doing it would take too long - a whole different, LONG story (read about that here: http://christinashaw.com/?p=1203).

But if you want to read more about the magnetic spice racks (which I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE, by the way!), you can read about that here: http://christinashaw.com/?p=1168

Floating headboard made for a friend of mine. Didn't have a picture of it mounted in their room but I wanted to get it up here anyway.

This was a very fun project for me!  I love turning unwanted-old things into something beautiful and usuable!  I built thit table using a reclaimed door and old railing spindles but you could easily improvise by using dimensional lumber for the top and buying new spindles or using 2x2's if necessary!  This took me a few days because I built as I went and made sure it was just right.

Guess what?  I built it for $37!!  The door and spindles were a great find at my local Habitat for Humanity store - check yours out!

I have a building tutorial on my blog so you can make one too!

I still have to coat the table top to protect against the elements. But I am super proud already!

Taking the plans for the full sized Murphy bed (http://ana-white.com/2010/03/plans-a-murphy-bed-you-can-build-and-affor…) I added a few inches to convert to a queen and raised it off the floor 5 1/2 inches with removable fence post toppers.

The yellow head board lifts up and stores inside the frame when up. If I had it to do over again, I would sand and paint as I built. Thanks to Ana, I now have a guest room!

This is my first Ana White project and it came out great. We used the Kreg Jig for the first time and it's awesome! I put a coat of Rustoleum Weathered Gray on first, which has a blue tinge to it. Then I added two light coats of Minwax Provincial (basically wiped it on and then back off...didn't let it sit). Finished it off with two coats of Minwax Wipe-On Poly, which is super easy to use and great for items that need a little protection. The only downside for me is that I have discovered that I am apparently allergic to pine resin which throws a major roadblock into building pine furniture!!! I end up with an itchy rash and face swelling when I around the freshly cut or sanded wood. Totally sucks. So I may have to have hubby do the cutting and sanding.

Table

After seeing my daughter's bed. A guy I work with asked me to build his son one. He told me it could be just like Lillians, but if I could make it pirate themed that would be great. So here we are and the first bed from "Chris' Custom Beds" is done.