Community Brag Posts

When a plan calls for a 2 x 2, you may be able to add a little extra detail by including spindles. I was able to with the Farmhouse Bedside Table! The top of each leg is a plain old 2 x 2, to accommodate the drawer section. Just below that is a spindle with the top squared-off section cut off. The bottom of that spindle is attached to the top of another, where both were squared off and the same dimensions. This "ugly" joint is why the piece of furniture is painted instead of stained--even then, because of variable grains, this specific seam can be seen on close inspection. You can potentially stain furniture that has spindles if you can match the grains and are not connecting two ends that have exact dimensions, which would create an even more obvious seam on stained furniture. Where I joined two pieces of differing dimensions (example: circle to square), there is no visible seam.

To accommodate the specific spindles I wanted to use, the main dimensions that had to be changed were merely the height of the cross bars and shelf. However, with cuts, I waited and cut them (and had larger ones cut at stores) as I went, to help get them to be more exact since the 2 x 2s were slightly off from the spindles' squared-off area.

This all may sound complicated, but it wasn't!

To get the correct leg height, I first cut one end off two spindles and put them together with the two intact ends meeting. The resulting dimensions were subtracted from the required leg height of 26 1/4", leaving the length to cut the 2 x 2 at. This required a lot of measuring, being sure that the legs would be "squared off" in the areas for the drawer and shelf.

To make the "joints" between the legs--each of which is three pieces (!), I used 1/4" x 1 1/2" dowel pins. These are readily available even in craft stores. These aren't the same as dowel rods--they have grooves in them. Next, drill holes the dimensions of the dowels in the exact middle of each leg piece, and put glue inside the hole and around the top of the smallest-dimensioned piece. Connecting and clamping as you go, this will create stronger joints than just using glue.

After the legs were made, I followed the instructions as indicated, being careful to measure before each cut and adjust the measurements where needed.

For another example of how you can use spindles, here's a cat feeder I designed and built back in January:
http://flattops.webs.com/petfeeder.html (Purchased ones in real wood are usually over $100!)

Though it's far from perfect, I'm really happy with how the table turned out--and hope that my experience may inspire you to give spindles a try! I'd love to know how you use them!

Our puppy needed to move out of our bed, and I love the looks of the Lydia toddler bed, so we made this one for her!! It's fantastic and I'm so happy with how it all turned out! It was Mike's first time using a Kreg Jig and he loves it!

I made this for my son's second birthday last year.

I made a few changes to the plans. Instead of a shelf in the oven, I put in a wire cooling rack to resemble a oven rack. I put knobs on the back of the stovetop instead of the lower front. I added doors to the lower half on the sink.

The sink is a 9" loaf pan. The stove knobs and faucet were salvaged.

Toy food and realistic pots and pans are from IKEA.

Made a few design changes as I went along, but overall the plans were great. And with my wife's finishing we have an antiquey farmhouse table. 

My husband and I made a toddler picnic table for the grandbabies out of reclaimed wood from pallets. I have a bench sander that I used for a lot of that wood, but wow what a lot of work. So for Mother's Day, I asked for a Dewalt thickness planer, and I have to say I think that's been one of my best purchases in a while.
I had no idea how beautiful some of that pallet wood could actually be until I started running it through the planer.
I needed a book / magazine shelf in my guest bathroom so I used a plan submitted by a guest, modified it a little and used my reclaimed wood.(Flat Wall Bookholders) I used an oak poly stain in order to bring the grain out some. I couldn't be happier!
Thanks Ana!

At first I was going to stain these ledges so I only used pocket holes to attach the back of the shelf and I attached the front using small finish nails. The back and the bottom are made from a 1x3 and the front is a 1x2.

Check out my blog post for more information.

My wife wanted an outdoor server for our back deck. I did so, but decided to add some flare. I built it so the top comes off and a cooler is exposed for our drinks. And to not waste any wood, you turn the top around and I painted with Chalkboard paint so she could write up a menu. Added some color she would like, found a tutorial on chevron, add a few accessories, and viola!

Our daughter loves to use it as a place to store animals as well as books. 

I modified this plan quite a bit. I chunked up all of the wood for a sturdier table. I also did braces on the underside of the table and benches so there would be no nail/screw holes on the top. For the D, I taped a chip-wood letter from Hobby Lobby to the wood while I burned over the entire top.

Please click the link to my blog post "One Man's Trash is Another Man's Treasure" to get the full story and more pictures.

I have always loved Ana's Farmhouse bed, so when she came out with the Farmhouse bed with storage drawers I knew it was the perfect solution for our small master bedroom. Ana's plans were awesome and made this an easy build. I wanted my bed to be a little unique so I tried a geometric pattern for the head board and foot board and I LOVE it! I also decided to make my slats removable for easy access to under the bed storage and this is one of my favorite features of the bed! I think my husband and I just found a new spot for hiding christmas presents! :) Check out my blog post for all the details and loads of photos!

This is fairly close to standard other than I raised up the sides and footboard 2" from the plans. I also used a plywood platform in place of slats and a standard box spring (there are 3 2x4 supports under the plywood). This saved some money since we just bought a king size Casper mattress and we prefer the look.

The other modification is that I purchased "bed rail fasteners" from Amazon. These "clips" enable us to easily disconnect the side rails from the headboard and footboard (like you might find on a purchased bed frame) for when we decide to move or redo our floors or whatever. I thought that was better than having a semi-permanent connection with screws. 

My son wanted a loft bed for his birthday ... until he saw this hanging bed! When he and his sister went to their cousin's house for the night, we decided to give it a try.

It's actually not that hard. Being rookies, we didn't realize how heavy the 2x4s are. If we were to do it again, we would use 1x4s instead. But, our bed is quite sturdy. We exhausted our cordless drill mid-way through the project.

But, this plan doesn't need many cuts. Most of the cutting was done at Home Depot.

The tricky part was actually getting it on the wall. We borrowed 2 squat racks and put the bed on those until it could be anchored. We also bought L brackets and used those rather than the lag bolts. The rope gives it a nice look, but actually won't become load bearing unless the bed starts to fall.

Our son loves the bed and it gives him plenty of extra space to work with in his room.

I was actually looking for loft-bed plans when I stumbled upon this little gem. My kids were out of town for a week at the grandparent's house. I had some free time on my hands and before jumping into a big project like a loft bed, wanted to get my feet wet with a smaller project. I way overshot the 2 hr assembly time on this one. My extended cut/assembly time was because I triple coated each surface with paint and then put a clear coat sealant over the whole project. The paint choice was because my daughter's favorite color is blue and my son's is green. Plus, the racing stripes across the base and the cantilever took some extra time with added paint. With the screw holes, I took a 1/2 inch thick dowel and chopped off a bunch of 1/4 inch thick "coins," match painted them & glued them over the screw holes. As a result, it appears that there are dowels holding it together. With the seats, I used my trusty jigsaw and cut a ~34 inch long hourglass shaped piece of wood (wide at the top/bottom, narrow in the middle), then cut that in half to use as the form-fitted seats. I shaped the outdoor fabric (awning material that matched my paint job) around the seats, filling with 3 inch thick batting. The kids are coming home tomorrow and I hope they like their new toy.

Build this for my two sons with plans from the website.. Turned out good I think.  Modified to make it a touch bigger than the original design.

I made this for my son; he loves it!  I don't have the tools to bevel edges so I did my angles with a cheap jigsaw and I think they turned out just fine.  Thinking of adding a narrow shelf on the bottom.

Super easy and inexpensive build!