Community Brag Posts

This is one of my first projects. Thanks for the great plans. My daughter loves her new toy storage.

We loved the shanty sideboard and corresponding hutch. We painted the project in an offwhite with a brown glaze (consisting of 4 parts Behr faux glaze to 1 part minwax espresso stain). The only modifications to the plan are 3/4" trim pieces in the top part to hide the plywood, remove 1/4 inch from the sideboard shelves to allow room for doors to shut, and apply trim to the cabinet doors to dress it up a little.

I desperately needed storage in our 1910 house that was not in the basement.  I wanted a place to keep my sewing machine and accessories, at-home school supplies, and other odds and ends.  We had an alcove in the kitchen that was about 74 inches wide and 17 inches deep, so I decided to build something to fit that space.  I really liked the Simplest Armoire plan but I also really liked the Kentwood Bookshelf, so I ended up somewhat combining the two.  Since I had a fairly large space, I made the cabinet about 6 ft X 6 ft.  The hardest part was getting it into the house.  This project was my first big DIY building project without my dad's help.  I did call him a few times during the project however, and he helped me hang the doors.  I really enjoyed using the Kreg Jig and I appreciated having all of the Kreg Jig instructions for the Kentwood Bookshelf.  It was a huge help, as I had only used the Kreg Jig a little and with my dad in the past.  My husband has been a great support as I have ventured into building furniture.  He works from home, but any time that I needed him to help hold a large sheet of plywood he was quick to help.  This was definitely a big project for a beginner, but I enjoy a challenge when it comes to fixing things and creating things. Fortunately, this one worked out in the end!  Now what should I build next summer...

Followed simple instructions, but  added my own twist.  Do it yourself craft paper holder. 

Very simple plans and project. Cost about 30.00 to make and about 2 hours to build. Painted it matte black and sanded for a distress look.

Modified the plans to add a shelf for DVD player and gaming consoles. 

Used the plans for the spa bench to make a easy entryway bench...

As a newly blended family of seven  people, we needed a dining room table that would accomodate our family comfortably.  With nothing suitable available locally and our joint interest in homemade projects, we searched for a plan we could work with.  We were thrilled when we found this plan, which we customized to the dimensions of our dining room. We adjusted the length to 9' and the width to 33" and went with a plank and breadboard end top.  We used a Tudor colour Minwax polyshade stain with a satin finish for the top.  To achieve the worn look of the pedestals we used a torch to burn the wood, primed it with a primer sealer, painted it with furniture andcabinet paint (Armadillo) for durability, then scuffed/sanded the desired areas with a durable 60 grit sandpaper.  Making the table ourselves allowed us to use a colour scheme which matched the chairs we had purchased.  We will add, it was more time consuming than anticipated, but well worth it!  We LOVE our new table!! 

I'd been looking for a plank-style farmhouse table for quite some time. Couldn't find what I wanted to buy anywhere (and too cheap to spend the money even if I did), so decided to make my own table. Made up my own design for the table top, and then went looking for the right legs. I liked the pedestals on Ana's design a lot, but thought 3 was too many for my project. Looking at some of the other tables that had been done with only two, I decided I didn't love the high placement of the spanning bar when done with only 2 legs. So, I moved it down to the bottom of the legs instead, and added a couple of decorative knobs to make up for the lost visual interest to the pedestal columns. I'm not a particularly physically strong woman, but I was was able to do this entire build single-handedly, with very little previous experience assembling furniture (lots of diy experience doing other kinds of home improvement projects though). Only needed a second set of hands when finally lifting the top onto the legs at the end. Fun project overall.

Final table size is 8' X 33.5". Seats 8 comfortably; can fit 10 when needed.

The table is the fancy x desk. This was my very first wood project. My first time using power tools and painting furniture. The picture frames are from Ana Whites book, The Handbuilt Home. They were my second project. This is located in the back of my frontroom. I love the color. Thanks Ana!

P.S. this was my first project, so I took my time.

Saw Ana's plan on Pinterest for the Rustic X Coffee Table and wanted it in my own home!

I modified the origianl plans by making the cabinet taller.  I also built 2 cabinets and trimmed them both together to make it appear as if it is 1 giant cabient.  It measure over 7 feet tall and just over 6 feet wide.  I did add an additional 1x2 brace in the center of the cabinet to help support.  I also cut an additional 1x4 to use a brace when anchoring it to the wall.  I also chose to add an additional 2 trim pieces to each door because they are much taller than the original plan doors.  

This plan is from Ana's book, "The Handbuilt Home." Construction was completed over a weekend but the stain and finish took some time between cold weather and family needs. We started just before Christmas and finished by Valentines. Thus Tracey's Christmastine Present.

It is a sturdy table but it has some play along the length of the table. I like the plans for the support beam from the website better but we stayed with the book plans. The Pocket Holes were great to use. I am not sure I like finish nailing and glueing the sides to the legs, it seems it needs something stronger but we will see how this works over time.

I did not like mixing Pine 1x4's with the Douglas Fir but after seeing the finished stain it has an interesting look. You can see this on the photos of the legs. The wood was purchased from Home Depot and they did not have Doug. Fir 1x4's.

We only used two coats of Poly. Tracey did not want to wait any longer. The wood is soft as evidenced by the handwriting marks in the table from my daughters homework. Hey, she is doing homework at the table! Lots of "Character Marks" to come.

Overall it was a great project and fun to complete. Looking forward to some small tables and picture frames.

Used square laundry baskets instead of regular rectangular baskets. The square ones aren't as deep but are a bit taller so I had to modify the plans. I added a backsplash and some wooden tags to the baskets to designate them for certain colors. I also added some decorative trim and finished the bottom in a gray stain and used white chalk paint for the top.

Larger than on-line plans but it got me started. The top is made of oak skids glued together for 1-5/8" thickness.