Community Brag Posts

My first coffee table.

I have 3 Grandson's that love to be pirates so I decided to make them a pirate ship teeter totter. After searching the Web for plans and finding nothing I was looking for I decided to just go for it and see what I could come up with. This pirate ship is heavy duty. I use 2x8's, 2x10's and 2x12's for the frame and seats and 1x10's and 1x12's for the inside foot platform. It's 5ft long, 3ft wide and 3ft high. I had to put some stop blocks on it or it would of been a catapult instead of a teeter totter. (I know this because I climbed on and took it for a ride) Everything is connected using pocket holes and pocket hole screws (Thanks to my Kreg jig) I added a pole up the center and added a pirates flag and puts some swords on the sides. The kids sure have fun on it and so do I.

Bookshelf for our living room

Awesome project. Very simple, doing the sanding and finish requied more time than the cutting and assembly.

Took the general dimensions from these reclaimed wood plans and modified them to include a chevron back. The most difficult aspect was determining the cut marks for each chevron piece and rounding the edges to bring out the details.

Finished the headboard with a satin-finish, oil-based enamel paint.

Additional pictures and information available on my website.

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!