Community Brag Posts

I used all distressed or reused wood. While I followed plans from Ana’s posting I used reused or distressed wood, cutting the wood to the plans specifications.   Cutting the wood I also considered the nominal size of lumber and the size requested in the plans.  Even with the unit sanded and pained the I like the character that has come through.

Big thanks to Ana for the plans and the rest of the community for ideas! This was my first major project, and I'm very happy with the way it turned out. This bed was based on the King Farmhouse plan. I wanted a look that was a little less rustic than the classic farmhouse style, so I substituted the boards for oak plywood and framed it out with some pine boards and cove molding.  The pine boards are 1x3s.  I topped the headboard and footboard with a 2x4 and then a 2x6 overhanging the 2x4 evenly on three sides (it's flush in the back).

The posts are 4x4 cedar.  I used lag bolts and glue to attach the posts and concealed the large holes with wood plugs cut from scrap sections of the 4x4.  

I wanted to be able to break the bed down, so I used Rockler no-mortise bed fittings to connect the side rails to the headboard and foot board.  I highly recommend these fasteners.  They are easy to use and seem very solid. I framed out the bed with 2x4s that I connected directly to the side rails with pocket hole joinery.  (First time using the Kreg jig - love it!!).

Thanks again!!

My wife wanted a bench for one side of our dining room table. After looking at prices to purchase, I decided to see if I could build it. This was my first wood working project and I built the bottom half using only a circular saw. By the time I decided on the design for the back, and actually figured out how to build it, 18 months and many other building projects had passed. This is the final piece.

My husband built this farmhouse table for me for our anniversary. This was his first build and is so proud of his work. He completed it in time for us to host Thanksgiving for some soldiers in his unit. The table sits 8 comfortably and doubles as a ping pong table with my kids. 

Mid size adirondack chair made after the Disney Cars character Ramone.

We used the Farmhouse Table plans but made a few modifications to get the look my wife was looking for. We've since built a cupboard to go with it.

This was our very first building project and we are thrilled with how it turned out!

I changed up the dimensions a little bit... I wanted the table to be shorter and wider. I ended up using three 2x10s and two 2x8 for the table top to make it wider, and then just changed the cut list to make the table 76" long instead of 85". 

We did our best with picking out the straightest pieces of lumber from Fleet Farm, but even then had trouble getting the boards flush and flat to make the table top. I laid on the boards while my husband screwed them together, but even then had to spend hours sanding the top so that it was as flat as possible. 

I did a couple coats of stain, which turned out really nice on the top of the table, but for some reason the legs turned a funny color. Some of the knots are a strange shade of purple. 

The polyurethane is amazing stuff. I had to control myself from putting on a million coats. Beware- that stuff sticks to everything and does not come off. (Olive oil helps get it out of hair ;)...)

Anyways, I love this table and so do all of our visitors! We can comfortable fit 8 people at the table (squishy with 10 people) even with change in table dimensions. Great for hosting Thanksgiving!

Modifications:

Rounded ends of feet with table saw. 

Used 60" round tabletop, cut from a plank tabletop made of 2x6s.

Also ripped 1" off the X-supports to reduce thickness. 

Benchright table from Ana Whites plans. Made it 5 foot long to fit out space.

Easy project . Two year old is going to love it.

Built this using the Anna White's "MIMI'S FAUX MANTLE" but instead of using crown molding I elected to use STONE TILES in a neutral tones and finished the surround and mantle in white giving the piece a nice soft appeal.  The building plans were easy to follow and took about 2 days to complete the whole process (because of drying times) not to mention how reasonable the cost was.  I already had the tiles,  adhesive, and paint from left over projects.

This was my first used left over 2 by 4 from basement remodel and was first project using kregjig

I built a platform bed for our new matress and wanted to make some nightstands that matched. These worked out wonderfully.

I needed to recover the desktop space occupied by two printers--one a black and white laser printer, and the other a multi-function color printer, scanner, and copier.  There are also two routers that were taking up space.  The L-shaped oak desk with return I purchased from a furniture store had a full-size hutch available, but it wouldn't really help store the printers since they would be too high to use.

When looking around for plan ideas, my first stop is Ana's page.  The schoolhoouse desk hutch dimensionally matched what I was thinking about.  I liked the ideas of the cubby-holes to get papers and other items off the desk but readily available.

I trimmed it out a little fancier to match the desk and included feet simlar to a an oak hutch we have in the dining room.  I think this feature, along with the trim, helps break up the straight lines.

I prefer to use biscuits in lieue of pocket screws so I don't have all the holes to fill.  I think it makes a cleaner cabinet but clamping time adds a little to the assembly.  I attached the face frame with brad naile--18 ga for the face frame and a 24-ga pin nailer for the upper trim.

I also leave the face frame slighltly proud, about 1/8", which when sanded ends up about 1/16"  We had some kitchen cabinets like this and I prefer the look to flush.  Plus you don't have to use a flush-trim bit all the way around the cabinet.

The cabinet is oak 3/4" plywood and solid oak pieces while the back is 1/8" birch.  I couldn't find 1/8" oak panels at our local yards.  The back is recessed in the cabinet, and next time I will be sure to cut the rabbit for the back before assembling the case.  It was much harder with the ribs for the cubby-holes interfering with the router bit bearing.

I like the way it turned out and is functional without over-powering the room.  I also added rope lights underneath and on the back for task and mood lighting.

My husband and I needed a new coffee table. While browsing this website we found one we liked. We changed it up a little to make it taller. Hubby also added more wood inside of the table to make it heavier.

I always wanted a fireplace. Living in Puerto Rico, obviously a real one is not needed. I saw the fireplaces on Ana's site and decided to make myself one from materials I had on hand. 

I started out with Ana's Fireplace anywhere but when done I thought it needed a little beefing up for my purpose so I added a few more 1x3's and made the top 12" so the dvd theater system would fit on top. 

Finished  it off  by sanding, priming and black glossy paint. I wanted the panel gold but the metallic paint I had was too watery so went with silver, I am planning on adding a monogram or such on the panel also but haven't decided on what exactly yet, I made a few faux cardboard logs, made a few wholes in them and wrapped red and gold christmas lights in them for a fire effect. It really adds a nice touch to the living room. The wall behind it is made of brown craft paper, painted with brown, silver and gold, torn into pieces and applied with glue mix. I did it last year and gave myself a year to see if I still liked it. I do, so this year I gave it a polyutherene gloss coat and did a similiar treatment with different colors to the front porch.