Community Brag Posts

With a newly finished bathroom we were looking for some stylish storage that fit the space.

During the demo a number of pieces of cabinetry came down and a salvage most of that wood. I also had a couple bi-fold closet doors in my garage that i decided to put to use.

We're totally satisfied with the end product and will be continuing to try our hand at custom pieces.

A much needed space to keep all my usb plugs and chargers but leave room for the dvd burner.

So I took your plans and modified it to suit my needs.

thanks for the incentive Ana as this is my second project I made after the outside bench :)

This was a fun project to do. I am going to add a piece of 24 x 24 sheet metal to the top of it to serve as a smooth flat area to write on. I didn’t have any 1 x 3′s on hand so I ripped several 2 x 4′s down to 1 x 3 which is where I came up with the 1 x 2′s that are running across the top. I’m working on imagineering a chair to go with it, I will post pictures of that as well when I get it put together. If you have a questions or comments feel free to post.

I used the Vintage Bar Stool plans and modified the height and depth of each chair so that they would fit with an indoor bar height. At the time I didn't have a kreg jig, so I used dowels to connect everything. It took much longer since I had to wait for the wood glue to dry, but they are very sturdy and you can't see and drill marks. I used milk paint over stain to get the distressed look, and I love how they turned out!

This was a fun project.  Used just the standard cheapest wood from home depot.  Seems like no matter how hard I work on trying to get good pieces, there is always something off with them.  While the main parts of the project didn't take that much time, the sanding took a good deal of time.  Maybe ill buy some better wood next time!  Used a 60 grit, then a 150, then a 220.  Used a minwax stain with a minwax poly in satin.  sanded the poly with a 220 not to just get it smooth but to give it a less shiny look.  Very happy with the finished product, but every project I learn a few things to bring to the project and improve.  This table is very heavy.  

Our bedroom closet was a DIY special from the previous owners of our home. We had upgraded the closet but were left with a dilemma - the door opening was not a 'standard' size. The two options were to purchase custom built bypass doors ($$$) or to live with the tension rod and curtain we were using. I came across this plan and after a few quick seconds we had decided we were going to try to build our own.

We followed the measuring instructions to measure our door (which we found (not surprisingly) was out of square which made things interesting) and set out to find our wood. My wife fell in love with this wainscoting at Lowes and that became the backing for the doors. We had to buy an extra piece so that I could ensure that the lines in the wainscoting matched the entire length of the door (we used 4x4 sheets rather than 4x8 because our Lowes didn't have full sheets of this particular wainscoting). The wainscoting backing gave it extra bulk and rigidity, making for extremely solid closet doors.

Everything came together and in one week (building and polystaining) we had the doors.

I've had the plans to this shoe dresser saved for months, and finally convinced my husband it was time to build it! In total, we probably spent about 8 hours on it, from cutting the wood to staining.

The instructions are a smidge vague, but if you really think through it, it's a piece of cake. Do not do anything out of order! My husband and I did, and we unfortunately had to redo certain steps.

This was our third project, and so far my favorite piece of furniture in our house!

Footprint is 3" shorter than the plans...flipped the legs and removed 3.5 inches from the top cut to accomodate the apron.

Outdoor Builds by Nathan

I've always wanted a wooden outdoor table for our patio. This site has inspired my husband and I to finally make our own. We combined the 4x4 Truss beam table design with the Providence table design, and created this cedar table that can seat 10. My husband built it and I stained it with Behr transparent cedar naturaltone stain. It only took about 6 hours for my husband to build despite all our measurements are different than the original designs due to change in table size and the wood size purchased. Sanding took about hour to 2 and then follow by a wash. Staining took 3 hours since I did double layers. It turned out amazing and we can't wait to put it to use! Thanks Ana for making these plans available.

My first completed project. Simple shelves on three sides. The headboard has a shelf with a three spot outlet in it. 

I used cedar and treated 2x4 and painted them with exterior paint. Love the way it turned out.

Jason Stump

I have been planning on building a bed for Phaedra for a while now, and had figured I'd mix and match some ideas from some of Ana's other plans to get what I wanted. Then she came up with this, and it was perfect! Phaedra is not yet able to use a ladder to get up and down from a loft bed, so I was planning on stairs. Her bedroom is small, only 8'x10', and I hadn't figured out how to manage the stairs so that the bed wouldn't take up the entire room.

I decided against the stairs on this bed, since they would take up too much floor space. Instead I put a couple of 2x4s to make a ladder up to the platform. Phaedra loves her bed, and figured out getting up in no time at all. It took her about 3 days to master getting down.

I decided on paint instead of stain for the bed, because it was what I had on hand. It is CIL Smart from Home Depot in the melamine finish. Hopefully it will stand up well. The cutting and assembling took no time at all, but the painting took me two weeks! Next bed I make will be stained instead.

The best part, because I already had the paint, was that it cost less than $50 for the materials!

The fancy tree hall fits perfectly across from the coat closet in our entry-way. For the most part, I followed Ana's plans except for the trim and molding. First, instead of using crown molding at the top, I used scrap wood to cut out decorative patterns with my jigsaw. I also cut some decorative crown molding and nailed it to the edges of the bench. Finally, I covered up exposed edges of plywood on the bottom cubbies with cheap molding. I followed the plans to install base molding at the bottom.

Built from the Art Desk plans. I added an additional tray and a second paper roll. Also made mine from 1 sheet of plywood. Used paint samples we had from previous painting projects, added glitter to make it sparkle.