Community Brag Posts

Our local Habitat for Humanity puts on an annual event where they get folks to restore discarded or worn down furniture and sell them at auction. My wife and I participated last year and this year I was asked to build 4 dog houses and then they were going to let local designers/decorators finish them out.

I figured it would be easy to find a good dog house plan, but I was wrong so I had to come up with my own designs. I did not want to use plywood becauase I wanted them to look good. So I used 1x4's and 1x6's. I built them all just a little bit different, but the same basic design on all 3. Since I am not very good with circular cuts, did not do any fancy 1/2 circle doorways!

There are "after" pictures on the Blog. Thanks for looking!

First table built by us. I think it turned out pretty good! Custom built to avoid baseboard heater. 

Our guest room finally has a headboard! I put together this queen size headboard using what I had learned building my daughter's headboard (and consulting the plans for the Reclaimed Wood Headboard) using the remainder of the plywood sheet from her headboard project, 2x3s for the legs, a 2x4 to join the legs (and connect to the metal bed frame), furring strips, and a 1x3 to top it off.

Our plywood had been cut to fit our car, so the first vertical furring strip was placed to hide the seam where I joined the two pieces back together. Then we evenly placed them from center as just looked right to us.

We had a great time seeing this come together as we didn't follow a specific plan, but were able to be a bit more creative inspired by various plans.

Thanks to your clear plans it was easy to make these two chairs from scrap 2x4s. Found the cushions at Lowe's. I'm a grandfather with eight grandchildren live in Iowa.

My husband and I used our Thanksgiving break to build this playhouse and deck, using Ana's plans. We are NOT builders...this is very doable for beginners with the right tools. Read the plans thoroughly before starting. Total cost (including all lumber, hardware, and paint) was under $600.

We still have door and house trim to complete, a little painting, and a handrail/ladder.

Santa may bring a slide and some other fun accessories!

Thanks Ana!!!!!

Really fun build! I changed the plans a bit and made the spindles go all the way to the bottom. Made it more open for the dog. Took a while to finish since I would tinker when I had the extra time! Turned out great with the two tone, stained from and top with white spindles and door. Thanks for the plans!

With lots of leftover wood from previous projects (farmhouse table and sideboard), I decided it was time to start another project. (I did head out to Lowes to get a piece of 4x4 for the legs...they only had Cedar. My friend found some Fir at Home Depot for a buck more).

Found the plans for the Farmhouse Bench, looked at other brag posts and their suggestions...then got to work!

Cutting the pieces was fast and relatively easy. Predrilling the pocket holes also went quick. Putting the pieces together was also very fast (though I did have to add extra pocket holes here-and-there so that the legs and two end-aprons were more sturdy).

Sanded the piece, then added a coat of Rustoleum Dark Walnut Stain, and then a couple coats of Deft Satin varnish.

We started this project a few months ago. My husband made most of the construction, and I decorated the inside. We added many little details, including a clothesline, windows with plexiglass, a BBQ, a little kitchen, a doorbell, a solar light, a slide, shelves, a table, a bench, etc. The kids loooooove their new house. The whole project took many many hours, but I am really happy with the results. Thank you so much Ana for the plans!!

I made this outdoor chair by looking at a variety of plans and designs from Restoration Hardware and other stores. Check out more info on the project on my blog link. Thanks for looking!

Just wanted to show my Weatherly Sofa (Sectional) that I built recently. I've been drooling over Ana's plans for months now, I waited patiently until I could get a good deal on a Kreg Jig since so many of Ana's plans use it. I purchased my cushions first, I really wanted Sunbrella fabric since they will be outside in my Lanai so they need to stand up to the Florida elements, I was so excited when I found the seat and back cushions for $40 a set discounted from $98, however I kept watching them after I purchased them and they eventually dropped down to $20 a set (called Lowes and they refunded me the difference), so total for all 8 seat and back cushions was only around $170...the problem with them however was that they were 25 x 25 and not the 24 x 24 that Ana recommends in the plans. I just modified the length of the sofa's by adding 3" and With by 1" which did increase my cost of wood since I was short certain pieces however I really wanted them to fit and not look squashed in there. The extra 3" made them fit perfectly. I also have 8 matching back cushions but they are a little too puffy to keep on there so I just use 2 on the ends and stored the rest. The small cushions I also purchased were on sale for $4 a set of 2. This was a relatively easy project. I was a little intimidated to use a compound miter saw to do my cuts so instead I just purchased a Stanley Clamping Miter box that was able to do the 30 degree cuts to make the x's. Total cost was $470 with all the cushions. I used Behr Weather Proofing Wood Stain & Sealer Semi-permanent in COFFEE which gave it a driftwood beachy look. It is so comfortable and sturdy. I love it and considering it was my first build from Ana's site I'm now hooked....Thank you Ana

Once we hade the frame of it built, we stapled landscaping fabric and chicken wire to the bottom to keep weeds and moles/gophers from coming up through the bottom.

Other than that... We followed the plans as given.

The kids LOVE it!

I used the main plan for ideas, but opted to use 3.5 inch pickets instead, which allowed for a smaller planter that wasn't as big. Also chose to miter 1x3s for the top which I think really finishes it off. Sanded everything with a belt sander to 220 grit. Used min wax golden pecan plus three coats of poly inside and out. Finished size was about 17x17. Tile spacers work great to keep the gaps even!

I made this chair for my 3 year old son who is obsessed with Disney Cars based off of Ana's 

Super easy little Adirondack chair plans.

I made this bunk bed for a friend's daughters.  I modified the plans by using 2x2's for the bed posts instead of 1x2's.  It made it harder to hide the screws but in the end I think it looks better.