Community Brag Posts

Small Dresser

Submitted by Smokeydog on Wed, 03/18/2015 - 16:31

I made this dresser for a young lady who has never had any furniture unless it came from IKEA. Time to mix it up a little.  She was very delighted. The bulk of the dresser is poplar plywood with decorative birch trim.  I had trouble matching the paint color she wanted so I experimented by buying paint as close as I could find to the shade of grey she wanted and then mixed it with paint I had in the shop until I got the desired result.  I'm  no master at mixing paints.  I simply got lucky.  I traced out the decorative top using my wife's China serving platter and then routered the edge. Turned out OK and my wife was none the wiser.

 

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
130.00
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
Satin Paint
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Comments

pde00311

Thu, 03/19/2015 - 13:00

The finish turned out amazing. How did you get the two toned effect on the drawers? Did you paint the grey face and the white molding separately? Also, is the molding flush with dresser frame?

Smokeydog

Thu, 03/19/2015 - 14:04

Thank you for your nice comment. The drawer face and trim were painted separately. The drawers are flush with the frame but the trim is not. The trim is attached to the drawer face and protrudes out from the frame. I liked the shadow effect that this created. I also decided to put white quarter round on the base of the dresser. This additional trim really makes it pop! I'll update the photo when this is completed.

Thanks again!

Ultimate work bench

Submitted by markmart74 on Fri, 06/16/2017 - 18:44

Tablesaw, router, fliptop mitersaw, and dust collection workbench. 

Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Comments

Outdoor Recording Studio Shed Build

Submitted by brittanyj on Wed, 09/01/2021 - 10:48

As an on camera actor, I found myself with zero work during the pandemic. All productions were shut down and my day job no longer existed. It was time to get creative.
Voice over work started booming, particularly for actors who could record from home, because recording studios were shut down. I've dabbled a bit in voice over and had been interested in diving in and took my first step by buying a sound reducing booth called a whisper room.

The problem? There was nowhere in our house to to put the 6'x8' booth. So it sat on the back porch for months, covered by a tarp.
For a woodworker, this just wouldn't do! It was time to build an out building to house the booth and have my own outdoor recording studio. I read endless books and watched videos on building recording studios and made my plans over a few months.

Finally, in March, I excavated the land and prepped it for a pour. We had a concrete guy come in and pour the slab.

As soon as that set, I began work from the ground up in building this fancy shed. It took me 3 months, but I learned so much about the basics of building a house, and now I am auditioning for professional projects in my beautiful studio. I couldn't be prouder.

I ran electric, ethernet, I put in flooring, I roofed, drywalled, made a custom door threshold, inserted a window and framed every last bit of this building. There were bumps along the way- to be expected in a one person build- but she's done and ready for work.

I documented the build from start to finish here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yPcEW6cqhcQ

Comments

Modern Farmhouse Table and Bench

Submitted by sherm917 on Mon, 04/29/2013 - 19:56

This was my first project. It took me a longer time than planned because I kept making mistakes and kept going back and trying to fix them. The plan was simple enough and I learned alot from this project. I can't wait to start my next one!

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Time Investment
Week Long Project (20 Hours or More)
Finish Used
MINWAX POLYSHADES Mission Oak Satin, 2 coats
Recommended Skill Level
Starter Project

Dog Bowls

Submitted by tedgray86 on Fri, 03/20/2015 - 21:41

Dog bowls made from scrap wood!  Super Easy!

Estimated Time Investment
An Hour or Two (0-2 Hours)
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Comments

Evie's Garden

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Tue, 06/20/2017 - 21:20

   This was a great weekend project with help from my two nephews. My 4 year old daughter had been asking to grow a garden and has really enjoyed watering and watching everything grow!! She makes sure to check on everything daily!! Fun project!!

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
None
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Mudroom Bench with Hutch

Submitted by calliher on Sun, 09/12/2021 - 18:45

This is my laundry room and it is about 12x10. It looked so bare with only the washer and dryer. So I thought making this a mudroom also. I live in the mountains and have snow 3 to 4 months a year. This will be perfect. I purchased an IKEA cabinet built it in and added the Ana White plans with two bays.

Comments

Parsons Desk

Submitted by babooshka on Wed, 05/01/2013 - 22:13

This was a good project and I'm not very advanced. I increased the size of the table top to 60x28 and decided to just increase the width of each drawer by 6" and keep the aprons at 6" I was able to find a piece of oak plywood that added to the cost but I have two big pieces left over for future projects.

One thing to watch out for - the cut list says the leg trimmings should be 25 1/2 but the drawing shows 25 3/4. Shame on me for not adding it up, but I ended up having to trim 1/4 off the top of the center leg boards before putting the plywood on it.

On the top I measured out where I put the drawer housing support screws, overscrewed them then added some 3/8 flat oak caps. I also did this at each corner into the legs. I think it gave it a nice worn look to offset the modern feel of the desk.

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
$250
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
Ash color stain (2 coats), semi-gloss poly (2 coats).
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Lounge Chair

Modified the arm rest and the back to my liking. 

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Time Investment
Afternoon Project (3-6 Hours)
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Comments

gmhurley

Tue, 06/23/2020 - 08:59

Hi, are plans available for this modified chair design? I like that the seat pan appears to be flat and the Adirondack style to the back slate.

Kitchen Island Trolley

Submitted by naomi on Fri, 06/23/2017 - 08:29

Base was made from recycled timber and the top was made with new pine.

The rails were made from curtain rails. 

One end has wheels for easy moving.

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
$20
Estimated Time Investment
Day Project (6-9 Hours)
Finish Used
Enamel Paint and Brown Japan Stain
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Comments

sis2795

Wed, 07/31/2019 - 16:58

I don’t understand the cost for this. The wood is going to cost significantly more than $20. Am I an idiot and don’t know where to get the wood from??? How does that equal out to $20?

In reply to by sis2795

naomi

Sun, 08/11/2019 - 22:41

Hi,

All of the base was made from free pallet Wood and the timber top was one line length of new timber which cost about $8 and the wheels I had in the shed and the curtain rail was a couple of dollars from Bunnings. The paint and stain I already had.

I hope this helps. 😀

Kids dresser

Submitted by Lukilla on Wed, 09/29/2021 - 16:43

We found ourselves in need of upgrading our 4 year-olds dresser situation. This dresser answered the call and then some. We really like that it's short enough that he can access the top, and wide enough that the risk of it tipping over is fairly non-existent.

Jacobean finish to match his bed.

Comments

Modified Rustic X Console

As soon as I saw the "Rustic X Console" table, I knew I wanted it !! I love the rustic look without being too country. I needed something to hold all the TV components (cable box, DVD player, etc) as well as kids toys. Something that would store what we have now and transition with us through the years. As the kids gets older and toys start to move out, I can still use it! We modified the plan by adding a small shelf at the top to hold our media stuff. I like having the very top free from clutter. Everything is tucked away but still easy to access. It's perfect !!

We finished it by using a green paint wash with leftover paint from our kitchen (3 parts paint to 1 part water). It worked perfectly. We can still see the wood grain and it adds a little color without being too overpowering.

Estimated Cost
$120
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
Paint wash made with leftover paint.
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Tryde Coffee Table - First project!

My boyfriend built this for me as a birthday gift. It is absolutely beautiful, he did a great job - especially with limited carpentry experience! The top is stained with pickled white stain tinted with gray, and the bottom is painted white.

Built from Plan(s)
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Studio 82 Build: Computer Table

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sun, 06/25/2017 - 20:34

Farm style computer table. Simplistic so the design does not naturally attract your attention, but once you notice it, you notice the beautiful details. 

Of note, make sure you sand ALL corners before calling the project complete. Otherwise you'll be banging your knees and bleeding all the time. 

Estimated Cost
~$300
Estimated Time Investment
Day Project (6-9 Hours)
Finish Used
Epoxy finish for top. Rubbed varnish for the body.
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Adirondack chairs

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Mon, 10/04/2021 - 12:31

I have 5 grandchildren that I made chairs for

Built from Plan(s)

Comments

Fancy Farmhouse Bed

Submitted by henryholub on Tue, 05/07/2013 - 13:16

With a child on the way, our house has been undergoing some changes. We were in need of a guest bedroom for family members and needing to store my wife's childhood twin bed with a hidaway twin underneath that was set up in the room that would become the nursery. We also needed to clean all the backpacking gear out of the closet in the nursery room to get ready for it to be taken over by all the baby stuff. I decided a "King-sized" bed out of the two twin mattresses would be a good solution as it would keep us from "storing" the two mattresses and meet the guest bed need. After I came across the plans for the fancy farmhouse bed, I knew if i just added some height to it, I could meet the storage need too! There's 14'' on my version of the fancy farmhouse bed between the carpet and the rails, plenty of room for medium sized plastic tubs to slide in and out (as seen with the "test tub" in the picture. Under my bed there are currently 9 tubs, two large suit cases, a PA speaker, Power speaker head, a large double sleeping bag, and a little room for more. I'll try to add pictures when I finish the room out with night stands (wine crates mounted to the wall), a bedskirt, lamps, and a headboard. Once I got the wood home, it was a fast build. The slowest part was painting

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
$75
Estimated Time Investment
Afternoon Project (3-6 Hours)
Finish Used
Flat white valspar paint
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Comments

Nail Gun Cabinet

This week was a collaboration between me and Brad at FixthisBuildthat.com. I made a slight variation of his hanging tool cabinet to store my nail guns. More details at my website: http://www.lanebroswoodshop.com/2015/03/nail-gun-cabinet.html

YouTube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BUHnkjojlWc

Estimated Cost
$100
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
Wipe on Poly
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

58" Rustic X Coffee Table

Submitted by halsy on Wed, 06/28/2017 - 16:29

This was my first ever DIY project and I have to say I even impressed myself!

I modified the plans slightly as I wanted a longer version of this table.  Despite lengthening the table, I found a way to use less wood.  Instead of the 5 - 2x6 studs suggested, I bought 3 - 2x6x10s.  To accomodate the longer tabletop, I needed to extend the side trim and 1x12, but at 58" top length, these cuts were 47", meaning no extra wood was required (just a little less room for error).

I also used 3/4" cedar strips to mount the 1x12 since I do not have a pocket hole tool (see last photo).

For the finish, I applied Minwax wood conditioner, Dark Walnut for 14 minutes, then Classic Grey on top of the still wet walnut stain for another 10 minutes, followed by two coats of the Fast-Drying Satin Poly.

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
$60-70 CAD
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
Minwax Wood Conditioner
Minwax Dark Walnut
Minwax Classic Grey
Minwax Fast-Drying Satin Poly
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Planter Boxes

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Mon, 10/04/2021 - 12:53

I made the boxes from plans, but added bench and trellis from my own design.

Built from Plan(s)

Comments

Seasonal And Holiday

Smurf Blue Farmhouse Bed with Guardrails

Submitted by community-cont… on Fri, 02/25/2011 - 10:25

Just finished the Twin-sized Farmhouse bed, I love the easy to do plans. The only power tools I used were a jigsay & drill.

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
$100
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Eco Desk

Submitted by stacynabby on Thu, 05/09/2013 - 08:39

I've been meaning to build my own desk for my office and I wanted to stay true to the Eco Modular design. But, then I was offered a huge promotion with a larger office in a city 3 hours away. The space already had the "executive style" desk made by prison industries, so I thought I would replace it with with the "executive style" based off the Eco Modular design. I used Purebond plywood, cut all of the pieces at my house, put them in my car, drove them 3 hours to the new office, and crossed my fingers that it would all fit...and it did! The drawer faces were a bit more of a challenge, getting everything sized properly, but it's all come together. I like having the shelf on the one side to get my printer off the desktop. More room to spread out.

Estimated Cost
$350
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
Cabot's Fruitwood stain
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate