Community Brag Posts

Inspiration for this project came from the original Restoration Hardware table's price, which was way out of our budget. We found the plans on this site, and then the brag post from http://tommyandellie.com/?p=2582, which convinced me to give it a try when we moved to our new house.
I pulled some ideas and techniques from a couple of different areas - one was the idea from American Woodworker to use a straight-edge and a router to joint the edges of adjacent boards so they match perfectly, or as close to perfect as possible (see one of the pictures). After a few false starts it worked out very well.
One other big change was to use 4x4 pieces for the legs and cross-braces - especially on the long cross-brace. With two kids (6 and 3) and a third on the way, I knew they would want to crawl under the table to play, and sit on the beams - and I was afraid a 2x4 wouldn't hold up to their weights. I've VERY happy with the result - that base is not moving or flexing at all.
Finally, I learned a TON about what NOT to do! Apparently after doing the dry fit and having everything fit well, you should not sand the parts of the boards that fit together or suddenly they will be loose! Also, wiping off the stain after the suggested amount of time IS a good idea, after all! Finally, we ended up using pine boards with fir 4x4's, and I wish we had used all fir as I think the grain pattern was nicer.
All in all, though, it was a great experience and I can't wait to tackle another project!

We were looking to make a king size storage bed in the farmhouse style, but couldn't find anything that was exactly what we wanted, so we stole pieces from several plans and ended up with this! 

Farmhouse Media Center

Good plans and easy construction. Thanks!

So This project was a little harder than I anticipated, but thanks to Anas' Rhyan nightstand plans as well as Kimbers project on the "not so Rhyan nightstand" I was able to get these done. A special thanks to Kimbers for several consult emails as well as some tips on getting materials at cheaper prices!!

I often got cheap material in the scrap area of the orange box. There actually was some good stuff there if you go early and get it before the contractors do! 1/4 sheet of 3/4" birch plywood for 4.01$

For this project I used the rattle can. I've had it suggested to me for other projects but was never willing to try it. It worked really well. No brush strokes but the down side is that it hid nothing!!!

Bathroom mirror made from 1 by 6s and a 24 inch by 20 inch plain mirror.

A few 2x4’s and some old fence boards. 

Danish oil - walnut. 

My wife and I picked this out as our first somewhat complex piece from Ana's site to make. Most of the table is made from left over 1x4s I had from a fence we made. I only needed 2 1x12s as we didn't make the drawers as deep.

Because I cut down the 1x4s for the legs (and didn't examine the plans in detail first) I made them 3 inches wide when the ones in the plan are only 2.5 inches wide. This made for a few adjustments, such as the middle two drawers being a bit narrower.

The fronts of the drawers are normal height, but the boxes are only 4 inches high inside (so they don't fill up with as much junk, lol).

The 1x12s were only 11 inches wide, so I laminated some 1x2s on the sides to make it wide enough.

I think it really turned out well and we're already planning some complimentary pieces for our living room.

Counting the left over wood from the fence it probably cost around $50 including the stain and polyurethane.

I made the legs rounded instead of cut like the plans showed. I also made the table top much larger, so I extended the legs and the table supports. The kids picked Tree Frog Green by Valspar. They loved helping paint!

The chairs are the Children's Storage Chairs.

I used modified plans from Thrifty and Chic. I have the same cushions size from Target that she has. It worked out beautifully. 

I got all the wood from the dump. The best way to get a good glue up for the table top is joint the sides flat, and then hand plane the top for a smooth surface. Gorgeous table for nothing.

We made it a little shorter to act as a coffee/cocktail table on the deck. Comes in handy for homebrew too!

Great plans and we love the finished product!

We couldn’t be happier with the outcome! This bed is beautiful and everyone who sees it is impressed. We did raise both the footboard and headboard so that both gave a bit more impressive appearance and so that the footboard rises above the mattress.

This was our second project from the site.

We used the plans from the Queen Farmhouse Bed as a guide, and used information from the Two-Tone Kingzize Bed to finish it off.

Some differences we had were to used a single panel instead of multiple panels for the headboard and footboard. We then bordered that panel with 1x3's, and a 1x3 down the middle of the panels.

We also attached the box frame (we dont use boxsprings) a little higher than the plans. We attached these at 11.5 inches up. If you like high sitting beds, this will do it.

Great project. We havent sanded/stained it yet.