Community Brag Posts

Been a while since I had time to actually build anything worth posting about! My wife wanted some items for her Kindergarten classroom this year, so built several items, most inspired by the Farmhouse family.

This is the cooler stand presented by Jenny from Birdsandsaoap. Very easy to build and always ends up with someone asking to buy it or have you make them one.

Nesting Grill Station

I used 1 x 10s to make the bookcase a little shallower, and left the back open. Thanks for the great plan.

Perfect size for my granddaughter. She loves it. Project turned out great. Thanks for the plans Ana! 

I modified the origianl plans by making the cabinet taller.  I also built 2 cabinets and trimmed them both together to make it appear as if it is 1 giant cabient.  It measure over 7 feet tall and just over 6 feet wide.  I did add an additional 1x2 brace in the center of the cabinet to help support.  I also cut an additional 1x4 to use a brace when anchoring it to the wall.  I also chose to add an additional 2 trim pieces to each door because they are much taller than the original plan doors.  

My wife used the benchmark media console plans with her own idea for the doors

This is a gun cabinet I made for my dad out of old barn wood.

I combined Ana's plans for Daybed with Storage Trundle Drawers and a Storage Headboard with a Small Hutch.

This is my 3rd daybed with storage drawers. It's such an easy build and gives so much extra space. The entire project took about 40 hours. I used Minwax stain in Classic Grey and three coats of polyurethane. For the drawers, I used 1.5" casters. I drilled a hole through the back of the headboard to feed cords through. Then I put the whole thing in the back of my truck and drove 500 miles for the final assembly. :)  In the provided photos, some of the pieces are flush because I hadn't permanently attached them. 

My son needed more room in his bedroom...and to be rid of the very girly furniture he inherited when he moved into his "big boy-ish" bedroom. At 10 yrs old, it was high time he got a bed that wasn't pink-tinged, white washed pine with 4 posters and enough curlicues to choke a forest. He also needed a desk which I couldn't really fit in his room with the armoire and chest of drawers that came with the Queen sized bed.

So off to Ikea we went and I saw a black loft bed for $300, but it was really, really high which meant I would have to cut it down and it was not sturdy at all. I looked at PB and saw the $1800 bed. Um, no - that wasn't happening. So, off to Ana-White I went and I'm so happy I did!

I built the full sized version of these plans and, to keep costs down, used wood I had on hand. This meant I had to work a bit at the cuts, but it all worked out.

Mods:
1) I modified the railings to have the ladder at the end of the bed to keep away from the ceiling fan.

2) Because I put the ladder at the end of the bed, I got very nervous about having a soon-to-be teen climbing on to a ladder secured to a 1x10 that was only connected to the side railings with glue and screws. So I sandwiched extra 1x3s over the bottom rails and attached them to the top railing.

3) I was very nervous about making sure that the bed was adequately supported so I put a 2x4 down the center instead of the 1x2.

4) I went a wee-bit overboard screwing things together to the point where it's a bit embarrassing and now I have to paint over the screw heads.

5) I made the ladder treads with 2x4's, modifying the inside spacer board cut lengths.

Because I had quite a bit of lumber on hand, the bed only ended up costing me about $90.

For the bookcase, I did end up buying the 1x12s and the adjustable shelf railings. I made the book shelf the entire width of of the bed and split the two sections based on width of the 1x24 board I bought for the desk. I only put the backer board up half way so that the daylight could get underneath the bed and make it not so cave-like.

The book case cost me about $70.

The desk was the easiest...but most costly item. A 1x6x24, 4 table legs and the table leg mounts ran me about $80. The plexiglass top that I had cut for the top cost me about $80.

Time wise, this would have taken me a lot less time than the 4 months it took - but I worked on it as I could and when I could, by myself. I got some friends to help me bring it upstairs and put it back together, but it was mostly done when I could fit in some time.

My son LOVES this and it really does give him so much room!!! Thanks Ana - I really appreciate it!

Great plans allow for versatility and easy customization. Put the whole thing together in a day w/ one other person. My set up is 16' long - 5' on the side shelves and 6' for the workbench. Added a pegboard and fluorescent light under the top middle shelves. I'm also designing a slim drawer to go under the workbencheck area. Thanks a bunch!