Community Brag Posts

This is my first project, and it turned out really well! I bought the wood at Home Depot. It is pine (except for the crowning 2x4, that's douglas fir because Home Depo didn't have that size in pine) and I probably spent about $150 just on the wood, and then I also bought a palm sander, corded drill, circular saw, and Kreg Jig. I also bought pre-stain, stain, and polycrylic finish which added another $45. Plus I spent money on sand paper, clamps, Kreg Jig screws, and some nails.

I included the picture of the back to show how I used the Kreg Jig. I used it to not only attach the middle part to the sides, but I made the middle part one connected piece so it would be extra sturdy, tight, and pieces would not bow when leaned against. The back isn't pretty, but it's against the wall so no one can see. The Kreg Jig is awesome and I'm glad I bought it so I can do other projects.

I also included a photo of the bottom of the side. I used a scrap piece of wood to make it more sturdy since that's where I drilled the holes to bolt it to the bed's metal frame.

Between sanding, assembly, and finishing I worked on this over the course of about two months on the weekends. If you don't sand much and keep the finish more simple you could potentially get it done really fast. But since this is something we plan on using in our master bedroom for years to come I wanted to try to make it perfect. It still has a handful of mistakes (I learned a lot), but my joke is "it's a reclaimed wood headboard."

Now that I've got the tools I'm on to building matching side tables, and pending that goes well the plan is to build a dresser.

I modified the plan a little to make a rectangular 4 foot long planter and added a top.

I made the shim bed a long time ago and really liked the look  and height of the apothecary side table. I can put all my books and stationary and the stuff I want stashed next to my bed. I modifyied the plan slightly to have shims make up the front panels so it has a slight rustic feel to it and matches my bed. Thanks to Ana's plans I am starting to make my own bedroom set for under $300 bucks and completely to my taste. 

I really liked the basic table design.  But since it was going in my wife's medical office I decided to make the top out of Maple and Walnut.  It turned out to be a very big job.  I had to Straighten the edges of the boards so that they would fit together without a space between the boards and then put them through a planer.  I then glued the edges and used Kreg screws to put it all together. Surprisingly it all fits and the base sits flat and level.  I spent a great deal of time measureing all of the 2 X 4s in an effort to make sure that the base was level and the angles all work. 

With some modifications, the Cubby bookcase Craft Table!
Particular things I changed to fit my needs:
Made it to fit next to the corner desktop so I could have one long cohesive workstation that looked more built-in. That meant drawers on the left instead of cubbies. I glued a tape measure on the front for material cutting.
And, the piece de resistance: A roll-out spool holder.
I am VERY happy with how this turned out. Thank you Ana!

When we remodeled our kitchen we had a piece of leftover granite which was previously used as a bar top.  Rather than having it go to waste, my husband used the plans for the rustic x console table and modified it to add another level.  The goal was to use this as a pass-through from the kitchen windows to the deck.  We also added wheels to the bottom of the table to make it portable, to be used as a bar or a grilling station.

Was really excited to build this when I moved in to my new home. It's such a functional piece! I used different types of wood to cover it instead of staining it different shades. That was a fun puzzle to figure out. Really love it and thanks for the free plans!

An afternoon project that went great. Kids love it.

First project. Thank you Ana for getting me started. 

Rustic finish on Ana's Mini Farmhouse Bedside Table

We wanted to build my daughter a smaller bed with lots of storage. I really liked the Daybed plans on here, so we used those and made a few minor adjustments. First, we wanted the bed to sit inside the frame of the bed, instead of just sitting ontop the frame. This will prevent the matress from sliding around. We did this by adding 3 inches on both the length and width of the bed. After building the bed you probably only need to add 1-2 inches, but it still turned out fine. I glued and screwed strips on the side rails a few inches down and then attached my 3" strips to the rails. I also increased the height of the bed slightly by addinga few inches to the 2x4 sides. Also, instead of using 1x12 boards for the construction of the bed, we used 3/4 plywood. This let me make the sides and drawer taller than 12" and also saved a lot of money. I was able to make the whole bed from 2x4s and one sheet of plywood, plus I bought a sheet of MDF for the bottom of the main drawer. This brought the entire cost of the bed to around $150 in materials.

For the bottom drawer we wanted one large storage area instead of 3 seperate drawers. The main reason for this is so we would use it as a trundle in the future if we wanted to. I build the drawer bottom out of a large piece of MDF, and maded the sides out of 3/4 plywood. I cut a 1/2" rabbit on the bottom of the drawer sides so the bottom sits flush. My main reason for doing this was because the boards are different colors (MDF and plywood) and I knew I was not going to be painting the drawers. The drawer sides and attached by pockethole screws which are hiddle. The front pocket hole screws are hidden by the front drawer face and the rear screws could only be seen if you look behind the bed.

I used homemade chalk paint and put about 4 coats on the entire surface. The finish was done with a high quality paste wax which was put on, let dry, and then buffed. I put 3 coats of wax on the finished project.

The bottom of the drawer has 6 straight casters on the bottom for easy pull out.

The contruction of the bed was done in about a day, but the finishing took longer due to the multiple coats and letting the wax dry.

This is my first fine woodworking project after taking two classes at my local Firestarter FabLab community entrepreneurial center.  

I used wormy maple, the top is 40" x 1 1/2" that I used the CNC router to cut out.  The base I used 1" and glued everything to thickness for the the Square X Base Pedestal Dining Table plans, with a few variation.  For the 45's I only made 2x4's instead of the specified 4x4's and the same for the X on the bottom.  Thrilled with how it turned out.

Thank you for the great inspiration!