Community Brag Posts

I made this as a special housewarming gift for a family we are helping out this Christmas. I didn't need to buy anything, but I love how it turned out.

Scrap wood comes in handy when you need to build something quick. Our other end tables are in the garage because our little one likes to tip them over. So this was a quick fix, but we might use it as a writing/ coloring desk later.

This is the sequel to my first kitchen cabinet build, the awesome base unit to the right of the stove. It's another custom design to fit the space (and replace some horribly inefficient metal cabinets that, while cute, really looked like they belonged in a different kitchen). And my first time working with maple and edge banding! Thank you, thank you, no applause please. I'm calling this project "intermediate" skill only because I chose to router the doors and install cup hinges. Otherwise, they're just big boxes on the wall, for real.

The carcasses, shelves, and door panels are all Purebond plywood. The face and door frames are 1x2 and 1x3 maple. The french cleat used to hang the two pieces is also plywood (more on my blog about that). Unfortunately, I don't know enough about wiring to add/move that outlet so that the microwave cord could be hidden...but at least the microwave itself is off the counter! It doesn't have to be perfect to be beautiful.

The wineglass storage is a sort-of take-off on a few other plans on here and some pieces I saw down in Amish country. It's a little rough-looking outside of the cabinet into which it is installed because I didn't design that element very elegantly. Plus I kept changing things on myself mid-stream.

The concealed cup hinges...were totally intimidating. And at first I bought into all the hype about "you HAVE to use a drill press or you'll RUIN your doors", but in the end I just eyeballed it with a plain old forstner bit, and all 6 doors turned out fine! Plus, I got to use Blumotion hinges...you physically cannot slam these doors!!

I'm super proud of this project, and my mother-in-law (in whose kitchen they reside) is thrilled. Btw, the crown moulding is not yet installed, which is why the trim pieces up top look so funny.

Outdoor coffee table. Used 2x6 for table top. Legs are 4x4 pressure treated wood. Stain is white vinegar and steel wool mix. 

This my expanded Christmas Stocking tree. With a growing family we needed room for at least 9 stockings. I decided to hope for one more and made it large enough for 10. Decided to make the sides look more like a candy cane and added red stripes. Thanks to Ana for the ideas.

RBM

Finally got a chance to try my hand at whitewashing and I just love the outcome!

Built entirely from 2x4 - 22 studs altogether - the tricky part was cutting a rebate into the trims so that they look like 1x4 from the front. adjusted plans to suit australian king size mattress & made everything lower & used plenty of kreg screws to put everything together (inspiration from plans in the book). here studs are sold 'rough headed' - so there was an insane amount of sanding - not helped by the fact that I was a novice to the belt sander. Took the best part of 4 weekends to get it all together

nice little project had fun building it with my wife. looks way better then the store bought junk we had before

Modified DIY Coat Rack! We call this our "Bear Proof" helmet rack. My daughter's chihuahua (named Bear) likes to mark anything at his level, lol. So I took Ana White's free coat rack plan and added helmet hooks to keep everyone's helmet off of the floor and safe from our little Bear. Thanks so much Ana! We all thank you so much for your generosity!

We built this bed in the Cabin style, but we wanted to be able to stack it Simple style. It turned out beautifully!!

My husband and I loved this idea but we don't have much wood working experience. My brother and sister in law were visiting and we decided to make this project together. Our son loves Turtles and we already have a bunch of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle "stuff" so we thought that would be a great theme. The guys cut all the wood and assembled and the girls did the painting. Then my brother in law who is super talented added in the details.

This was my second project from Ana White, and overall it was successful. I used a miter saw for the cuts (struggled with the bevel because my 12 inch saw isn't a slider, a kreg jig to attach everything (struggled to attach the 1x3s to the legs due to the angle of the dril and tight space), but everything eventually was held solidly together and it's really very sturdy. My husband is about 160 and he was able to jump on it with absolutely no give. 

The paint is just small samples we had on hand from home depot to coordinate with other projects in the kids' rooms, and I handpainted the letters. I finished it with a double coat of polycrylic. 

I built this Coffee Table from plans I found online. It's made from furniture and construction grade Pine, with a two-tone stain. I sealed it with polyurethane. Now if I could figure out a way to keep the cats off of it!

For the paint and stain:
The Wife and I really wanted a rich red color, but didn't want it to be so bright that it stood out funny against the rest of our furniture and settings in the living room. So, I went and picked up some Espresso Water Based Stain from Woodcraft, from the brand "General Finishes" for the base coat and the for the 1/4 board back. As you can see in several of the photos, I didn't cover the entire thing and in some areas I purposefully was SLOPPY (Yes my Wife's name is Amy). Afterwards... for the red coat with the finish.... my wife loves using this Annie Sloan paint that she uses to refinish other projects... Basically follow any tutorials on youtube or on her webage. It can be a hard to find paint, but I think a milk paint and clear wax and a brown wax will do the trick also.

For the build:
I took the planked wood sideboard plans and pretty much threw out the middle doors and drawers. I have a pretty serious entertainment center in our living room and the center channel speaker is by no means small.. It's so large that at the box stores, I could never find a media console that it would fit. I chose 3 shelves because I wanted it to look fairly even. For reference... the center shelving area is approximately 25 inches wide.
Nothing really special here, if you need some hints or tricks that I used message me and I'll help the best I can. I'm by no means an expert at this, Just take your time and anything you do will come out looking great. Plus. YOU MADE IT!

We did it and we love it! Hand made by the LeFebvres in Canada. First attempt at cabinets and drawers. Definitely visit Hilary's site and follow her tips which make this so much easier to construct! Finished cabinet is not only big but VERY heavy to move. Love it.