Community Brag Posts

I had a request from a friend to build her a bench, preferably one with a back on it. The plans for the Woven Back Bench were perfect. But as you can see in the picture I moved away from the plans a little bit. The woven back is beautiful but I was sure it would become frustrating to get it right so I went with the vertical posts. It worked out well.

It is not visible in the picture but I added a cross-member to the middle of the seat to give it more strength and stability.

I avoided pocket holes to hold the back together by using the Kreg drill and drilling vertically down about 3/4 the way and inserting 2" pocket hole screws and then capping them off. The caps are visible in the picture. I did the same from the bottom of the back.

In a couple of places that called for 2x2s I used re-sawed 2x4s that I think added strength to the bench. I only used pocket holes where they would not be directly visible. Also I used a router to soften many of the edges and to add interest to the arms.

Since our dining room is small I modifed this table to 66" long.  It is 50" between legs.  Also, I do not have a table saw, so I could not get the 10 degree angle on the legs.  I actually think that having them at 90 worked out better since this table was scaled down.  We love it and think it is really great in the room.

This is a ocean/mermaid version of the sweet pea bunk bed. I had to add an additional section above the original plans in order to accommodate for the slide. I also forwent the bottom storage and opted to just put a bigger door, which allowed more headroom inside and the ability to put both a mattress and box spring on the bottom bunk. I used real shingles and painted them gold. The slide came from Home Depot. The octopus door handes I got off of Etsy for about $5 each. I found a doorbell on an old plastic outdoor house set laying around. I added some seaweed from Joann Fabrics. The steps are made out of 2x6 boards vs 1x boards. I also changed the plans so both beds are full size instead of twin size. The top bunk has so much support...it was tested with 600 lbs up there and held up fine!

My Hubby and I worked really hard on building this bed, your plans are wonderful ;)

This nightstand was inspired by the Julia Nightstand. I changed a few of the measurements and added a door. The entire piece is built out of wood I salvaged when I tore out the wall paneling in my basement. The old nail holes add nice character and the color of the wood and grain are really nice. This piece does not have any stain - this is the natural color of the wood. I finished it with water based polyurethane.

Build this one out of pine and used DIY Pete's handling method of the wood to make it look older ( http://www.diypete.com/how-to-build-a-farmhouse-table/ ) with vinegar and steel wool. 
The beams are halflap joined to the legs and no screws where used to attach the beams to the legs. It is rock sturdy. The leg frames are glued and screwed together with pocket holes. The planks in the tabletop are only put together with pocket hole screws and fastened to the beams from underneath with long screws. Finished with Chinese oil. This outdoor table was a gift to a good friend.

I needed a pantry cabinet for my walk through kitchen (I have a generic 1970's ranch with a walk through kitchen--10' wide and the dining area is small, so I wanted lots of storage with minimal depth) and I am a big fan of cabinetry that looks like furniture--when I saw this project, I knew I had to make it.  

I enlisted the help and guidance of my 73 year old Mom----she has been making things for years and has an entire basement full of all the woodworkig machines I will ever need.  We started this project about a month ago and have been working at it on and off since (my Mom is a thinker and has lost sleep over a few issues we ran into, but the final design is AWESOME!  Thanks Mom!).

I would have loved a much wider cabinet, but the wall I will be putting it on had a few items that I did not want to move or cover up (light switches & a cold air return).  I ended up making the cabinet 89" tall (my ceilings are only 91") and 57.5" wide (I'm a stickler for symmetry and I wanted the white space on either side of the cabinet to be the same.  This project took a couple of weeks to complete due to work, kids, pets, etc).  I just had my son and better half carry it in tonight and it fits perfectly----now to clear out all my upper cabinets and start taking them down so I can fix my ceiling and start making my kitchen cabinets!  

Thanks Anna!

We've had a cheapo over the toilet stand in our master bathroom for ages. Its a chrome job that was getting rusty and all it ever held were the magazines that my husband would place on it. I saw the Flat Bookholders plan, and realized that would be perfect.

Then I realized that in order to get my husband on board with my plan, I would have to paint it his team colors - UK Blue and White! (That would be University of Kentucky!)

I measured the wall next to our toilet - 18" was the max width I could do. Then I followed the directions for the small version of the Flat Bookholders, adjusting the width to 18".

With all four kids going to full time school in September, we knew it we needed to tackle our mudroom and make it more organized, so this is what we chose as our first project.

We are always hesitant about following plans that come from the US because half the supplies are never available to us in Canada...or if they are, the prices are much higher. This project came in at about 30-50% higher than the US cost estimates.

Lowe's had almost everything we needed, with the exception of the bead board. They had outdoor bead board sheets, but not indoor. We had to use cottage panelling instead, but it looked just as good on the finished project, just took longer to install.

The project took three full week-end days, including the planning, shopping and of course, stopping to take care of and feed our four kids every now and again.

We modified the original plan to add a second shelf to the bottom space for shoes, plus we added an extra locker to make this a four-kid unit. (60 inches wide)

I built this bed several months ago, but it isn't finished.  Deigned the plan myself with inspiration from several plans/brags along the way.  The room not at all square or level so had to build as you go.  This was for my son's 7th birthday, and he loves it.

This was a fun build!  It was my first time to use the jigsaw, so my sweet hubby showed me the ropes!  Such a great project and my little girl absolutely loves it.

My wife and I desired to have a place to put my son's Legos other than on the floor. We were quite tired of walking out of his room with lacerated feet. So, I designed a basic Lego table to accomodate our needs. The frame was very simple to make, and the top wasn't much harder. I stained the top with Minwax Dark Walnut stain and sealed it with 3 coats of Minwax wipe-on Poly. The frame has been painted white with a semi-gloss paint that was left over from the Clara Table I made for our children earlier this summer.

For storage, I got a little creative. We had several plastic bins from a storage unit we were moving out of the room (my wife and I have seen similar ones at Ikea and Target), so I snatched one of these and cut out a recess in the table in which the bin now sits.

I've seen many versions of tables that have the storage hidden, but this didn't make much sense to us since our son is constantly looking for various pieces. This way, he can dig through the bin without having to move anything on the table. It also allows for quick clean up at the end of the day.

I just saw a table (much smaller, and felt very cheap) at a local toy company for $150. Total cost for our project was about $32, $20 of which was for the birch ply. Not bad!!! Several friends have already requested tables of their own.

Material: 1, 2" x 4" x 8'; 2, 2" x 6" x 8"; 1 full sheet of 3/4" birch-veneer ply (I got the sheet at 60% off because it had some damage to one of its sides--but not a big deal since I only needed a 30" x 48" piece out of it!); 1, 3/4" x 4" x 8' piece of poplar for edging trim (ripped down to about 3/4" strips); about 25, 1 1/2" Kreg Pocket Hole Screws; wood glue; Minwax Walnut wood stain; Minwax wipe-on Poly.

Dimension can vary based upon personal preference, but our table top was 30" x 48", and the frame legs were 12" high. We wanted our children to be able to sit/kneel to work on the table (by the way, I've thought it might be a great table for putting together puzzles too!). The frame is not 30" x 48", though, because we wanted a bit of an overhang on the sides so that our children could get closer to the table.

If I get time here in the next week, I'll add this as an official Project Plan.

Blessings, and I hope you all enjoy!

JB

Decided to create the rustic x console table to go along with the matching end tables. I modified the dimensions to fit behind my love seat and thankfully it fit perfectly!

I built this as a way to stay busy on a three day weekend, and it turned out so well my wife wants two more for our night stands.

I made this bed for my nieces birthday.

This is inspired from the Chestwick upholstered headboard. One of my first larger projects. I applied the upholstery on an 1/2 inch thick plywood that is screwed into the frame order to allow us to change out the fabric as desired and added more trim around the upholstery.

I made this chair for my almost three year old and it is perfect for him to reach the dining table.