Community Brag Posts

I recently started a refinishing business and needed a work surface where I could use the computer, print, and write down inventory and have some storage for receipts, etc. I couldn't find anything affordable and big enough for my home office so I decided on building something myself. With help from my wonderful husband, I built the Narrow Farmhouse Table. I beat up the top with any tool I could find, then sanded, gel stained the top (java) 2x, and I painted the legs a sagey green with homemade chalk paint. Its big and beautiful and perfect for my home-based business.

We have a smaller house and wanted a dining table as well as a table behind our couch.  So, we got the best of both worlds with this minor customization.  I simply split the two legs and tabletop in half, added additional feet, and built two supporting braces instead of one.  For an added touch, I welded tubes to steel angle iron to make a hinge-style locking mechanism with steel pins.  This locks both halves together (when using as a full table) and adds a little rustic black metal to the overall look.

For the tabletop, I cut the sides off the lumber to get the square look.  I then bent one tooth in my tablesaw and quickly cut the face of the lumber to give it a rough sawn look.  I then belt sanded it all to smooth out the really rough spots.  Then I shou sugi ban (burned) the top to burn off the splinters and make the grain really pop.  I added a little stain to smooth out the light spots.  Lastly, I put about 64oz of epoxy and lightly sanded with 0000 steelwool after it set. 

Please excuse the floor trim or lack therof.  I just installed the new floor and decided our table was the higher priority.  :P

I used Ana's plan as a base.

I changed it from 8x8 to 8x12, made the 4x4x8's to 4x4x10' for a higher main platform and swing platform, and added a 12' long monkey bar set to the other side. Also, an 8' climbing wall and a plank walkway to accompany the two slides.

For the clubhouse, I used Hardiplank 4x8 sheets for the siding and an EZ-Framer kit for the structure itself.

The slides I purchased from Lowes, monkey bars from Amazon, and the swing frame braces from Amazon as well. The swing kits I got from ebay.

I love the C&B Big Sur dining tables and was excited to come across these plans. I tackled making a copy of the Big Sur dining table using Ana's plans as a starting point with some modifications and custom dimensions (4' x 4' x 31"). This was my first major woodworking project and I wanted it to be as nice and strong as possible so I tackled joining the rails of the frame to the legs with mortise and tenon joints. The main reason I did this was because I used 1 1/4 and 1 3/4 red oak for the entire table and I just wasn't convinced screws could handle the weight of the top on the frame. I also wanted to learn how to make those joints. I used my plunge router to cut both the mortises and the tenons and it worked out reasonably well. Now that I have a table saw I will be using that with a dado blade for tenons in the future. I sanded to 320 grit and finished with four coats of General Finishes Gel Stain in Java followed by four coats of Minwax spray on polyurethane. The last step was to apply paste wax using 0000 steel wool and then buff with a clean rag. I love the way this came out and am now planning on making a bar cabinet with wine bottle holders in the same style. The total cost of the table was on the higher end than I'm used to because the wood was pricey but it was still so much less than the C&B Big Sur price tag. I'm lucky that I have a hardwood lumber supplier just a few minutes down the road that does custom milling of 100's of different species.

This plan was pretty easy to follow. Apart from having to make some minor adjustments to the notches for the rafters across the top, and needing a couple more seat support boards than the cut list called for, everything went as planned.

I used green treated lumber and stained it with Minwax Walnut. I also sealed the entire piece with Spar Urethane.

I didn't use lattice work on the sides, but went with some horizontal lattice work on the back (a mix of stained and unstained 2x1 and 3x1 boards). I may install a couple of 2x4 for arm rests on each side.

The morning glory vine I planted behind the bench has almost reached the top of the lattice work. All in all, I'm very pleased with how this project turned out.

Thanks Ana!

Thanks for the plan and the inspiration to do the job, it turned out great! Luckily, I didn't put the new bedding on yet, as the little ones needed some wrestling time.

Thanks!

This is the cabin single bed. The bookcase/drawers and desk are almost done and will be posted soon. This was a great project, very easy and my son is so excited! Thanks again Ana :) We used a green milk paint with Federal Blue milk paint over it, distressed it and then used a brown glaze and polyacrylic.

Wanted to utilize my daughters small bedroom, and give her a custom bed without a huge price tag.

Supply list...required an additional 2x4
Used a bunkie board bought at local furniture store ($50) instead of slats for mattress.
Cleats that were 2x2 weren't wide enough to keep bunkie board in- it kept falling out. (standard is 38 " wide) so I replaced those with 2x3s. Decking on platform is very sturdy- maybe a bit overkill for a 40 lb kid.

Overall a quick project. My mom and I built it- Lowes did all cuts for us (no charge!) except the angled stairs- which mom did.

Turned out great- were were brand new to this- so struggled a bit as instructions are somewhat vague (where to drill holes- step by step process out of order) Drill all your pocket holes in all pieces prior to assembly. I would have sanded and stained prior to assembly too- doing in a tiny bedroom was tricky. Staining and sanding took the most time.

Overall alot of fun- ready to do next project. Thank-you for the inspiration!

I modifed the Classic Bunk Bed and Cubby designs to create a convertible twin over full bunk bed. The bottom full-sized bunk can be rotated to be parallel to the wall (when my son sleeps there) or perpendicular to the wall (for when we have guests so they don't have to climb over one another). Changes I made were:

- I moved the ladder to the end of the bed to make room for the full-sized mattress.
- I added 1x2 treads to the ladder to make it easier on the feet.
- I raised the height of the top bunk. Finished height of the bed is 68" to add head room on the bottom bunk for taller people.
- I built 2 custom cubbies (full dimensions of each 37.5" x ~13.5" x 11.5") to support the added width of the full-sized bottom bunk. These cubbies can also be rotated to support the mattress in the perpendicular position for use as a guest bed (see pictures).
- I built an additional support that fits onto the back of each of the cubbies when they are turned to support the perpendicular guest bed (see pictures).
- I changed the end support rails for the bottom bunk to 1x12s that I painted to match the bed to be used as night stands when the bed is rotated to be a guest bed (see pictures).
- I used wood thread inserts and 1/4"-20 connector bolts (from Fastenal) to assemble the bed, so it would be easy to disassemble and reassemble.

Funny story - When we went to move it to the second story bedroom from the garage where I had finished it, the long sides wouldn't fit up our stairs!!! Our stairs have a tight 90 degree turn partway up. After all the hours I put in building and finishing it, I almost cried! Fortunately after using a straight edge blade to carefully cut through the paint, we unscrewed the upper most rail and were able to just barely get it up our stairs. I was so thankful I hadn't glued those boards on!

My daughter loves her new bed!  The plans were easy to follow and didn't take very long to build.  It took me about 2 weeks to finish.  I suggest measuring your mattress first and adjusting dimensions accordingly.  My daughter's mattress is a bit longer than usual, so I added about an inch to the length.  I added drawers to one side and left one side as open cubbies.  I also added a 2x4 base below the storage boxes for support.  Ana has plans for this in one of her kitchen cabinet plans.  I'm so glad I did, as I've already found 3 kids hiding on the cubby side, and one of them is 14!  I didn't run the 2x4 base all the way to the head/footboard, so it wouldn't show.  This changes the height where the storage boxes attach by 1/2 an inch.  The bed may suprise you at how high the mattress sits, but I think that is normal with a storage bed.  My daughter loves sleeping up high.  Thank you so much for this wonderful plan!  I love Ana's website and have learned so much!

We bought a vacation home that has such a small kitchen. I knew we needed more storage. So I checked out Ana's plans and made this bad boy based on the Simplest Armoire plans.

The home is in the mountain/lakes area of northern New Hampshire, so I wanted to bring the outside colors in. I used Valspar Cabin Red paint and the Valspar Antiquing glaze over the top after distressing it a bit.

My husband and my boys built it, painted it, and stained it in a weekend. Great father and sons project. I used the same black paint and stain that Shanty-2-chic used. I LOVE it.. now on to the benches.

These chairs are easy to build and the kids love them. I wanted them to be colorful, fun, and personal. My son has been using his chair before it was finished for two years now. It was supposed to be used temporarily for a dinner party one night and we didn't want to part with it long enough to finish it. I built a second chair for my one and a half year old and decided to finish both chairs at the same time. With a little bit of planning and some painters tape this is how they turned out.

This was my first try at making a picture frame. I've used this same principle to make single framed picture frames numerous times since then. Thanks Ana! Such an easy build!

Second Project! Although the storage capacity of the Modular Bar is awesome, we needed a good workspace for pouring the drinks :)
I modified the "Simple Kitchen Island" plan a little:
1) Instead of using a 2'x4' project panel for the tabletop, I used the jig to put together two 1x12s, this made it a little bit narrower, but since I was staining I prefered the look of the edges of solid oak.
2) I didn't need the storage of the bottom shelf (and the dogs would get in anything I put there), however I knew people may put their feet on the bottom rails so I beefed them up to 1x4s instead of 1x2s and added a middle beam to stabilize them some.
3) I increased the total height some so we can pull the island up to our current 36" high dining room table to accomodated two extra people.

I originally planned to make the Lydia daybed as is, but we decided to make it with reclaimed materials after being inspired by redwood we found that had been salvaged from old pickle barrels. We ended up with chunkier posts for the legs (3 1/4" by 3"), and used a thick solid piece of wood for the front (2"x 7 1/2") , which did change the dimensions of our project a bit. We attached an old shutter to the plywood for the sides, and found salvaged bed post tops for the tops. We left off the scalloped edges because they seemed too delicate for the look we had going. Also, my husband had fun with his new router on the edges. We decided to use 1x8's for the slats under the bed b/c we thought it would give more support to the latex foam we had used instead of a traditional mattress. Because we move a lot, we wanted to be able to take the daybed apart if necessary. We attached the sides to the daybed with bed rail brackets. I posted more about the daybed on my blog. Sewing the cushions/pillows took much longer than making the actual daybed!