Community Brag Posts

This toy chest has a lego top and chalkboard paint sides. Easy to put together, a bit harder to paint! The most tedious part was making sure all the sides were at 90 degrees and filling/glueing/trimming the remaining pocket holes afterwards (most I was able to do prior to putting it all together). I increased the depth and width to accommodate more toys and made the top a bit longer so I didn’t need the front edge cutout.  My nephew loves it and my niece has already requested one. Thank you Ana!

My wife has been dropping hints about this pedestal for a while so I decided to use my Christmas break to build it. Before making this, I measured the area I was using and decided 28"x58" was what I needed, the 60" would've been too big. I was also tempted to bring the width to 24" due to the ease in buying precut plywood at those measurements. But, the 28" is better for the width of the machines. I used 3 2"x10"s on the top because they were cheaper than buying 2 big sheets of plywood. I could either buy a 2' x 4' sheet or a huge one, and I would've needed 2 big ones for the dimensions of this pedestal. They made the pedestal very sturdy, and heavy. The boards also fit just perfectly with the width of 28". The trim on the front is from 2 1"x 3"s. I glued and used a nailer to tack them. Instead of the recommended 11" for the legs, I went 14" just to bring the washer/dryer to a more desireable height. I had some regrets while I was trying to heave the washer up there. But with 6 boards and a kitchen chair, I was able to get it up there. After I was completed, I realized the thing was a little wobbly because I failed to square it up while I was building the frame. I went to the local hardware store and bought some "feet" that screw into the bottom, kind of like anchor screws for a wall, and are adjustable. They were only a few bucks. In order too distress the front of the pedestal I used 80 grit sandpaper by hand. I thought I would want white underneath, but it turns out i like how the wood peeking through looks. I did read that if you want a different color underneath, you should paint it, then put candlewax on the spots that you want to peek through, then paint it with the next color. As a precaution, I screwed a few angle brackets in front of the machines. One thing that i didn't anticipate was the dryer vent. It was initially coming straight out of the wall into the dryer. When I had the dryer raised up, the pedestal was pressed up against the wall, and blocked the vent. So, I had to cut the drywall and add a tube to raise the vent up. Since we will be painting our laundry room soon, this wasn't too big of a problem.

Second build for oldest son's room. 

This was my FIRST DIY piece of furniture and I am thrilled with the outcome!

Since I am not really one to go for the rustic cottage look I wanted this DIY coffee table to have a bit more of a modern feel. I chose a grey gel stain to do the job. It gave the table a thicker stain but I am still able to see some of the wood grain beneath it.

I also have two young boys that play on this table so I gave it three coats of Poly on it for some protection. But the best part of this table is that it can get all dinged up and it just makes it look better!

Ana White has the best tutorials & free plans to get a crafter to switch to the dark side and become a DIYer! 

I did a full blog post on my progress throughout with a lot more pictures.

I built this for my daughter's room, to give her a little more play space. I did end up altering the plans slightly for stability. I added backs to the bookshelf and to the desk. If I had to do it again, I would not use the turned feet, it is a weak point in the design. Instead I would have continued the 2x2's to the floor. It got cold on me, and I am waiting for warmer weather to paint her ladder.

This table was so much fun to make. I couldn't use an 8 foot table so this is 5 ft. My table top has some blemishes that I could have tried to fix but at the time I just wanted to see it done. I think using better than big box store wood would have been a great start. The table is so sturdy. The bench was harder though because it had a wobble that just wouldn't be fixed. 

I used pine for the top and Douglas fir for the legs. I used minwax wood conditioner, minwax early american stain, then minwax red oak stain for a couple of minutes then wiped off. Then topped with 4 coats of poly. 

Built this table from Ana-White plans and the benches from Rouge Engineer plans.  Fun build and looks great.  Easy to customize to fit your dining space.

My first build after getting a Kreg Jig for my birthday! I built this workbench as a Christmas gift for my two sons - 3 and 1. It took much longer than it should have, mainly because I could only work on it 10-20 minutes at a time when I could steal a break from the kiddos. I'm really happy with how it turned out - I based it on a bench that I saw in the Pottery Barn Kids catalog. Now I just need some pegs so they can start hanging their tools!

Love these benches. Working on cushions for them.

Used the bathroom organizer plans from the knock off pottery look! LOVE how it turned out :-)

I made this step stool in around four days. It took longer because of the five coats of paint. It has two coats of paint and three coats of finish. It should stand up to many years of use. With the storage area empty, the lid dropping closed can be somewhat loud. I added felt bumpers underneath the top step to dampen the sound. It's light enough for my 18-month old to push around.

The jigsaw cuts weren't always perfect. I filled any gaps and countersunk screws with wood filler. I used a mouse sander to smooth everything out after screwing it all together. The longest part was the painting. I painted every surface, hidden or not, to protect the wood and hopefully make it last forever.

I didn't list an estimated cost because I had to purchase several tools, including a jigsaw, sander, and countersink bits. It was probably user error, but the countersink drill bit was a pain to use. The locking nut couldn't be tightened enough to keep the adjustable drill bit in place.

Easy starter project that has gotten me hooked on this site. Wish I could go back and re build it with pocket holes. Changed the farmhouse bench dimensions to fit with the table.

I really like vessel sink vanities, so I did some research and found a couple of DIY projects I liked on Pinterest. I showed them to my husband and after telling him that I wanted a hybrid of about 3 vanities I liked he came up with the vanity that we (we as in he) built :)

A smaller version of the original plan, intended to be a nightstand for our bedroom.

My 15 month old needed a new dresser and a place to put his changing pad as he outgrew the changing table with rails but still fits on the pad itself. I stained the drawers dark to match his existing crib. I used plywood for the drawer faces and attached 3/4 inch square poplar as pulls. I wanted an integrated look and the bonus is that my son has a harder time getting a good hold to open the drawers. I used the plans for the three drawer dresser but omitted the face frame because I wanted to cut costs (I used poplar not pine or else it would not have added much). I just made the plywood wider and I added some stabilizing pieces in the back.

I made one fairly major change. When I was buying the boards, I noticed the store sold a panel of joined wood that was just a bit bigger than the final table top was going to be for just a couple dollars more.  My kiddo likes to write and color, so I figured a smooth-topped table might make sense.  I could have cut down the panel, but as it was only a few inches bigger (36x20x1) I modified the design a little bit instead and just made the cross beams a little longer.  My only concern is that the large panel won't drain water as well as the the four boards in the original design, so after I painted the stencil (I got a die cut machine for Christmas, so suddenly everything needs a stencil...) I applied 4 coats of spar urethane to the top and two coats everywhere else. We'll see how it holds up.