Community Brag Posts

I built the kids play table stool for a birthday gift, handpainted with a single letter monogram.

We followed Ana's plans almost exactly. We decided to do without the slower board that ran the length of the table and it is still super sturdy and we love it. When we were finished building, we filled all the cracks in the table top {between boards} with wood filler and then stained the top. I wish I would have filled the cracks on the bench too because there is a LOT of food that gets stuck in the cracks with little ones. I also wish I had done a self-leveling resin on the top right away too because when we moved the table, it did crack some of the wood filler that was in-between boards. It is still much better than having cracks that food can get stuck in, but I will for sure be doing the resin in the near future to make it more of a solid surface and make it so the soft wood can't have writing marks in it from my kindergartener.

We painted the legs to make it two toned. Once I had 3 coats of white paint on it, I sanded the edges and then rubbed the whole surface down with the same stain that we used on the top. This made the edges that we sanded stand out but also made the white paint not so white. It is exactly how I wanted it to look. It came together so perfect

We put 4 coats of clear coat on it too and its shiny and beautiful. This was the first big project that my hubby and I built and I am quite impressed with how well it turned out. The finishing is what took the longest. We had the table built in a day or two but it took me all week to get it painted and clear coated.

With all the wood, paint, stain and clear coat this cost us about $225 for both the table and bench.

Fillman storage bed made using the plans for the twin. I changed the measurements to fit a queen. This took about 2 and half weeks to build and stain. The head board and foot board were built as pieces and then stained, then put together after as the stain was earlier to apply and avoid blotching. The drawers were straight forward. Thanks to kreg and the rip cut for making it easy to cut the plywood easier to handle. I used about 4 sheets of 3/4 inch oak, 1 sheet of 3/4 inch plywood select for the drawer boxes. Then 1/4 inch plywood for the back and bottoms of the drawers. I used euro slides which I put on after I had the boxes made. I used a router to route the edges for the faces of the drawers. We used a royal mahogany colour for the stain and used 3 coats and then one clear coat. This was a big project for me, and my first big project. I have a few extra pictures that I will upload later showing the building phases.  materials used, oak, plywood, pine and spruce lumber for the legs of the head and foot board. I live in a northern community in Canada and material is hard to get here. I used what was available. Estimated that this project costed about 400 to 500. 

The family needed a safe place for backpacks, shoes, jackets and everything else needed for school. I modified Ana's plan since this project was made with recycled shipping pallets. Rather than struggle with warps, twists and other imperfections I embraced them with glossy white paint. I added the waxed pine panels to absorb the daily use and abuse and be readily buffed when necessary.

The benchwright table.... This is my 3rd project. I was very intimidated by the angles and bevels but they turned out to be not nearly as bad as I expected. This table is not made to Anna's dimensions.... i wanted the table to be able to fit 8 chairs so I added 10 inches to the length measurements, I also wanted it to be wider so I added 11 inches to every width measurement (which equaled 2 extra 1x6 boards for the table top) In hind sight i think i would have either made the table a little taller or used a 2x4 for the stretchers instead of a 2x6 because the space for your knees with the 2x6 is a little tight. Before finishing i distressed the table with chains, nails, hammer, and screwdriver gouges. I still have to add some details...... I want the stretcher to have the turnbuckle like to pottery barn version and I have not found the right size pipes or turnbuckle yet so that will come sometime in the future. I also still have to add the bolts to the breadboards. Now to find some great chairs (don't mid my awesome patio folding chairs that are currently in use lol) I think im going to go for the mismatched painted chairs, maybe in a fun color like blue or red?

When we first moved into our new home one of the first things that I built for it was this custom gate that resides at the top of our stairs. We needed this to keep the baby from falling down and keep the dogs out when need be. Overall it was a great way to separate the two areas. It is also inexpensive and easy to build. I used a pneumatic nailer for all of the joinery on this one so it was quick to build as well.

Didn't know what to do with the center open square.  I didn't want to use plywood, so I used 1x3 slats for a Mission style bed look.

I am not a fan of the unfinished, raw look of the two boards meeting on the sides of the headboard in this plan. So I filled with wood putty and sanded (a lot).

This headboard is very top heavy. I wish I would have tried using 1X4's instead of the 2X4's like I read someone else did.

Followed the directions for the simple outdoor dining table. Mine is still unfinished. Plan to paint and primer it white. There were some errors in the plans. Do not screw the top framing together with butt joints and still expect to be able to put the leg bolts through. They will hit each other. It was only a real problem for me on one of the legs but if I had knownthere would be a problem I would have found another way from the start.

used triple pedestal plans and modified. I laminated all the leg pieces to look like one piece, also did top in 3" thick top.

I used your plan to create a breeding pen for my little brother's millie fleur d'Uccle. I am using it as a 4H project. Thank you so much for the plans.

We have received so many compliments on these. Hub built 2 of them. Such a great look!

A x console table made to fit in recessed area near dining table. This was made out of scrap and left over blue pine. Top, middle and bottom shelves were joined with biscuits and kreg screws. In order to get more dimension out of legs I made out of 1x that were ripped at 45 and then the 4 pieces were joined with biscuits. Was stained with white mini wax

I took Ana's beautiful Tryde Coffee Table plan and readjusted it to fit my needs for a kitchen table. It measures approximately 32" x 32" x 48" and I followed the plans provided almost to the tee. I didn't include the 2x2 table supports since the table seemed sturdy enough, and drilled straight into the top of the table and just covered the screws with Elmers stainable wood filler. I kind of rushed the project due to lack of time, and only really did one coat of stain of the Dark Walnut. It actually turned out really well, and had some of the texture of the wood show through the stain.

We have a small rustic cabin that needed a clean, functional outhouse.  We followed Ana's plans, but with a few modifications to include a Solar gray polycarbonate roof to let in light.  We also decided on cedar board & batten for the siding.   We look forward to many years of use. 

I was recently divorced and decided to fully transform my bedroom. It's not quite done in this picture - but the bed is! This is Ana's King farmbed, and it's amazing.

Pretty simple to build. I would suggest when notching the main body and the front piece, to notch the main body only about 1/2 an inch and the front about 3 1/2 inches. The body is very thin, so having it notched all the way down can, and did, cause it to break. Just a suggestion though.

Also the plan does not include the braces for the body to attach to the rocking legs. I just measured the base of the scooter wheels and added about 1/2 inch. I cut that width off the end of the remaining wood.

I didn't make any changes , his orginal design was great. Hope these pictures help others. I tried to link to the modified-simple-outdoor-dining-table but wasn't able too.

First, this table came out amazing because I started with amazing plans.  I went off the plans for a few minor tweaks and also added some accents that are not part of the original plans.

Our table is 100" long due to the size of the room.  This allowed me to keep the three pedestals and still have the table look appeasing to the eye.  Kept it at 40" wide and 30" high give or take a 1/4".

The two tweaks from the plans I can remember at this point are my long rails at the sides of the table do not extend the length of the table.  The two end pieces are 40" instead.  This is because I didn't buy long enough 2x4s and only realized this once I got to those cuts.  Not a big deal, I'm actually happy with the result.  The second tweak is no inner rounded edges.  2x4 lumber is rounded on all four edges.  Within the interior of the table, I wanted flush contact with all pieces.  Since cutting one edge off of a standard 2x4 would bring it to about 3.25" wide thus effecting the overall width of the table, I decided to rip down and plane a 4x4 then route the out edges to get that round edge back, but on one side.  

As for the the add-ons that the plans didn't call for...  For one, I added accent lag bolts spray painted to a similar color of the table at the four corners of the top and two on each leg kicker.  These bolts are for esthetics only.  The six bolts going through the legs into the 2x6 lock the 2x6 and the legs into place so they can't slide apart.

Lastly, I created wide wire wheel using a lag bolt and 5 5" brass fine wire wheels to give the table a distressed weathered look.  This is difficult to see in photos but in person looks really nice.  My favorite feature of the table.

Lastly, I stained the table with White Wash Pickling.  As soon as I finished spraying and wiping, I went to the briarsmoke then vigorously wiped it away to bring out the white underneath, especially on the knotted areas.  

Overall, I couldn't be happier with the table.  I want to thank everyone who posted photos of their tables.  They were all an inspiration me and my build.  If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me any time!

Thank you,

Jerry