Community Brag Posts

took the simple outdoor couch and brought it in.

I started on the project when I went home for Thanksgiving and finished up the drawers when I was home for Christmas. I live about 7 hours from my family. I took a few tools with me (kreg jig and drill) but borrowed a circular saw and miter saw for all the cuts. It was difficult working on it because it was fairly cold and my dad only has a carport. Which is why it took longer. My step-mom says she wants to paint it maybe with some milk paint. She also did not want the center shelf as she wanted a place for taller items.

The butcher block top was $299. It comes from lumber liquidators in 25" by 96". My dad had about 2 feet cut off the length. Ikea also sells butcher block tops for roughly half the price I think, but they were out of stock in both Atlanta and Charlotte.

I also made the small kitchen island before and this one went much more smoothly. Having the extra set of hands was awesome and made for a wonderful memory as I built it with my father:-)

I'm calling this the "Clean Up Cart". You know how your kids toys always migrate into the living room? I wanted baskets I could toss them in and carry to their room at the end of the day. Then one day after walking back and forth across the house a million times cleaning toys up, I decided the baskets needed to live on a cart I could move around to the mess. So I envisioned this industrial pipe and wood cart. I used Ana and That's My Letter's Pipe and Wood bed to figure out how to make it happen. The key is using the splint ring pipe hanger to attach the wood. See that antique advertising sign? That design is from an antique soda bottle label from an old company that was down the street from where I grew up. I always loved the old soda bottling barn so when I found this label I had to come up with something to use it. This was the perfect chance. I followed picture to wood transfer instructions from the Graphics Fairy using the freezer paper method. The pipe comes from supply house dot com. I used: 2 – 1/2 “ by 14” black nipple 8 – 1/2” by 18” black nipple 8 – ½” black tee 2 – ½” black 90 degree elbow 6 – ½” black 90 degree street elbow 14 – 1/2 “ black split ring extension hanger Its a learning process figuring out how to screw it all together. Some things will unscrew as you screw others in. Basically, I started at one end and went around in a circle until I got back to my beginning. Install all of your split ring extension hangers before you try to attach your board. You wouldn't be able to get enough clearance between the pipes to attach an opposite side after you connect one. I cut the wood to size leaving about a 1/4" gap all around it clear the connectors. If your board isn't quite reaching a side, adjust your screw in your connector. The wood is scraps of pure bond plywood I had from another project. After the transfer was dried (about 24 hours) I sealed it with beeswax. I didn't use any stain. To do the antique ad transfer, I took a picture of the old soda bottle label laid flat. I reversed it in Microsoft paint. Then I printed it onto the waxy side of freezer paper. Then you just simply lay it ink side down onto your wood being careful not to move it at all once you place it (that would make it blurry). I used painters tape to hold it in place. Score the back of it to really get the ink in, I used a credit card. If you lightly wet the wood before it will take the ink better and make it darker. I was happy with the color without doing this in my test piece so I didn't. Wait a while for the ink to dry (I waited 24 hours) and then you could spray with poly or I used beeswax to seal it.

Made the double bench from DIY Pete. Curved top slats for the back rest for a little more style.

I wanted something to help balance the large-scale prints on my gigantic living room wall. Ana's clip art rail was the perfect solution, and makes it so easy to switch out photos! I used binder clips instead of laundry pins, securing them with a washer and screw. Not bad for five bucks!

I wanted a little desk/vanity for my nearly 4 year old daughter so she could have easy access to her jewelry and hair ties. The dimensions of this were perfect. She has so many necklaces that I put together a $10 ledge with some hooks to hang many of them. The vanity was an easy build, the stool was much more difficult.

Pressure treated Made these for my children at Christmas. Feedback was very positive so I made one to post on Etsy to see what kind of market there is for these. https://www.etsy.com/listing/286552817/coffee-table?ref=shop_home_activ…

I didn't even know that I had made a closet storage system like Ana's but while perusing the projects, I came back across this plan and figured I could submit a brag post for it! Thanks Ana!!

We used melamine shelving and MDF trim. No paint needed if you get the MDF boards primed (although you really should!)

Added 2x6 as the top. Fun project. Took about 35 hours and $350.

Built from the Balin Console Table plan.  I needed more storage for my entryway table, so I added the extra drawers.  First, I had it stained but found this chalk paint in the mistints at Lowe's.  Perfect color!

Thanks Ana! Appreciate all the plans and how much I’m learning.

My husband and I got sick of buying particle board furniture and having it fall apart. I was so excited to see these desk plans and decided to build each child one of their own.

I tweaked the plans a lot. I learned a little SketchUp in the process. Each of these desk tops sits on 4 16x16" bases. Each desk has one drawer base, one fixed-shelf base, and two adjustable shelf bases. The bases can be rearranged as desired and can later be used as shelves when we don't need the desktops anymore.

All 3 desks took me just over 4 months to complete. Of course, Christmas happened during that time.

I used Fir based on some misguidance at the lumber yard. I'm still a little upset by that. I used pine edgebanding and am pleased with the finished look though. I just hope the wood is hard enough to not suffer too much damage.

I really enjoyed this project and my kids are loving the results. Their desks don't wobble and they have a lot of space.

Thanks for the jumping off point and all the instructions here. My next project is a built-in entertainment center. Should be fun!

This was my first project and I learned a lot about drilling and sawing. I love the cute kitchens people have built with this plan, but we went for realistic with neutral colors since it is going to be in our own kitchen and not in a playroom. The biggest challenge was was that I was continually finding components I wanted to add, but then I would have to redo things I'd already done to fit them in.

For someone doing this plan, my only suggestion is to put the pocket holes inside the oven area instead of inside the sink area, as the countertop is easier to screw in that way.

For the fridge, I used 11x14 clear acrylic for the shelf and glued in a motion sensing light. For the farm sink, I used glidden super glossy white paint, which is supposed to not show brush strokes but it did for me. I also made the shelf under the sink a half shelf. For the oven, I used cookie racks from the dollar store and a push-on light inside. The counter top is a realistic looking laminate I found in the shelving dept of Menards for $2. I found the wire disks for the stove top at a surplus supply shop for 75c each. My husband tiled the backsplash and we added that board after the grout had dried so the rest of the kitchen wouldn't get grout on it.

I made a few modifications that I think people starting this project may want to know. 1. 4x4 box gets a little tight for more than one kid. I chose 4x6 so that the bench dimensions would scale up to 3 slats per section correctly, but the length of 1x4 boards would not have to be lengthened, which would required additional support. 2. As a rule of thumb, any outdoor lumber that may have prolonged exposure to water (IE. Touching the ground) should be pressure treated. I couldn't find 1" thick treated boards, so the box uses 2x10 boards. 3. Used a redwood semi-transparent stain.

Outdoor couch is a delight.

Damian

Given that I work out of my garage, I desperately needed a rolling workbench in order to roll out, make the sawdust mess, and roll back in. I had already made Michaela's island for another purpose inside my house, and I loved the sturdiness of the 4x4 posts as legs. I had industrial-type locking castors, but they only screwed in with a threaded post. Thanks to my engineer dad, he determined the best way to attach a screw-in castor to the bottom of the 4x4 (and did all that work for me!).

The size is modified from Michaela's original plan to include a 3 1/2" overhang all the way around for easy clamping (and top is 6' x 2.5'). I also cut a 2' piece of PVC pipe into 3 sections and attached for my drill storage. I put full-extension glides on the drawers and made some dividers from scrap wood.

I wanted to add a breakfast bar to our kitchen but had nowhere to place the garbage can. An Internet search eventually led me to Ana's site and the perfect solution. I used the trash receptacle idea and integrated it into my breakfast bar. I added a cookbook shelf and incorporated shelves on the other side to use wasted space where leg room was not impeded. I also built a hidden shelf for cell phones, keys and wallets. The top is from Ikea and I cut to fit. The structure and base was all cut from a sheet of MDF and I added bead board for a bit of design. This site is fantastic! I've built modified versions of plans from this site including the shed, tv stand with side DVD shelves, mud room lockers, and have plans for more projects. I will post these projects soon. Thanks Ana!