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My husband and I loved this idea but we don't have much wood working experience. My brother and sister in law were visiting and we decided to make this project together. Our son loves Turtles and we already have a bunch of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle "stuff" so we thought that would be a great theme. The guys cut all the wood and assembled and the girls did the painting. Then my brother in law who is super talented added in the details.

I decided to build the Farmhouse King Bed. I liked the look of the frame and am happy with the outcome. This was my very first piece of furniture I've ever built. Already started on my Farmhouse Bedside Tables!!! 

For the paint and stain:
The Wife and I really wanted a rich red color, but didn't want it to be so bright that it stood out funny against the rest of our furniture and settings in the living room. So, I went and picked up some Espresso Water Based Stain from Woodcraft, from the brand "General Finishes" for the base coat and the for the 1/4 board back. As you can see in several of the photos, I didn't cover the entire thing and in some areas I purposefully was SLOPPY (Yes my Wife's name is Amy). Afterwards... for the red coat with the finish.... my wife loves using this Annie Sloan paint that she uses to refinish other projects... Basically follow any tutorials on youtube or on her webage. It can be a hard to find paint, but I think a milk paint and clear wax and a brown wax will do the trick also.

For the build:
I took the planked wood sideboard plans and pretty much threw out the middle doors and drawers. I have a pretty serious entertainment center in our living room and the center channel speaker is by no means small.. It's so large that at the box stores, I could never find a media console that it would fit. I chose 3 shelves because I wanted it to look fairly even. For reference... the center shelving area is approximately 25 inches wide.
Nothing really special here, if you need some hints or tricks that I used message me and I'll help the best I can. I'm by no means an expert at this, Just take your time and anything you do will come out looking great. Plus. YOU MADE IT!

My son saw a similar bed online that he wanted, but unfortunately we couldn't purchase it due to the 9' ceiling requirement. So, while searching for another store that might carry an 8' ceiling version, I found the instructions to build your own clubhouse bed on Ana's site. I have no idea what possessed me into thinking that I could build this myself, as I have never built anything before, but....I went for it. I bought all the tools and lumber, and took my time with building it. It was a great learning experience! As a divorced mother of two, I feel proud that I was able to build this completely on my own. My kids now look at me like I am some superhero that can build anything. (They are busy compiling a list of other things they would like me to build!) Thanks Ana for the instructions and the inspiration! 

Christmas presents for adult children. All oak.

From the Modern Square Farmhouse table.

My niece's husband is career military and they move a lot. She saw the farmhouse table on Ana's site and asked if I would build her one that could be disassembled for moving and have extensions for large group gatherings. Challenge accepted!

In order to take the table apart, I used 2 - 6 inch long lag screws at the top of each leg that screwed into the 2x4 supports for the table top. Due to the weight of the table, it is advised to turn the table upside-down when removing the screws or assembling the table. Next, I used 3 inch lag screws to secure the beam under the table. Again, the lag screws are easily removed for moving.

For the leaf inserts, I utilized a dowel jig so the leaf extensions could be easily inserted and removed on the sliders that support the breadboard ends. (It is necessary to drill the holes out a little larger that accept the leaf dowels. If this is not done the leafs will fit too tight and it is difficult, if not darn impossible, to remove them.) This was advantageous for two reasons ... (1.) The leafs are easily installed and removed; and (2.) No need for leaf extensions that have their own 2 x 4 sliders. This reduces storage space for the extensions and eliminates the slider insert hole cutouts on each end of the table because the slider is never removed.

The table, when disassembled, is in (8) sections:

(2) table leg sections
(1) table top
(1) Main beam from under the table
(2) Leaf extensions
(2) Breadboard ends attached to 2x4 sliders

My niece is simply thrilled with the table.

This was my first piece I have ever built. I probably spent just as much time on the finishes as I did building it. It is something I am so proud to give to my newborn son Beckham and I could not have done this without the plans and inspirations from this site. Can't wait for my next build!!!

Rustic Fireplace Build by Becky Roque

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.