Community Brag Posts

This angle frame Twin over Full bunk bed with a trundle was made of yellow pine and stained with a dark minwax stain from Homedepot. 

I believe I built this to spec from the original plans without much deviation using higher-grade pine boards (straight and not too many knots).  It took an afternoon to build.  I primed then painted with 3 coats of "Mocha" paint.  There are 3 antique bronze hooks which are hard to see, but go well. The biggest challenge was finding baskets to fit, after the fact.  I happened to get lucky with baskets for the bottom bench, but never did find anything to fit the top, at least in the way I envisioned.  I wish I'd have located a set of baskets first, then measured and built the bench and shelf to suit the baskets.  The bottom baskets actually stick out the back of the bench by about 3/4". Any rectangular baskets I found for the shelves seemed to stick out the front a couple inches.  I highly recommend getting your baskets FIRST, then adjusting your measurements to accomodate them.

How I Spent My Spring Break Well, it was a long week but I finally finished. I made 2 complete sets of loft beds for my oldest son and my daughter. The plans were great and easy to follow. A few notes; the actual width of a 1 x 8 is 7.25 inches (not 7.5) and a 1 x 12 is actually 11.25 inches (not 11.5). I noticed this when constructing the legs and putting the optional shelf supports on the large bookcase. It's not a huge deal, it's only a quarter of an inch. Also, if you are going to assemble and paint in the room, paint the interior of the bed area BEFORE attaching the slats. That added a lot of extra painting time for me. I made a few modifications as well. For the desk, my wife suggested that the width of a 1 x12 was a bit narrow, so I cut a 1 x 6 and biscuit joined it to the desk front. I cut a 22.5 degree angle on the end that meets up with the small bookcase that is attached to the desk. The straight edge lines up with the face of the other small bookcase, like a puzzle piece. I then covered the desk top with a piece of plexiglass to make the surface smoother and to hold picture (slide under the plexiglass). In addition, I bought an LED light system (about $40 from IKEA) and installed under the 2 top shelves of the large bookcase. Really cool effect and the kids love it! Overall, I am very happy with the project results. Looks great, very solid and lumber on cost about $400 for 2 complete sets. Just need to put in some sweat...

3x4foot wall unit for displaying pottery and your kid's Lego sets that took you 3 hours to put together.  Back boards have been washed with diluted blue green latex paint and then stained with Minwax Special Walnut.  The main frame is just stained, distressed and then waxed.

This was my first time using my jigsaw. Easiest project ever, and I love the result!

Built this set of Nightstands to match a bed that I made.

Just finished this for our front hallway. 

All made from one ripped down 8ft 2x10 board of fir. (table saw to cut 2 strips at 2.5 inch wide (top rails), and 2 at 1.5inch wide (legs), and one at 3/4 inch (stretcher).

Leg braces are angled 20deg / 70 deg to make them more upright and give a sleek profile. 

Stretcher goes through the legs and is held in place by wedged shims.

‎Stainless tension wires and turnbuckles underneath to keep it all tight - and give an industrial look. Need a lot of strength to crush teh ferrules onto the wire.

Top surface is 2 of 12" x 24" bathroom slate tile inlaid into a recess that was cut into the top rails.

finish is 3 coats of minwax glassic grey, and 2 coats polyurethane, sanded deeply in some parts to weather it.

Took me about 8 hours. 

I can provide more instructions if anyone is interested. 

Austin

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The Big Kid and her friend were standing behind me when I pulled up Ana's birdhouse kit plans and they begged to build one, too. Initially, I wasn't wanting them to use my nail gun, so I predrilled the holes for all the brad nails. Details are on my blog.

I was able to get three birdhouses from two 6' fence pickets (had to make one about a half inch smaller all around, but it's barely noticeable!)

Thanks, Ana!

I needed chairs to go with the table I built the previous year. Thank you so much for sharing these plans. The plans are easy to follow and adaptable to any need.

I narrowed the seats to 17" wide and adjusted all measurements accordingly. I used a scroll saw for the backs, dark walnut stain and poly to finish. I was in a hurry so I managed to get all 12 chairs made, with off and on work, approx. 1 month. 

My first attempt at this type of project. We needed a good place to store the pool towels. My wife asked me where I bought it from!

This was very easy but was still one of my favorite builds.  I used oak for the bench top and poplar for the rest.  I used the pocket hole jig and gorilla wood glue and it is incredibly rigid and sturdy.  I changed the height to 24 inches so I could raise the shelf platform up to 10 inches from the floor.  This allowed me to place shoes under and on the shelf.  I stained with polyshades mission oak and added an additional coat of satin polyurethane.

I have a good size bedroom, but things kept cluttering. I needed somthing small where i could store a few thing's like, movies, x-box, and cable box. So decided on the bookshelf. It's the perfect addition to my bedroom set. Thanks Anna for your awesome projects.

When I first saw this and showed it to my wife it became number one on my Honey Dew list. I did not like the open space between the bottom shelf and top, saw on this site where someone put a wine rack of shorts as a second shelf. So I did the same I used 1x4 instead of the 1x10 used on bottom shelf. I also used 1x4 for the top to help eliminate the gaps between the boards that the 2x4’s would cause. To help give something for the 2x4’s and the 2x6’s to attach to I screwed 2x2’s to the 1x4’s around the edge. Gives the illusion of 2x4’s and makes for a very smooth and flat surface for the top. The Hutch I made it taller to be able to put taller things under the first shelf. I also installed lights on the top shelf and trim.

We just recently had our first child and decided we needed to protect our electronics a little better from the soon to be mobile baby. Turned out great! I highly recommend leaving the back off until the piece is completely stained or painted. It takes up less floor space and the tv is totally out of reach of little hands. We customized the shelf heights to fit the sound bar and computer perfectly. I was so excited when I stumbled across these plans looking for a new tv stand. Everything I found either wouldn't fit my computer     Or didn't have doors. Love it!

My husband and I love this bed design.  The instructions were incredibly simple to follow and quite fun.  Finished the whole bed in two days.  Thank you for the tutorial!!!