Community Brag Posts

After years of pining (HA made of pine) for a farm style plank table, my husband and I worked together to build one. Thank goodness for Ana White. The plans were easy to follow, and with the help of a friend it didn't take long to build at all. This is the first time we have built anything. We have also altered the plans a bit, and my husband built a smaller one for a friend.

I used the Julia Nightstand plans but added textured wallpaper to the side panels and also decoupaged scrapbook paper on the inside of the drawer. The back was wainscoting which was painted the same color as the nightstand (this was a chalk paint). I added a thin support piece of wood above each side of the drawer to prevent it from flipping downward while it was open

Matching beds

I apologize for not having before and after shots from the same perspective, but this is the bookcase I built to replace the very poorly sized and very poor quality bookcase that was in this room before. The room has a slanted ceiling that goes from 8' to 16,' and has baseboard heaters that got in the way of cabinetry. I worked around it. These were my first cabinets, and they didn't come out exactly has I had envisioned, but they're pretty darn close! The shelves are all on brackets that are screwed into studs in the wall, and the boards that make the sides of the bookcase aren't even screwed down. I wanted something that would be sturdy and yet easy to take down or change. I left space in the middle because we'd like to put in a fireplace one day...

super quick and easy, why don't I have these all over the house.

I built this storage unit for a bathroom in our new home from Ana White plans in her book, The Handbuilt Home. I had most material on hand, only having to purchase some trim. It was very doable and not difficult.

I made this bench to replace a sidewalk planter box outside my front door.  The only modifications I made were adding 4- 2x4 supporting legs - you can see them in the first photo.  This just makes the legs a little sturdier and I also added some carriage bolts to give a slight decorative touch as well as to anchor the legs to the frame.  I use a nail gun and some wood glue to secure the 2x4 to the side of the existing leg, and voila!  Thank you for a very easy to understand and follow project, Ana!

Built Cup storage shelf after adding a new set up cabinets and wood countertop.

We purchased an unloved Victorian Farmhouse in 2008 and have been working on it ever since. The latest project is the main bathroom. It started out really small and dark. Like most rooms in the house we had to gut the room and start from scratch and like most projects the cost was much more than we anticipated. We had to come up with some creative ways to get what we wanted on a shoestring budget. Part of that creativity involved building our own bathroom vanity. I knew I wanted marble to compliment the marble floor we installed. I took to Craigslist and found a marble slab for 75 bucks. Then we scoured for plans and made modifications that would work with our ideas and dimensions. We still need to install the vessel sink and the wall-mount faucet to complete the vanity, but we are really happy with what we've created, and I don't think we could have found exactly what we were looking for anyway. I'm so grateful for this site and for the support everyone here offers!

We created the legs out of 3 - 1x3's that we glued and clamped together. We decided on a slat bottom shelf to help with any moisture issues that might happen in a bathroom. The drawers were probably the trickiest part of the build, but my husband says even those were not overly challenging. We just primed and painted to match the custom beadboard my husband also created in the garage. He also replicated and created period moldings for around the windows and doors. Finally, we built a custom built-in medicine cabinet that I will be posting in another brag post.

The bathroom really turned out better than I could have imagined and it was all built using materials from Home Depot - no special orders here!

I combined a bunch of different table plans to come up with this. But essentially I used 4x4 cedar legs, 1x4 pine for the aprons, and 1x10 and 1x4 pine for the top.

I modified this bed plan. Decided to go flush with outside of bed post and wanted footboard same height as mattress

Kinda new at working with wood but I enjoyed this one and did it in under a day. I also just recently built a complete wooden fence before I did this so building frames was fun.

We modified the Weatherly Sofa plans to fit the 29" cushion covers we found on sale at Pottery Barn, and we filled the cushions with the DIY inserts from Cushion Source. Instead of using 1x2's for the X's, we used 1x3's and my husband spent the better part of an afternoon trying to figure out the angles!

The wood and paint came to about $100, and the cushions were $500 for the inserts and covers (6 cushions and 14 pillows) when all was said and done. A bit expensive, but we love it!

I have been trying to attract more birds. I built and put up some more birdhouses, added a bird bath, and wanted to add some more feeders. I found this quick and easy plan and I had to build it.

This took me less than an hour to build. I bought my picket from Menards when it was on sale for $1.18. That's not a bad price for a bird feeder!

You can see the steps I took to build this on my blog.
http://jaimeofalltrades.blogspot.com/2014/05/make-bird-feeder-for-under…

Very easy build! This took just a few hours to complete and gave us some much needed flare for out tiny guest bathroom! 

We made these tables and benches for my daughter’s wedding. They made setup for dinner just what she wanted!

This is such a great way to show off art from school. I used scrap wood and regular and small clothes pins. I thought I could put photos in the small clips on top and the artwork on the bottom larger ones.