Community Brag Posts

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.

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!

6 seater Recycled Fijian Kauri with extra leg supports, one side higher & closer for kids.

Marty

My husband Jon recently built this playhouse with/for a friend of his from work. It took them two months to complete and it's awesome! Jon's friend is also a die hard Gators fan so they made sure to add blue and orange as much as they could. Thanks Ana for giving them the courage to take on such a feat!

Two Pink Adirondack Chairs

Built from the

Farmhouse Table - Updated Pocket Hole Plans.  I used pine for all the wood, painted the bottom with white

Valspar Storm Coat, and table top with Miniwax Red Mahogany stain. 

It's not purfect but, it turned out great.

Lessons learned

I need is a planer to make the boards straight, Belt sanding took a long time.

My wife used you patio sectional and table plans to make herself a summer oasis. She built it specifically to fit a corner of our patio that we were never using. Now it is used almost daily for reading, visiting or just sitting outside watching the birds.

This the first project my husband attempted. I hope I can be more involved in the next project. I'm very proud of his first table! We plan on putting it on the screened in porch of our new house we are getting ready to build.

Took a day to build a bench to match my table! I am in love with this bench.

Take a little extra time on your angles to make sure you get them right or you will end up with a gap!

In the middle of a much needed makeover on our back deck! We did not have skirting around the deck and decided that we would like to close it in for extra storage(ladders,compost bin...) and we came up with this little something as a bonus. We are always hosting backyard get togethers and seating is a challenge. Setting up and putting away chairs,ugh. This has been the perfect solution. This was completely an "as we went" plan but the biggest need to know is, heavy duty hinges! (As I said,the deck is getting a makeover so go easy on the appearance:)

Jodi and Matt B.

This is my first table. I used the Triple Pedestal Farmhouse Table plans, but modified it to fit our kitchen.

This is the second bench made from these plans. For this bench, I altered the plans, decreasing the length from 55" to 36". I'm a little uneasy about using the jigsaw so I did not taper the legs. I love this bench it fits very nicely into our  warehouse loft apartment.