Community Brag Posts

We homeschool our 3 kids, and my wife needed a space where she could conduct school, keep all the kids' (and hers) school materials without creating a massive mess at the dining room table, and where she could easily see and interact with the kids and they with her.  She found a 64" x 64" square desk with four pedestals online, but it retailed for over $1400!  No way we're paying that much! She asked me if I could build it, and when I found the Schoolhouse Desk Single Pedestal plans and compared it with the picture of the square desk, I worked out a few modifications to build what we needed. Here it is! Use the basic Single Pedestal plans as a base, with the mods below: 

The top is 64"x64" (connected two pieces of 3/4" maple at 32"x64" using kreg jig & wood glue)

Each pedestal is 22 1/2" W x 25 1/2"H. Drawer sizes modified to match. Instead of a single drawer at the top of the pedestal, I modifed to make two drawers on the bottom with a cubby hole remaining at the top. Thus, place the 16 1/2" 1x2 cross bar at 8 1/4" from the bottom (instead of from the top). Add a 16 1/2" x 22 1/2" shelf at 15 3/4" from the bottom of the pedestal. This will form the cubby.

Drawers: 14" 2x2s on the short side, 21 1/2" 2x2s on the long side. Total dimension 15 1/2"x21 1/2". Attach 1/4" plywood at 15 1/2" x 21 1/2" for the bottom.

Base dimensions (2x2s): 19 1/2" 2x2s on the long side; 15" 2x2s on the short side; 3 3/4" legs at corners

I had inherited some bed frame wood from our local Re-store and have been working it into projects here and there. We needed some actual night stands and I loved the look of the Reclaimed Look Wood Nightstand, but they were a little too tall for our bed. The height of the original plan is 28" and I ended up taking out one drawer for a total height of 20". I also found two sets of drawer slides at the Re-store and decided that an open shelf on the bottom would better suit our needs, so I crossed the reclaimed plan with the farmhouse plan to create a shelf on the bottom. The bottom is built the same way that the sides are, but attached so that the 2x2 is on the underside.

I didn't have enough wood from the bed frame to make two full tables, so I used Douglas fir 2x2's for the legs (the best the local big box home improvement had that day for my price) and white board for the table tops and every other board for the sides and shelves. This was my second real building project, so they were really easy to put together, but it was a lesson in making everything super square because of the drawer slides. The finish I used also goes great with a 130 year old dresser that you can see a bit of next to the finish table. The wood only needed one coat to reach the color closest to that dresser and it hid the fact that I used three different types of wood in this project. Overall they are just what we needed in this space. The bed frame is IKEA, but I am thinking about making the Reclaimed Look Bed Frame to match the tables in the future.

Made this table and benches for my daughters friend. Now I have orders for 5 more tables and benches.  Easy to make just takes some time to the finish to cure.

Wanted to make a Day bed for my daughter. Found the plans and found to be very affordable. Had a great time building it, and the reaction to my daughter when it was finished was the best

I have wanted a Restoration Hardware bed for so long. Now I have "one" but for way less and we did it all ourselves. starting with Ana's platform bed plans we build on it and walk through the process and even the custom 3 part finish. for a full tutorial please see my blog. http://imperfectlyimaginable.blogspot.com/2013/11/restoration-hardware-…

would love to hear from you and see any projects that are completed.

My older daughter needed extra storage in her room and I loved this plan. It was so simple and easy to do. We ended up having to use oak plywood because they didn't have pieces in pine. We only paid a bit more but it was worth it. I used black minwax stain but only one coat because I wanted the grain to show through. I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. Now I just need to buy some baskets.

This is my second bed built it was build for my daughter. I enjoyed building it Great Plains I added a border around the headboard. For the paint we used chalked paint aged gray we also painted the nightstands to match the bed. Thanks to my wife for helping on the painting.

Tryde Console Table. First project undertaken. Decided to make a bottom shelf. Used 4 1x4s and notched the middle two to fit around legs. Being that is was out first project, we had a few problems with keeping everything square and level but with a few minor tweeks it ended up looking really good.

We are a foster family which means we have a large family. The Mrs. wanted a large table to fit 8-10 people, so off to ana-white.com i went.
Plans were perfect! Made one long 96" bench and two 42" benches from the same plans. I changed it up a bit by adding a perpendicular plank on the ends and trimmed it with 1x2's for look and strength. 2 coats of stain and 2 coats of polyurethane. Just in time for the holidays! Thank you again for the plans, this is the third thing I have built.

I needed a larger table so we increased the size to 48 X 58. Used premium grade pine and finished with Valspar Cabinet paint for durability. I had a piece of glass cut for the top. This table is used for many types of projects. I have a large room and this table fits perfectly!! 

I started with the Rustic X Hall Tree plan and modified it to 43" width to fix the space. All X's are half laps cut on the miter saw.

This is my first DIY furniture project inspired by Martha Inspired Craft Space Table posted by Ry. I built it for my combination of console table and craft space. I will be using the shelves in the middle to put my wicker baskets(that is why it was not nicely stained:-)) for quicker access of some of my craft stuff. Thanks for the plan!

I had always wanted a kitchen island and saw this project. Seeing that the plans were well written I decided to tackle it. In addition I made a few small modifications to enhance the style of the island. These included using 4x4's on the corners and a IKEA butcher block top. The top allows for a larger surface area to work with and more space to sit under. The stools in the picture are from World Market and they were the perfect pair for the island. The island is great for family gatherings or just sitting with your morning coffee. I had family over for Thanksgiving and received lots of compliments. Thank you Ana!

I had a great time builidng a shorter version of the Rustic X console table. Total length is 41inches.

This is my first outdoor furniture project, learned much from Ana's plan and my own mistakes. Used Cedar as material which total to ~$500 and ~$200 on cushions found as discontinued items from AtHome.

Projects
* 2x4 Outdoor Sofa https://www.ana-white.com/woodworking-projects/2x4-outdoor-sofa
* Essential Wood Outdoor Chair https://www.ana-white.com/woodworking-projects/essential-wood-outdoor-c…
* 2x4 Outdoor Coffee Table https://www.ana-white.com/woodworking-projects/2x4-outdoor-coffee-table
* 2x4 Outdoor Side Table https://www.ana-white.com/woodworking-projects/2x4-outdoor-side-table
* Modern Cedar Outdoor Storage Bench https://www.ana-white.com/woodworking-projects/modern-cedar-outdoor-sto…
* Tongue and Groove Ottoman Tray https://www.ana-white.com/woodworking-projects/tongue-and-groove-ottoma…

I designed this off of the laundry basket holder.