Community Brag Posts

I had a console (or three tiered shelf) that I made with 2x10 and black pipe. At first I was happy with that but when I saw this console and another one on the blog of "Shades of Blue's", I decided to change the designe of my three tiered consol to Emmerson console. I love the console. In new console, I did not use any side pieces. I didn't want to throw away the black pipes because it cost money. So I ended up with this designe. I haven't put any stain or paint. I am not sure what paint or stain to put. So I leave it as it is.

I built this storage crate to fill out space on top of my kitchen table. On my table saw, I ripped 1/2in birch plywood down to 6in widths for the outside frame and 5 3/4in for the dividers. The dividers are 6in wide and so I cut the outside ends to 7in. I attached the whole thing with 1 1/2 finish nails and glue. After finishing, I attached some L-brackets on the corners and drilled 2 holes on either end for handles. For handles, I simply braided 6 strands of jute together and tied knots on the inside of the box. I have more details and photos on my blog link.

Built with most plans from the day bed but grooved the 2x4 a 1/2" and used a 1/4 plywood on back and stuffed it and wraped in fabric then used tack to make a tuck pattern.  Still need to install slats but is mostly done here.  Was stained with a jacobean stain.

Had a lot of fun making this, and it only took an afternoon! Had all the hardware and finish needed so it was a quick trip to Home Depot for the 2x2's, pavers, and adhesive.

One caution I would give people is check how the pavers lay on the top before applying finish in case some sanding is needed to get the pavers to all lay flat and level. I had one of my cross pieces bow a bit and it needed some sanding to get the pavers laying on it to be level with the others.

Great table for outdoor use and has been a functional table for a lot of BBQ's already, thanks for the great plans, Ana!

- Mike

I used the chicken shed plans to create the coop, with a modification to include two nesting boxes, one on each side.

I slightly modified the nesting boxes, using a U shaped frame and added hinges for the front to swing down and the pine shavings to be swept out.

For the siding, we found it easiest to do the tack and trace method. We tacked each full sheet of siding in place and traced the cuts for the window, roof line, doors, and nesting boxes. We then took them down, darkened the lines, cut 'em, and re-hung them. It made it a million times easier, IMHO.

For the inside, I designed several roosting bars with poop platforms. The water is a gravity fed chicken nipple/pvc setup, which I found online.

The food stations, also gravity fed, are (new) sewer pipes with wye connectors.

I used the roof and siding scraps to make shelves for storage inside.

By sourcing reclaimed materials, I built the coop, run, interior, feeding stations (5), and waterer for $550. I only bought 27 pieces of new lumber (15 2x4's and the 12 8 foot long 1x3's)

Even the paint was free! (We have a drop and swap at the haz mat recycling center run by the county. We have gotten 100's of dollars of free paint, stain, and varnish there. I even used a can of free spar varnish to seal the inside of the coop)

There are still a few pieces of trim to be cut and painted, but the girls are inside eating, drinking, and merry!

I did find that at the Home Depot, if you buy chicken wire, it costs way more then 150 feet x 36 inch "stucco netting". The stucco netting was $54 for 150 feet, and chicken wire is $76 for the same amount. It is the exact same wire.

I built the run out of resourced 1x2 furring strips. They were a pain to work with, very prone to breaking when not supported, but with the entire run costing $25 for wood and $54 (with half a roll left over) for chicken wire, I can handle some extra time and effort.

If anyone has any questions for me, feel free to contact me! I'd love to help!

Inspired from a sign we saw at Home Goods however it was half the size and twice the price!  Ask for a how to.

Thank you for your Adirondack plan. I used 2x6s for the arms and 3 coats of outdoor polyurethane over the paint. These are strong and sturdy. Thank you! 

This was my first build and I had a blast! Let me say at the outset that if I can build this table with limited tools and expertise, then so can you! What I lack in know-how, I made up for by not being afraid to try something new. If you do the same, you can sure build this table. This table combines Ana's Triple Pedestal Dining Room Table (pedestals from this plan) and her Farmhouse Table (tabletop modified from this plan). Because Ana's plans are so great and thorough, I will only make note of a few key areas where I either tried something different or where I recommend paying extra close attention. First, on the tabletop, I reduced the length to 90 inches to accommodate our space, and therefore eliminated the center pedestal. As you can see, I alternated 2x10's and 2x8's. I also eliminated the breadboards simply because my wife and I preferred the rustic plank style. I also moved the pedestals in to allow a full 15 inches for a chair to slide underneath. When constructing the tabletop, I used both glue (clamped) and pocket holes on the underside. Don't overdo the glue, as it will tend to drip down (which is the top of the table...I had some drip issues). I also strongly recommend buying/borrowing clamps to keep the top flush or making them from 2x4's as I did. I worked hard on this part, and I'm glad that I did. It was still hard to keep it flush. On the pedestals, I used slightly bulkier decorative pieces (I started the arcs 1.25" from the edge on both ends of the arc). I also attached the top plank directly to the underside of the tabletop rather than to the top of the pedestal in order to both bolster the tabletop and to more easily attach the pedestals precisely where I wanted them. Finally, I drilled shallow flat-bottom holes and used wood bolts to fasten both the pedestals and the crossbeam. This created a nice-looking, low-profile fastener that still enables disassembly should we ever need to move the table (it is HEAVY fully assembled!). The finish is two coats of Minwax Ebony Wood Finish (pre-treated with Minwax Wood Conditioner) and three coats of Minwax Fast-Drying Polyurethane (two coats on pedestals). Thank you, Ana, for the inspiration! Our family has a new table because of it! Thanks to all of you for sharing in our excitement, and I'm happy to share dimensions/details/etc should it be helpful to anyone.

Granddaughter Little Helper!

Great project! I'm new to wood working and have been looking for simple but challenging builds. Needless to say this fit the bill... This grill cart was a great starter build and ultimately became a Father's Day gift!  My Pops loved it! 

I did add a couple of custom pieces: a foldable table top extension and towel bar... things Dad will undoubtedly need as he's an outdoorsman who loves to BBQ!

Thanks for the idea/design plans! 

This was my first Ana White project and I couldn't be happier with the way it turned out! I didn't change any measurements. I did add trim along the top and bottom.

I was going to paint it white with blue trim but my white paint didn't look usable anymore. So I went all blue and I'm happy the way it turned out. I decided to leave the trim natural. I really like the blue pop in the laundry room!

I built this farmhouse table from your plans. It turned out great, I had to modify the plans and make it bigger to fit my needs. But we love the outcome and it was well worth it to do this project.

We just finished 2 sets of bunk beds using the side street bunk bed plans. The end result was gorgeous. We stained these in min wax classic gray. We also countersunk the bed slats on top and bottom.

For this project, we followed the plans for the Firetruck Bed and also modified them a bit to fit our needs in the room. From start to finish, this project took two weeks to complete and cost us roughly $200 to build and $100 to paint. We were lucky though in that nearly everything we needed to purchase was on special or sale.

Made this bed using the Fire truck bed plane.. Thanks to the simple easy plan from you, made this build sure easy. About 9 hours tine to build and paint. Appox. Cost was about $280.

This plan was easy to follow, accurate and came together in just a few hours. I used some reclaimed barn wood for the 2x6s and dog-ear pickets for the remainder.

I made it harder for myself than it had to be. I didn't follow the directions closely enough and cut the box ends at 5 1/2" instead of 5 1/4". That meant that the bottoms had nothing to press-fit against. So, I had to do a little workaround to fix that. I made a 1" shelf at each end of each box so that the bottom could sit on these little shelves. The upside to this mistake is that there was now a drainage slot all along the front and all along the back of each planter box. 

I stained and sealed it. Finally, I lined each planter box with weed matting that I'd cut to size and cut drain slits in. The matting doubles as a way to keep the planting mix from falling out of the long drainage slots while allowing water to drain through the little slits I poked in the fabric. (I poked drain slits only along the front edge so that water would drain into the planter box below instead of onto the ground.)

I'm happy with the plan and the finished planter!