Community Brag Posts

Hard Maple waterfall edge coffee table.

Scott

I was looking for something to hold my scrapbooking supplies.  I want to use my formal dining room as my craft room but have the illusion it's still a dining room. This plan was perfect.  This was my first time building anything from Ana's site.  I added feet to the bottom to change up the look just a little.  I also used a more detailed base molding.  I also added some support to the bottom to have somewhere to attach the feet and distribute the weight of all my scrapbooking supplies.  The best advice was to leave the top off until the end.  I also waited to attach the back till the very end also.  I thought I'd have the most trouble with the drawers but the doors ended up being the hardest part for me. Overall I'm very happy with the buffet!  I haven't decided how I'd like to satin it yet. I'll eventually get that done!  On to the next project. :)

https://m.imgur.com/gallery/e9J96Q2 Good build, certainly had its challenges. Overall totally worth it to see how much my wife liked the end product.

I wanted to build a small shower bench. I used the Providence Bench Plans and just made it a bit smaller with a few adjustments. This bench is 35" long and 18" tall. I did not use the cross supports on the bottom because it was so short. Also, you will see that I turned the bottom stretcher and side supports flat/horizontal. I put the screws for the seat boards through the top down just because this was the easiest way for me to do it. The plans did not show in detail how to attach the seat boards from the underside. It just said "finally, the seat boards." I guess they probably used a pocket jig. I bought a pocket jig and used it in the couple of places, but this was my first time using it. I used brown, coated decking screws in the places I did not use the pocket screws. This was my first attempt at building anything and my first time to use a pocket jig. I used a natural wood stain and Behr Weather-Proofing since it will be in a wet area.

What started as Ana's workbench console for my dining room ended up as a media console for my living room. I shortened the width by 10 inches, and then I added a shelf for our DVR and Wii console. I made a few mistakes, but I'm not talking about those. ;)

We had the Upside-Down bed from IKEA for our little guy, but my husband continued to complain on how he had to "crawl" into the bed. Okay, scrap that. No problem. I just searched Ana's plans for a nice bed I could make. And add a trundle. There you go.

I did modify the height of the headboard, as I plan on moving Jack to an upstairs bedrooms that has slanted walls. I wanted this bed to fit in any configuration, so I had to take 10" off the headboard. Also, due to the impending moving, I wanted the bed to easily be taken apart. So I attached the side rails with surface mounted keyhold brackets from Rockler Woodworking. They work great.

chest  size   60" long 22" deep  22" tall

   made with pine

  painted white with a walnut stained top

This was my first build and I learned A LOT and watched A LOT of youtube diy videos. The main take-away from this project is not to build in the freezing cold if the finished project is for inside. I finished this project in below freezing temperatures and I noticed that the wood expanded (increasing slightly the gap between the finished boards on the top) when it was brought inside.

I built this from the original farmhouse table plans with no kreg jig although I did buy and use a pocket kreg jig to make the extensions. The main modifications were using 4x4s such as were used in the Country Living magazine spread that inspired this build and also making modifications to allow the addition of 15" extensions at each end of the table's bread boards.

My first challenge was figuring out how to build with the 4x4 legs instead of the 2 2x4s screwed together. In order to accomplish this i had to use a chisel to create the corner lip that the table top frame would sit on. I added photos of this so I hope it will help someone. Chiseling these 4 corners (one on each post) only took an hour or two and was so worth it for the look of the 4x4s. Just measure carefully and work carefully with a sharp chisel. I actually removed half the wood by sawing off the corner at a 45 degree angle. Remember when cutting your boards for the table ends that a 4x4 has different dimensions than 2 2x4s screwed together. Compensate for this in your cuts.

Another challenge was hiding the screws on the table legs and table top. I was leaving the finish natural so didn't want to use wood fill. I accomplished this by getting a countersink bit and then buying wooden dowels the same diameter. For these screw holes, after finishing screwing, I put a dab of wood glue in the countersink hole, inserted the dowel as far as it would go, used a fine hand saw to cut off the dowel flush with the table and then used a hammer to make sure the dowel was in tight and flush.

I had trouble figuring out how to attach the table top frame to the table legs with the long screws from the plans so I included a picture of this step. Its really easy but I was not able to use three screws as the plan calls for. I used two instead and it has been very solid. I used the long screws as proscribed.

Finally, I wanted to build extensions (2 2x8 boards kreg jigged together) so I could increase seating up to a max. of 12 persons, so I needed to cut out 2x2 gaps on the table ends. I also included a picture of these in place. To make room for the 2 2x2s that extend under the bread boards and table top to brace the extensions, I left out one of the 2x2 cross beams at each end of the underside of the table (the boards that the table top boards screw into).

I hope this is helpful to you!

Ana White's plans are super easy and fun to do! I made these for my mom and I really enjoyed doing it. It’s an antique white water base stain.

David Marks

This project started because a corner bathroom vanity that fit my space requirements and budget did not exist. A plan specific to what I exactly needed also did not exist. After combing through what plans I found online, the Wall Kitchen Corner Cabinet best matched what I wanted. I modified it with the Momplex Sink Base Kitchen Cabinet in order to turn it into a sink base.

But, there was a problem. I hadn't actually built anything before. In order to get at least one project under my belt, I built the Vintage Step Stool. It turned out great, so I figured I was ready to go! Strangely enough, after spending about $100 and several weekends picking away at this project, it was done! It looked great, even. Then, I moved the vanity into the bathroom and realized that, while it may have looked great, it wasn't very square. Lesson learned was that this is a two person project. It is too difficult to keep things square and screw at the same time when there is only one person.

At this point, everyone was tired of having to use the kitchen sink to brush their teeth and wash their hands, so we needed to get this project done. $100 later, we had more material. Since I had figured out what needed to be done with the first vanity, let's call it our prototype, the second vanity went together REALLY quickly. 

Within a few hours, it was pieced together. Since it was going to be painted, we used Bondo to cover up our imperfections. Yes, of course there were imperfections. While much better than the prototype, it still was only my third woodworking project. Sanding, caulking, and priming took another hour or so. A few coats of the finish paint went on, followed by a couple more coats of a clear sealer, and it was done.

We moved it into place, screwed it to the wall, put the soapstone countertop on along with the sink and faucet, and it truly was complete. Sink is Kohler, faucet came from our local Habitat for Humanity store and I'm not sure what brand it is, and the soapstone came from soapstones.com. If we had oiled the soapstone with mineral oil, it would be a very dark gray.

I made his Barn door out of the wood that was left in our garage when we moved in. Using (7) 2x6 boards and adding stain sanding and hardware, it became a super functional industrial rustic (is that a design style LOL) door! (I added a cat door to for our cat ;))