Community Brag Posts

We had to narrow the width of the table so that it would fit in a hallway. We distressed it..a lot and then washed a stain over the paint. Soooo pretty and rustic. Love your website!!!

This was my second-built project after finding Ana's wonderful site - the first being the Rustic-X coffee table.  After learning how to use a miter saw, jig saw and kreg pocket hole jig for the first time by watching Ana's video tutorials as well as several others available on the web, I built up the confidence to attempt a media console for my three video-gaming boys. 

I pieced together a design plan for the console using the general design of Ana's Apothecary Console Plan, together with the incredibly helpful plans and instructions detailed on 2Crafty4myskirt.blogspot.com.  Kind of like mixing together pieces of different recipes, I was able to create a design that had the length of Ana's console, plus 2Crafty's wonderfull side-storage doors for all of the boy's video games.

As set forth in detail below, I used Ralph Lauren's Carbon paint for the entire unit, and Minwax Red Chesnut Wood finish to distress the edges.  I used Pecan Minwax Polyshades Stain & Polurethane for the table top.  One of the most helpful pieces of advice from 2Crafty was to leave attachment of the back and top of the unit until they are separately painted and stained.

I finished the false fronts with antique copper (bronze) cabinet label holders (2 1/2") which I purchased online at D. Lawless Hardware online.

As a beginner, I had a steep learning curve in learning how the tools worked (safely), and so it took me about 40 hours all in to finish the project.  While my sons helped along the way, my husband didn't actually set eyes on the project until it was complete.   He was stunned at how beautiful it was - and that I had in fact created what he calls the "center-piece" of our family room from a pile of lumber purchased at Home Depot.  He is full of helpful suggestions of what I should make next!

Thank you Ana for providing me with the tools, skills and confidence to produce a piece of furniture that I am very proud to point to and say "I did that!"

We were given this fireplace insert and need something to house it. After searching the web, we decided that Ana's faux fireplace design was our best option. We modified the measurements to fit our needs and added a wood stained top to serve as our "mantle". We are thrilled with how it turned it!

theses are the $10 ledges, i used 1 1x4, 1 1x6, and 1 1x2. i made a total of four which measured 2ft long. it was very easy to do, and was pretty fast, and really cheap

This is a miniature version of the Man Crate, measuring 6” x 6” x 4 ¾” tall, made from 1/2" and 1/4" scrap birch plywood, with added hinges to make a lift-up top. 

This is going to be a gift - - I’m going to send it filled with candy.  

The girls and I are all in! We just started our build for the Playhouse Loft Bed. Wish us luck!

AlphaPilot

We absolutely LOVE this clubhouse bed. Not sure who loves it more, my litte boy or his parents! My husband has zero wood working skills, but his dad has a few wood working skills, so together they made this happen. We bought half of the lumber-cheapest whatever we could find, and my father -in-law bought the other half -the much more expensive stuff. We probably could have made this around $150-$200 using all the cheap stuff. We added a window box to hold little super heros and a shelf on the opposite window, we also added a shelf half way up on one of the post at the bottom to hold a lantern. We raised the bed 4 inches higher to give more room at the bottom. We used ply wood for the bottom of the bed rather than slats. We used a cherry 223 Minmax -1 coat and then put a clear coat on it.

This was my first build of this Rustic X Coffee Table and I really liked how it turned out! This one was modified to 43" long, same height and width. I love all the Rustic X pieces in this collection! They have been a favorite.

I finished the table using black tea, steel wool and vinegar, followed by Minwax's Dark Walnut stain and topped off with a Satin oil-based Polyurethane.

To see my other projects, make sure to visit my facebook page (only after you have spent enough time on Ana's site!)
www.facebook.com/simplyrustik

Needed a small table for the nursery and this was perfect! 

You were right, this really was super-easy and super-cheap!

Based this wagon on plans found on Ana White's site. I built this for a 2 year old girl of a co-worker. She is right now using it to pull around her dolls.

Sliding barn door tv console. Created the metal hardware from aluminum i bought from home depot ($80)

My first project besides some simple shelves. I wanted to use old sturdy wood I had from parts of a bed so I used the ana white plan but improvised quite a bit. I also accidentally made it much higher but like it this way. I am going to paint it a deep bright greek blue in the spring. I am happy with it!

I built this closet system for our basement gym as a Christmas present to my boyfriend.  He loved it!

I stained all of the boards before building as suggested in the plan - it definitely saved a lot of time and stress.  After cutting and staining, and I brought all of the pieces downstairs to build.  

The actual building went relatively quickly, but without perfectly straight boards, the shelves themselves were a little tricky.  I also just nailed the shelf boards down with wood glue rather than screwing them in to save time - it's still sturdy and secure.

The length of the closet is about 8 feet long, so the middle shelf is about 1 foot and the two rod shelves are about 3.5 feet long.

This was pretty easy and inexpensive to make.  I'm going to make the coffee table this weekend, but converting it to a chest with a lift top.  Purchased some cantilever hinges for that on Amazon for about $35.  Will post pics of that once it's done.  Sorry the photos came out sideways....They keep uploading that way even though they are right side up on my iPad......