Community Brag Posts

I seen the plans for a coffee table made out of pallets submitted by Aud builder and just had to try it. The company where I work has tons of pallets so it really didn't cost me anything. I added an additional pallet and left the casters off. In place of the casters I put 4, 4" 4x4's at the corners and then used 1x4 at each of the corners to connect the whole thing. Then I did the white wash on it. I loved the color and had a lot of fun putting it together.

I worked on this over the past couple of months (would have been quicker, but you know..life gets crazy sometimes!!)

I used the farmhouse table plans to a tee and then stained and poly'd it. It turned out great!!! My Wife loves it and now all I have to do is build the benches. The wood is cut for them, just need to find the time to do it. This is my 4th Anna-White project. I have also built a bench for the end of our bed, some laundry cubbues, and a day bed.

I love this site and plan on using much more...I have friends and family wanting me to build them stuff...the only thing now...is how much do I charge..... :)

I used 1x2 boards for this project. The smaller tree is the size according to plans (minus the coat rack). For the larger tree, I added 3.5 inches to each piece. 1/4 plywood on the back and used a stencil for the design. I love the way it turned out.

I pretty much followed the original plans.  I added a chamfer on the outside corners of the posts and on the top boards on the head and foot boards.  I also stained these to match the nightstands.  Since I used a foam mattress, i built a platform by gluing/screwing a 2x4 inside the side rails.  Then I set 1x6s on the 2x4 to support the mattress.  

I use the free version of Sketchup to design the bed and estimate materials needed.  

Lessons learned

• Take extra time to figure out how to connect the side rails to the head and foot boards.  I thought i could use a sliding lock but this wouldn't work for my design.  I improvised using 3x7 tie plates and screwed the two components together.  For the headboard, I lined the 2x4 with the inside headboard post.  For the footboard, I bent the tie plate 90 degrees and screwed the 2x4 to the footboard.  It worked very well.
• I would recommend chamfering the outside top of the side rails.  I didn't and my wife complains that she  bumps her shins on it. 
• Top boards are 1x5s, which in my are are only sold at home depot.  The other wood is readily available.

It's not that difficult of a project.  It is time consuming, though.

I built two of these bad boys!
I used the cheapest spruce wood as I knew I was going to paint them.
Not sure how much everything cost in the end - maybe €50. Am making 2 beds to go with them too but they'll be a little longer in the pipeline!
I cut the wood myself using my circular saw and joined the wood with pockethole screws.
I painted the tables white and then used a chestnut brown woodstain on the table tops, shelf and knob.
Hard to say how long it took me as I just did a bit every now and again when I had a bit of time.

My version of the rustic rolling kitchen island. Really can't do the x's yet. It's all leftover wood and counter top. I use my other one similar to this as a coffee station.

Building a workbench seems to be a rite of passage for most serious woodworkers. The Entry Level Workbench shown here is a collaboration between myself and Kevin at Kev's Woodworks. I've detailed the design while Kevin and his son built the workbench as a father/son project.

All details including dimensions, parts list, tool list, and a full cost breakdown are included in the link if you would like to build your own bench.

https://www.instructables.com/id/Entry-Level-Workbench/

Made by my husband.

Kitchen cabinet I made with raised panels.

Some more details at:
http://bendrea.wordpress.com/2013/09/22/kitchen-cabinet-2013/

My Second DIY project! It turned out PERFECT :) 

Finally, kitchen is done.  We've been in this house almost 4 years and for me the kitchen was not efficiently functional.  Dishwasher was on the wrong side of the sink, had a trashed compactor which we did not use, very little counter space, not enough drawers, etc.  

The whole kitchen was gutted except for the cabinet over the stove which I covered and still has storage.  

Thanks to Ana White for the plans and inspiration!  Learned a lot during this process.

I love my new table! My wood was a little bit warped for the tabletop, so that's where I ran into the most problems, but I used a hand planer to smooth it down and it turned out perfectly!

This was a really fun starter project for me. I've never made furniture before and I ran into some issues, but I learned a lot and enjoyed myself! My husband and I live with my Father-in-Law who has all the tools I needed (though I'm going to purchase my own later on).

The stool and table plans are here: http://ana-white.com/2009/11/plan-kids-large-storage-play-table.html . I modified it slightly because I was using scrap pieces (two doors from a particle board wardrobe). I don't like particle board... but I figured since it's my first try, I wouldn't waste any cash since I had all the stuff here, even the nails and screws.

So I made the table about 2 inches shorter and the stool 1 inch shorter. I also used a rectangle top for the table with one side flush against the table side so I could put the set against a wall (i.e. three sides have overhang, the 4th is equal with the legs).

I painted both sets a dark red orange (my husband's favorite color) and let my daughter put her handprints all over in white paint . She LOVES it. And despite the 'wood' I used was particle board, it's pretty strong. I'm pleased. I will probably make another one with stronger material in the future.

Oh there were a lot of holes and such from the used board and some breaks from being thin, crappy board, but I was able to use filler one a lot of it and glue too. It's hard to tell it was a beginner job from a few feet away! Haha!

Used 2x4s for the top instead of 2x6s. All the shelves are 1x2s. My first attempt at a door and drawer - it kicked my a**! 

Top stain: Minwax Golden Pecan

Then Minwax Polycrylic 3 coats

Had to build something to go with our brand new OLED TV. Combined Ana's 'Grandy Sliding Door Console' with a modified version of these modern barn door plans found at https://howdoesshe.com/build-a-fixer-upper-style-modern-barn-door/ from @angelarosehome to make the finished product shown here. My wife loves it (the pup doesn't mind it either)! 

I recently built the Parson Tower Desk (which I see is no longer here on the site). I built it up 3 tiers vs. 2 tiers as the plan called for. Using the Kreg Jig this desk came together like a charm. It was the first piece of furniture I've ever built. Following Ana's plans was so simple. The part that took me the longest was painting it.