Community Brag Posts

My wife and I live in a 575 sq ft Manhattan apartment with two young boys so space is extremely limited! Last year when our older son was 6 he had the idea to turn our tiny bathroom hallway area into a work space for his growing homework assignments. It took me a year, but it all fell into place when I found this design. Luckily we live in a quirky old 1844 brick row house and I've been lucky enough to craft a small space in the basement where I can keep my tools and work on projects. Even a small desk like this takes more space than you think!

I had to make it a bit smaller to fit the wall space we have. Then I realized the exterior hinges wouldn't have enough clearance because of the door frame. I found a neat set of interior hinges made by Pojjo but they attached to the sides as well as the bottom so the craft paper section was in the way. Then my wife said, "Can you flip it upside-down?" Absolutely. The only other hack I added was adjustable peg slots for the shelf on the left.

I did a twist on the chalkboard theme by painting the desk in a semi-gloss but the entire hallway in hot pink chalkboard paint--pink is my son's fave color =:-) Hudson Paints has an amazing range of chalkboard paint colors.

We love, love, love this design--thanks, Ana!

Built the porch swing and was inspired to build the glider frame by another "Brag Post" Looks great and fits perfectly in my back yard!

I was inspired by the custom closets on this site and decided to have a go at it. My daughter is in high school, so I wanted something functional with a bit of teenage flair.

Of all the designs I researched, I loved Kristen's design (from Pink Toes & Power Tools here: http://ana-white.com/2012/02/closet-organizer) the most, but wanted to add a substantial shoe section and not lose any rod space in the process. I also needed one rod section to be longer than the other two to hang her dresses.

All in all a fun project where I used just about every tool I own:

Circular saw to rough out the plywood shelves and supports.

Table saw with a cross-cut sled (http://wnwoodworkingschool.com/5-cuts-to-a-perfect-cross-cut-sled/) to make the plywood pieces all perfectly square & an extra long rip fence.

Router (with jig) for the dovetail joints, detailing on the drawer fronts and rounding the leading edges of the shelves.

Power drill for mounting the drawers, drawer fronts and handles

Compound Miter saw for the various face framing pieces and the shoe moulding

Pipe cuter to cut the rods (also made a jig to both hold the rods in place while I mounted the supports and set it at the correct height and distance from the wall--used a planer in making this)

Orbital sander

Brad nailer during assembly (also made a jig here to set the plywood pieces on during the tower assembly to keep the back square while I used 90 deg clamps on the fronts).

Airless paint sprayer (I have learned that my wife does not like brush marks!)

Washers for spacing the drawer fronts (found this trick online and it works like a charm!)

Lots of clamps!!!

I made the one with the different color chairs and chalkboard table top first. 

I then made the batman set for my nephew.

I recommend using 2x2's for the legs on the chairs like another bragger does, the 1x2's weren't sturdy enough for my kiddos.

Thanks for the plans!

Started with the regular loft bed, and added 10 inches to the height. Then I made a ladder instead of stairs to save room. Enclosed it, then added the finishing touches. Link to the process and my son's reaction is below. 

https://youtu.be/xhOqYV7RkKQ

-John

I upgraded the "Simple Bookshelf Plan" somewhat. I dadoed my shelves into the sides, built the majority of the shelf with pine faced with Red Oak, and added a laminated pine top which I routered with an ogee bit.

The back is tongue and groove pine paneling.

I finished the project with three coats of Spar Varnish. It's a good plan and produces a handsome result.

Beginner project if you use the basic plans. With dadoed shelves and a routered edge it probably bumps it up to intermediate.

I made the side street bunk beds for one one of my sons, so it was time to make a project for my other one. I showed him several different beds, but in the end, he wanted it to look like the same style as his brothers....Of course!  He picked the colors!!

Unlike the bunk beds, I painted these before I put it together, and boy what a difference!

The boss requested a table to the patio, figure I would keep the theme going and use the same size wood that used for the pergola. Followed the Fancy X Farmhouse Table plans with a few exceptions. Instead of 2x4, it was constructed with 6x6, 4x4, 2x8, 2x6 (Doulgas-fur, rough-cut). The bench plans can be found on the site as well, the original plans were for a full-length bench, on one side two benches were built with half the length. 

Had a weekend to complete it for a party the following week. table top needs to be refinished.

Great look and feel for the backyard patio.

My wife and I actually built this the summer of 2011 after my sister (ferbit on this site) told me about Ana-White.com. I have to say it turned out awesome.

Note, we used pine here partly for cost as this was our first try ever building our own furniture and we didn't know if we'd totally fail at it but also because the cedar at our Home Depot and Lowes didn't have the nice clean edges that the pine did. Also, the paint counter assured us the paint we were getting would protect the wood against the elements. Time will tell, but we are also planning to re-paint every couple of years to keep things looking fresh as well as "just in case"

Believe it or not when we built this we were living in an apartment (granted one with a very large balcony) in a downtown area (I wish I still had the pictures but I can't seem to find them anymore) The neighbors didn't seem to mind as we got all the cuts done as quickly as possible during the middle of the day. We got all of the cutting and drilling done in one day. The Kreg Jig my sister recommended is really what made this project possible. I don't know how we would have done it without it. The Second day was all about assembly and the following weekend we bought some saw horses with special little pointed risers specifically made for helping with painting. For paint we went to Home Depot and just asked for what they recommended for outdoor furniture in the Seattle area. Two coats later with some drying time and we had this amazing set.

The coffee table btw, is simply a highly modified seat from the sectional.

Now that we've moved, we're planning to build a second set this summer as I like to hold BBQs and invite lots of friends and family so a single set this size just isn't enough :-)

My father in law wanted to remodel an old bedroom to a princess room for our daughters' visits. We came for a weekend with our tools and built it in pieces, which was easy to assemble and finish after the rest of the room's remodel was finished.

 I live in Lviv Ukraine and painted it in he national colors of Ukraine.

The wood came from a old pallet.

I was looking for an affordable way to decorate my new office and use scrap lumber I have piling up in the shop.
I thought the Squared2 headboard would look great since it make a nice large piece of art.

If you build the triple pedestal table, you also have to build the triple pedestal bench.

This was a Mothers Day gift for my mom.  She absolutely loves it!  She lives in a retirement complex and neighbors are complimenting her on it all the time! I did decide to go with all cedar instead of using any pine, so that did increase the cost. I also altered the plan like others and added a trim piece on the top. I think that makes the planter! Thanks Ana for the wonderful plans!

Our old picnic table was falling apart so I made a new one with it

Assembly Workstation with small drawers for tools and hardware supplies and large drawers for scrap wood storage.

Has lockable wheels so can be stored against wall when not in use and pulled out to allow easy access to move around the piece I am working on.

Drawers have 3/4 inch ply bottoms for strength and the big ones have full extension drawers.

Top is 66 inches wide by 34 inches deep to give plenty of work surface.

Total cost was about $300.