Community Brag Posts

I was looking at getting the West Elm Rectangles Day Bed, however, the bed was a bit too tall.  The window sill of the room was 26" high and I didn't really want the bed above the sill.  I found the plans on this site and decided to modify the plans so that the top of the bed would be flush with the top of the sill.

To make the bed fit, I removed 2" from the height of the rectangles (10" cuts instead of 12") and 1/2" from each of the top and bottom joiners (1 3/4" cuts instead of 2/1/4").  Finally, the corener legs are each cut to 26" instead of 30".  The makes the be 7" off the floor instead of 8".  Overall, I'm really happy with how it turned out.

A couple of things I learned:

1.  I used clear pine for the wood.  It was very smooth to begin with, so I didn't need to sand it.  I primed all the wood prior to cutting.

2.  The pine was not all exactly the same size.  This means that I could only have one side completely flush and needed to decide if it was the inside of the outside of the bed (I choose the inside).  I sanded the outside a bit, but all the pieces still weren't completely flush, but I didn't care since it would be facing the wall.  You may be able to get better results with more expensive wood.

3.  Get a Kreg jig.  I bought the pocket unit for ~$20.  It was very useful for creating joints.  Make sure to do a test joint as I initially set the depth incorrectly and drilled too deep (luckily I DID do a test piece)

4.  I did not buy the Kreg plugs.  Instead, I just used wood filler.  For each hole, I covered with wood filler, let dry and sanded.  I then put on a second coat and sanded again using 300 grit sandpaper.  You can not tell there are any joint holes, and am very pleased with how the joints look.

5.  I did not use the Kreg Jig on the 1/3/4" top/bottom rectangle joiners, I just used 3" wood screws and screwed throught the top/bottom in from the top/bottom.  I used a Big Gator Drill Guide to drill a pilot hole that was perfectly perpendicular (as I don't have a drill press) prior to screwing the pieces together.  Filling the holes with wood filler and sanding (twice) worked well.

6.  Sanding!! I sanded a lot to get the paint to be very smooth.  It was a bit of a pain as I did it all by hand.  I think a belt sander might have made some of the sanding go a bit quicker, but the rectangles day bed has so many inside areas to sand, you're going to have to do some by hand.

7.  I used a primer on all surfaces and sanded the primer smooth prior to the final coat(s).  For painting the final coats, I used a foam brush as the paint was pretty thin and I did not want to see any brush marks.  I considered spray painting the final coat, but it was just easier to do by hand.

I had to scale mine down a bit in size (I didn't want a huge coffee table this time around)...I absolutely love this table. Very easy to build and only took one day from start to finish to make. I receive tons of compliments on it! People can't believe I actually made it from scrap wood I had in the garage! I have a 3 year old who plays and bangs toys on it everyday, and it only adds to the distressed, rustic look that I love! Couldn't be happier!

Look no further for a one-of-a-kind coffee table to complete your room!

Deck storage cabinet modified from one of Ana’s table plans.

This project took several months of off and on work but I am very happy with the results. Followed the plans on this website and they were great. The only change I made was to add x cross braces for added support. They were necessary because this thing is wobbly as it is. Got the wood from the local lowes and the hardware from Ace Hardware. Used the Kreg Jig pocket hole system to hide the fasteners which makes a big difference.

I made some other furniture from plans on this website so I used the same rustic stain on this piece. The stain was great, really easy to make and stains really well. I covered the stain with the recommended wax which gives it a really nice shine and is very smooth.

Huge thanks to this website!

This was my first major furniture project. My daughter wanted a changing table and this looked like it would be a good choice.I made a few modifications; it's a little taller as my daughter and her husband are on the tall side, I also added a small rail to keep the changing pad from sliding off. Overall it was a great learning experience. I have built several outdoor pens and small houses for our chickens, but this was my first attempt at a piece of furniture. I think it turned out well, and my daughter and her husband are happy with it (and that is what matters).Of course I see the mistakes but I learned from them and now know what to do (or not to do) next time.  Plans are great, easy to follow ....thank you ANA!! Can't wait to try another plan.

Built by Sarah Ashley Allen on Instagram

My home seems to shrink in direct proportion to my daughter's growth. It seems we never have quite enough space for the new cache of toys, books, games, etc. So, I decided to look for a bookcase/storage center/desk that she could grow with and that might keep up with her. When I shopped for such a large item, the price tag was even larger. I decided to build one myself. I posted step-by-step directions with pictures on my blog: www.momthebuilder.net. Check it out and tell me what you think!
Angie

So we had a pretty hideous bathroom (as seen in the last picture). The toilet was pink too, matching the tub and sink. This complete little bathroom remodel was an experiment to see if I wanted to tackle the master bath and eventually the kitchen. We had a drywall guy come in to fill the holes where the original towel bar, toilet paper holder and medicine cabint were. I actually used the plans from the Kitchen Cabinet Sink Base 36 Full Overlay Face Frame because I wanted a toe kick and a Face Frame. I added my own twists like a hidden toilet paper holder on the right, 45 degree tilt out in the middle, and a sliding shelf in the left drawer. I adjusted the dimensions for the space we had and used a soft close track and hinges. We went with a granite top due to the money we saved on building the vanity. We went with brushed fixtures and accessories like a hotel style towel holder. I want to give credit to my girlfriend and her Mom who did most of the demo work (not really sure why and that's her Mom in the last picture). My girlfriend's step father and I laid the tile (I have never laid tile before) and my girlfriend did all the decorating / finalizing to make it look complete and totally awesome.

This was perfect for my hall as it doubled up as a hall stand too. Love it.

It was a great project for my dad and I.

This was my first attempt at furniture. My husband helped a little but I did most of the work. Worked out beautiful, an excellent birthday pressie for my daughter. Started cutting wood  one afternoon, and finished painting and assembling the following afternoon (had a birthday cake to bake otherwise it would have been finished earlier). I used recycled timber for tops, the rest of the wood cost $50, so guessing Australian timber is way more expensive than USA. Bought Kreg jig specially for this project. Pocket joins give an excellent strong join. Had trouble getting crosses on bench correct, required many rescaling a to get right. Also had a wonky table because I screwed to the recycled timber top (some of that wood is warped) so fixed with a choc under two legs. Very pleased with result, look forward to my next project!

This was our first project from Ana-white. Make sure you notice that the dimensions on the cut list & drawings are different! We went by the cut list. We made a slight change to the frame on the end supports: instead of a 2x2, we used a 2x8. We felt more secure about people/kids pushing down on the edge of the table since we were able to both notch and put two screws into that end piece.

We used Aspen for the top, which I would not suggest. It ended up soaking up the stain very unevenly and blotching, even after using pre-stain.

For hardware, we used a 5 foot black iron pipe from Lowe's. Once we had the table assembled and the holes drilled, we remeasured and had Lowe's trim it by a few inches and re-thread (for free). We also used four square washers from McMaster-Carr (part no. 91128a140) which were $11after shipping.

We made our own wood putty out of sawdust, craft glue, and a little bit of the stain that we used for the table. It worked like a charm.

The two of us spent maybe 5 hours for assembly and another 6 for finishing.

This is our version of the farm house table. Flat white base with a grey finish on top to give it a coastal farmhouse theme.