Community Brag Posts

After weeks of being shown every DIY project on Interest by my lovely wife, like most men, I cracked! What seperated me from these other guys??? NOTHING! Haha, so I took a trip to Home Depot, got my supplies and went to work.

The assembly and construction was relatively easy, I have a background in construction so I was taught the motto of "measure twice, cut once." This served me well during this project as I did not need to get additional lumber for careless mistakes.

After the table was put together, I went to work with the sanding/distressing of the table. I wanted it to have a reclaimed barn wood look to it; So out came the nails, screws, chains and blowtorches. This was probably the most fun!

After the distressing was to my liking, I went to work prepping for stain. Two coats of dark walnut Minwax later, we were looking like a real table! Anyhoo, prep for poly, apply two coats, and Bazinga! New kitchen table......that looks really old. Lots of fun to build and will last a long time! Thanks Ana!

This was my first solo wood project I have done without my dad, now that I have moved across the country. It was a great intro to woodworking, and I definitely learned a TON. I did this with a generic "tool set" I got for christmas a few years ago, all battery powered.

Note to other beginners:

- Circular saws that are battery powered may not have the juice to cut through those 2x8's, which led me to have some uneven cuts. 

- Careful with the wood glue. If it leaks out between the boards it can be a B**** to clean up and will cause some issues with staining down the road. 

Long story short: Love this project, super happy with the turnout even with some imperfections! Has me bit by the DIY/Woodworking bug! 

These plans were very easy to follow and the end result is beautiful. Thank you so much!

Farmhouse twin bed with trundle made of yellow pine with a dark stain.

I really liked the Large Wooden Dog crate but wanted the sides to be lower and wanted to make sure there was no easy chew escape.  Not sure if you can see from the photo but the cats have taken over... Will need to make a larger one for the dog!

I followed the plan pretty much other than lowering the panel on the side and replacing the wooden bars with rebar.  The rebar was a bit of a learning curve getting the holes lined up perfectly but I figured it out and I think it came out pretty good!

Used all pine 1x3 and 1x2s.  Picked up a pine panel for the top and the bottom is a 3/4 plywood. Made our own chalk paint for the finish and sealed it with wax.

Oh, forgot, added tongue and groove pine for the back and finished it and the top with Antiguing wax.

Lots of fun and I think I will make a double one next!

With Spring Break here (I'm a teacher), I decided to conquer my biggest conquest yet: building furniture . I'll admit, it was a whim. On a whim, I began and on a wing and a prayer, I finished. I took my time, measured twice and twice again and cut once. Nailed and screwed until my fingers were numb. I cringed all the way, waiting for a roadblock. Waiting for something that wouldn't fit to something else or for a slight breeze to blow the whole thing over. It didn't. Everything fit. Everything's stable. My husband jumped in to help me the second day because I needed another pair of hands to help with the drilling. All along the way, we used our own terms that would make professional craftsmen laugh. We measured counting "tick marks" off the inch. Shall I demonstrate? Me: "This end is 1,2,3,4,5,6 tick marks off 2 inches." Hubs: "Ok, let me measure my end...it is 1,2,3 tick marks before 2. We need to move it my way some". It was laughable and highly unprofessional BUT it worked!! For anyone wondering, I plan to study up on my 3/8" and 5/8" to know exactly how to read those tick marks. At least I know it's called a tape measure. All that to say, it is a my masterpiece and I have never been so proud in my life. I feel like such an overachiever! Behold, my fancy pancy farmhouse table.

Over a year ago my wife Rebecca and I decided that our two oldest children would love to have bunk beds.  They are close in age and already share many toys, so sharing a room made sense.  Plus we had to make room for our third child that was on his way!

We searched for bunk beds and found that those within our budget were made of low quality plywood.  We were concerned about the safety of potential bunk beds and whether they could withstand our boys’ roughness.  Quality bunk beds, on the other hand, were easily above a thousand dollars which was way beyond our budget.  We were pretty bummed that we could not find our kids a suitable bunk bed within our expectations.

Then Rebecca suggested: “You could build them one.”

Hmmmmmm.  It was an interesting statement from my wife, perhaps even a challenge.  A challenge that I immediately immersed myself into.  Mission accepted!

What I did differently:

• Added extra posts for a sturdier bunk bed.
• Bunk bed is longer to fit twin mattresses, height increased.
• Added rail slats and trim.
• Added LED lights.

6'x3' Farmhouse table.  Top is made of 2x8's, stained with MinWax natural oak. Legs are 5"x5" "husky" legs found on Etsy.com.  Side aprons are 1x6 pine.  The base has a basecoat of mahogany stain, covered my antique white milk paint and distressed with an orbital sander.   

I was hoping to get the same "old world chipped paint" finish that Ana did on one of her tables, but I couldn't get it to replicate.  But I'm still happy with the results.

We decided to build a daybed after we discovered that the space we needed to fill was a bit of an odd size and nothing we saw was going to work. We fell in love with West Elm's rectangles daybed but it was very much out of our budget as we are getting married in June. We recently acquired a kregjig and this was the perfect project to really test it's worth. Once all the cuts were made and the pocket holes drilled, putting this together was quite easy. We were lucky that it fit through our front door, and we attached the support beams after it was in place. We opted for spray paint to finish it off, but we didn't sand everything down beforehand so we may pull it back outside at a later date and smooth things out a bit. We are really impressed with how sturdy this daybed is and EVERYONE compliments us on it. This is our second Ana White plan we've used and only the second major woodworking project we've completed. We bought the ready to use slats at IKEA along with a twin mattress.

You can see the whole project here: http://nearlydomesticated.blogspot.com/2013/03/here-comes-sun.html

My hubby built this because of the original inspiration of the one on your site.  The Vanity Hutch with recessed lights.  So thankful to have had the original photo and plans to work from.  I love how it came out. The countertops are concrete.

Love, love, love the ideas on your website.  Thanks so much!

Made these chairs for my 1 year old to use as she is learning to stand and climb!

This was my first real build!! I did it simultaneously with the elementary trestle desk, land of nod bookshelf, rolling cubbie stools and hanging bookshelf! My son wanted the ladder vs the steps and was thrilled with the hammock made out canvas drop cloths:) I made a simple bed box for chalk and cups of water at bedtime and just screwed it in to the top 2x4! the build was easy...however the assembly took my daughters help! It took me about 3 hours to build the bed and I stained it with general finishes java gel stain! It was so much fun and I am so addicted!! I will submit brag posts for the other builds soon!

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!

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