Community Brag Posts

I changed up the dimensions to make a storage bench for the end of our bed. I wanted something different and couldn't be happier with the way it turned out. I stained it with weathered grey, then a coat of golden oak and then another of weathered grey. And painted the box with linen white chalk paint. I love the black knobs with the grey and white!

I only used 2x2s for the legs. I made the seat frame from 1x2s because of the warping I. The 2x2s. It made my life so much easier!

I made this garden trellis with cheap 6' cedar fence pickets ripped down to 1 1/2" strips. Get the free plans and tutorial at The Handyman's Daughter!

This is a twist on the Modular Family Entryway Mudroom System - Pullout Rolling Bench Cart . There have been many posts on the net for a mudroom locker set such as the one I have. In our case we had a mudroom with a closet, not much room to move when sliding the doors open, and as well we have kids that need a place to sit in order to put boots/shoes etc on. I took advantage of my husband's work assignment out of the country to rip back the closet,to 20 inches deep and open it up and added a bench for seating, baskets above for out of season/rarely used stuff, and used rolling cubbies below, but in my case I wanted storage bins instead. My thinking was so that I could make it look clean pretty quickly by just chucking every thing in to the bin... These are tall enough for our boots. In the bottom of the bins I put a piece of outdoor carpeting, then a plastic grid, and over that another layer of outdoor carpeting so if the footwear is wet it will drain and dry-no biggie to vacume or sweep out. Best deal: I can simply roll them out of the way when I want to sweep underneath! I measured cubby space to basket size above, and made the bins below after doing the bench and middle supports, to ensure a good fit. The bench top is an old piece of pine board I sanded, stained and used 4 coats of marine varnish so it would take lots of wear and tear.

My husband built this sectional from Ana's outdoor seating plans. Overall, it was a simple and easy project for our spring break. The paint is Glidden's Water Chestnut all cushions are from Garden Ridge. We love it!

My first build!!!! I live in an apartment, so I was nervous to undertake any project... luckily I was able to borrow a garage one weekend to build it, and then moved it in and finished it. It took more than just the weekend to complete.  It probably took me a lot longer than if I had more experience and knew what I was doing...I stopped every two minutes to double check myself and reread the directions lol. I'm so happy with how it turned out. I used the IKEA center beam from my old bed for the center support, and cut wood slats for my mattress to rest on so I don't have to use a box spring. It looks so much more expensive than it was. my  next project is a headboard...as soon as I have a space to build it in :)

My kids are very into the "Magic Treehouse" books so my version of the Sweet Pea Bunk Beds is called The Treehouse Bunk Beds!
I made a few modifications, mostly for ease of access and airflow. I added windows for each bunk on the non-stair side of the bed because my kids room tends to be really hot so I thought they would appreciate more cross ventilation.
I made the side panel on the upper bunk removable (so that I would have access to put the fitted sheet on that end) by using pocket hole screws to hold the boards together, which make it one solid panel then I put 1x2s behind where the panel would go so it wouldn't fall in and used 4 slide bolts to hold it in place so it wont fall out. Also I made the two front panels on the lower bunk hinged doors so I could just lean in to change the sheets. The method for these was basically identical to what I described above but I attached them with non-mortised hinges.
I'd love to get the storage boxes made on of these days. Maybe after they start kindergarten!

I built matching side tables using Ana's Narrow Cottage End Table plan. I changed the height to suit the arms of my furniture. They fit our tight space and look fantastic with our existing wood pieces. Very easy to build, even the drawers! I used a router to finish the edge on the drawers, to make them stand out a little more. I learned to put my pocket holes on the outside of the drawer, since the back one is in the back, and the front one is covered by the separate drawer front piece. A Kreg jig makes this a very simple project. Also, I sanded my boards before assembly, then did touch-ups before finishing the project.

This chair was pretty easy to make with Ana's plans. I plan on making four more just like it (updated: completed). The only modification I made was adding another slat to the back of the chair. I used a miter saw for all cuts which really helped with the speed of the project. The 2x2's are treated pine and the 1x3 slats are cedar that I got from the "orange box store" for about four bucks a stick. I also primed and painted the 2x2's (legs) before I assembled. I could not imagine trying to paint the legs white and not getting at least some on that beautiful cedar. The contrast really pops in person. Thanks ana-white.com! $20 per chair.

This was a very fun and one of the easiest projects I have made from Ana's plans! This makes me want to see if I can make matching chairs as well!

If you have seen my other projects, you know that I try to keep the lumber cost of my projects as close to free as possible. Living on the Eastern Shore of Virginia, pallets are not free, so I did have to pay $2 for each pallet, being VERY choosy about the slats being all the same size and straight. The hardest part of the project was taking the pallets apart! Check the blog link for more details.

I used 1 1/2 pallets for this project, and the following tools:

Jigsaw (to cut the ends off the pallet)

Pry-bar (to loosen the slats from the center of the pallet)

Miter saw

Drill

Table Saw (ripping the 2x4 sections of the pallet, to make the legs and spacers of the table)

Palm sander

LOVED doing this! I am a total beginner so it is not truly perfect but that is what we love about it! My five year old helped me and learned how to work an electric screwdriver. We saw Pottery Barn was broadcasting a table like this and using that the screws showed as a marketing piece - so we have some screws showing and it is soooo warm and inviting. It looks 100 years old. Everyone loves it!! Thank you for the great inspiration. We made ours 6 feet long and 3 feet wide to fit our space and 4x4's for the legs.

I love my new sofa! It is ten times more comfy than our old one. We live on an island and it was definitely cheaper to build my own sofa than to ship one in and pay duty on it. Thank you Ana for making this possible! Never thought I'd be building my own sofa, but we are so thankful for it. We even threw together our own little ottoman/toy box to go along with it from scraps...added bonus!

I shrunk the size and dumbed down the plans to fit my skill level.