Community Brag Posts

I recently spotted a little gem in the garage - a little space in between the garage doors.  It was perfect for building a modular system of small French cleat box shelves.  I made them all using scrap wood.  I even had extra scrap wood to make a battery charging station in another narrow gap on the wall.  You can read all the details about my latest storage adventure on my blog:

http://www.justmeasuringup.com/blog/using-commonly-lost-garage-spaces-for-storage

I'm on high alert for more areas like this that get overlooked easily, and am just waiting for more inspiration to strike!

Our kitchen is smaller than our last house, so we turned our breakfast nook into more storage and could yet space. I love Ana White’s plans, tips, videos, and community.

This all started with wanted to clean up my side of the bed. I have a CPAP machine, I like to read and I am a techno-geek. There simply wasn't enough space for things to fit, so they find themselves on the floor.

I started looking around at furniture stores, and none of them were exactly what I was looking for, and the ones that I would have considered were $500+. I thought to myself that I can use this as a learning opportunity. I found Ana's site here and immediately knew I had found the right place.

I downloaded the plans to the Rhyan End Table and was so impressed with the layout. I wanted to know how the construction pictures were built and downloaded Google Sketchup and the Rhyan End Table plans and proceeded to build the end table virtually. I am truly in awe of the power of that tool.

Then I started the actual build of the project. I hadn't really done a lot of woodworking - but I am now a fan of the Kreg Jig. What a great tool!

I know I should have read everything *thoroughly* - but I didn't. Because I didn't have all my own equipment, I went to a friend's house to cut all the boards. In hindsight, I now know why that wasn't a good idea. Because I had pre-cut everything (and was as accurate as I could make it), when I got to the drawers, I was really in over my head. I had a woodworking friend help me set the drawers and shave off a bit of the drawer slide mounting boards, so the drawer would fit. One side effect of that is that I decided that putting the spacer board in-between the two drawers would made things more difficult and could possibly make the drawers not work very well, so because it is for me, I decided to leave the spacer board off.

I just finished putting the last coat of Pecan Poly on last night and moved it in.

As this was my first project, I learned a _ton_ of stuff. So I left it rougher than other people would like but I already love it.

Now my wife wants one for her side of the bed :-)

Thank you Ana for your site, your passion and inspiring me to start doing a little woodworking!

-Bryan

Plans used from Ana-White.Com's awesome recreation of a commercially available table. Ran through this construction in no time and it came out like a charm. Thanks!

Potting bench I made for my daughter as a housewarming gift to her newly built home. Easy plans! It was a great build.

This is our version of the factor cart. I used 12 inch boards on the sides to make the table have a little more height.

Simply copy of Ana's post. Used American Walnut stain and acrylic paint. Measures 40" x 40".

Started with the providence bench plans and made a couple changes.

Modern Comfort Outdoor Sofa and Loveseat to go with the Simple Outdoor Dining Table and Benches that I made 2 years ago. I love that the "Modern Comfort" plans don't require angles or a miter saw. I used a circular saw for all of it!

This seat is awesome for my 5 year old because now she can have a big girl seat and reach the table!

I used 2x4 instead of the 4x4 to create this bench for my entry way. I left off the stretcher so my shoe baskets could fit underneath.

Loved this desk, for my first project I was extremely pleased how it turned out.

I built these two outdoor chaise lounges last year

Over the winter, I stored them on the deck, turning them into a huge outdoor sofa!

took my time and followed the plans with the exception of modifying them for a king size bed. Turned out great! Thanks a lot.

My FIRST furniture making project ever! Previous woodworking project was a sorry-looking wall shelf made in high school shop class. The plans for this project were VERY easy to follow! Thank you, Ana!

Once I set up the sectional on our screened porch, I realized I really wanted a coffee table. So, I used the Accent Table for Simple Modern Outdoor Sectional plans as a guide. I lengthened the side and underneath supports to accommodate a longer top (46 1/2" for side supports and 45" for underneath supports) and made 13 top slats, instead of only 6 for accent table. Finished coffee table measures 48" length x 23 1/2"width x 17" height and used 7 boards, plus a scrap 17" piece leftover from sectional pieces.

Project Costs for 4 armless sections, 2 corner sections & coffee table (Maryland):

40 1x4"x8' common boards
2 boxes 2" dipped wood screws
1 box 1 1/4" dipped wood screws
bottle of wood glue
Quart of Kilz outdoor primer
Quart of Benjamin Moore "Ben" Low Lustre Exterior paint in Bittersweet Chocolate
Four Rolston 2-piece and Two Rolston 3-piece replacement outdoor cushions in Beige from Target (now discontinued). (Biggest chunk of cost, $520)

TOTAL = $~765

P.S. Find and buy the cushions first! It took me a long time to find them online. And when I went back to reorder more, after I decided to make sectional bigger than I originally planned, they had discontinued the corner sections. So, I just used a 2 piece cushion for one end. I actually like the way it looks (see pictures).
P.P.S. Our dog especially loves to sleep under the sectional...

I had fun doing this project, it was pretty simple.  One of the boards said wrong on the plans, but I like my finished project!