Community Brag Posts

Country Table - dark walnut stain and satin polyurethane coat.

I saw Ana's plan for an elevated dog dish, but our little cockapoo (still a puppy) wasn't really ready for that height. So I made a basic box and cut out the holes in the top for the bowls. He is still growing, so when he's a little taller, I'm going to put tennis balls on the bottom as feet which will raise it up a little more. Thought I would dress it up with a quote I found somewhere online.

Used some leftover paint and glaze from making the pantry and finished the same way.

My son has a very specific color scheme in his room (Go Pokes!), and finding something to keep his toys in, that looks like it belongs, is simply impossible. I chose to do it cheap and quick way, but it came out exactly like I hoped it would. I really liked the eyelets idea, and since I wanted the zoo to be movable and able to serve as a shelf, I just screwed them in directly into the top and bottom

I live in Ketchikan, Alaska right smack in the middle of a rain forest, so I had been waiting for a sunny day for quite a while so i could get outside and get these built and painted. I got all the wood and about a week later my day came, I got outside and had them built, primed, and painted in less than 3 hours. I painted all my frames the next day and had my husband help my put them up. I have gotten SO many compliments on them and they look so great in our living room, after we put them up, I realized how naked that wall had looked before!

I made this for my grandnephew and it was really easy to build. I put it together first using a power brad nailer and then went back and screwed it all together for extra strength. The cut/build took just a few hours. The painting took several hours since I didn't prepaint and had to tape off where the colors were different (lesson learned for next time).

Easy instructions and simple design. One cart houses table saw, and the other I plan to make a router table. I did make a slight modification in design by adding T-nuts and 5/16” bolts for feet. (My shop floor is crowned). I also used 3/4” melamine white panels for table tops. Difficult to work with but cheaper and has a smooth surface. (Be careful using for structural parts due to glue not impregnating through melamine) 

I needed something for my living room wall and then I found this plan. I love it! My husband helped me knock these out really fast. I sanded them then used primer and 2 coats of white trim paint.

This was my first wood project... ever. But I didn't want to dish out the $500 for the back-saving store pedestals. This thing is big and sturdy. I have a few random comments below that may help out others with my little experience.

- Lowes does not cut 4x4s. Only 2x4s. Also, call Home Depot to make sure their saw is working before you grab all the wood on your cart :)

- Careful about adding trim to the outside of the pedestal (by outside I mean with left/right side, as opposed to the front). That extra piece of trim will increase the width of your table and it may not fit in your home's spot.

- Wood Putty is ok but cannot be sanded and always stays soft. Wood FILLER on the other hand hardens. I used this extensively to help spiff up my poor trim job. Especially the corners.

- Speaking of poor trim job, I was told after the fact that you should clamp down the trim before you nail. Everytime I tried to nail a piece of trim it would wiggle out of place.

- When wood glue drips, it becomes hard to sand and leaves a mark under the pain it not cleaned up well.

- I didn't know what a countersign drill bit was, but when I dished out the Hamilton for one I found out that any ole drill bit may have sufficed. I'm gonna need some clarification on this, but I ended up pre-drilling almost all of my holes because my electric drill was not powerful enough to screw into the wood.

That's about it. It was a fun first project, but I definitely could've used a few more helpful details, or at least someone who knew something about wood to point out how little I actually know!

This was the 2nd project I made and was amazed at how simple this was. Really easy and quick:)

Hi Ana,

I saw your link on Facebook to the fold-down bar by Home Depot, and I wanted to show you the one we built last year. We're pretty proud of how it turned out! It was easy to build - we just used a reference photo we found on the web and built it to our own specifications. We have a very tiny backyard with absolutely no space to set up a drink area, so this works perfectly. It folds up out of the way when it's not needed (and doesn't have to be packed away for the winter!)

After installing it, I handpainted the back (bottom) with an inside-joke between my husband and his friends. "Duffy's Bar and Grill!" is how they answer the phone whenever one calls the other.

I hope you like it!

Barb Steadman
Newmarket, Ontario, Canada

I built this set of furniture and tables over two full days and spent another whole day on the finish.  Thanks for your inspiration and plans to get this project from a list to something we can enjoy.  Cushions (Sunbrella) were purchased at clearance from Restoration Hardware (not shown) last year.  The plans were changed slightly for the cushions and choice of lumber dimensions utilized (4x4 cedar instead of 2x2).  That's a heck of a lot of pocket screws--the mounted jig is required for this much work.

I had so much fun building these beds! Thanks Ana for providing the plans for these. My boys absolutely love them. This was my first furniture build and now I can't wait to tackle some more. The bottom bunk is using an odd-sized mattress, so I had to change the plans a little, and the ladder has since been attached as well.

My first project! Used the plans on the website, but tweaked the top a bit. Made the top from maple plywood with maple 1x2 edge, so I would have a smooth top. Also changed the length to 86" to fit my kitchen. Assembled the base with glue and screws, sanded and filled the holes, then painted it. Attached the top with pocket hole screws. Worked on the project for around 10 hours, but took me 10 days to finish because the kids are home on summer vacation!

My daughter needed chairs to use at her art/play-dough table. I used pallet wood for everything except the legs of the chairs. The legs were from some scrap wood that I had. I made two chairs and plan to make two more. They are each a different color.