While staging my sister & brother-in-laws home so they could list it for sale, I ended up with an "empty wall" in their living room and nothing to fill it with, but knew a small bookshelf would work perfectly! I loved the look of the Kentwood bookshelf plan. I'm not the fastest builder, but after a couple hours, I had everything cut, all pocket holes drilled and everything fully assembled. I only applied one coat of stain and a single coat of poly and skipped adding a back...for now. I may go back and add a back later, but for now I'm thrilled with it (and so was my sister!)

Edit:  I finally added a back to the shelf - just in time to sell it to a friend. ;)

This is my first attempt at a rustic coffee table build based on Ana's designs. I used redwood (mostly) and pine for the bottom shelf. The solution was created using white vinegar and 00 grade steel wool. The solution was not diluted (should have done 50/50 with water) and sat for about 15 days (only needed 5-7 to dissolve all wool).  

Hope you enjoy!

Used the frame portion of the plans and the window/door layout, skinned in plywood, then skinned in insulating foam board, carved and sculpted to look like stone. Then painted with a combo of 5 different colors. My daughter loves it. 

This project was a lot of fun and didn't take very long. Already thinking of making another one with different color finish.

Second project for annual church craft show. Loved the idea of using pegboard, so I modified it accordingly. Guessed at cost as we bought 2X6s and 2X12s on clearance and ripped them down ourselves which brought the cost down.

easy to follow steps. Good weekend project for a beginner. I just got tools for Christmas and I tackled this without prior building experience. Excited for more projects

Needed to do a little spring cleaning in the garage and organization.

I loved working on this easy upholstered bench. It was so much fun and so simple. I followed the plan except I raised the bench to 20 inches, because my husband and I are quite tall. I also wrapped the fabric underneath about 1/2 inch and stapled it so it has a tighter look. Thanks for the plans Ana!

I had a ton of fun making this media console! It is my second big project, and I would still consider myself a beginner, but I paid very close attention to detail and I think it turned out great!

I stretched the console out by about 4 inches, so that if I ever decide to put my TV on it, it will fit.

Thanks Ana for your great website!

I built this table back in May so a little late posting. It is the second Modern Farm Table that I've built. The first was built for my sister and this one for my nephew and his partner. I am very happy and so are they with how it turned out. Thanks again Ana for your plans.

This is the nightly sleeper for our 6yo (queen) and 4yo (twin) boys, but we have in-laws who visit from out of town frequently and we also wanted a place to allow them to be comfortable as couples.

To accomodate adult headroom on the queen, I raised the entire loft 7" (72" high) and to fit the queen beneath, I had to lengthen the loft rails by 9" (84" long). To fill the resulting gap, I just used some 39" scraps of 2x4 and 2x6 overlapped to create a 4x10 landing which actually ended up a cool addition since it gives the kids a spot lower than the mattress to make the transition from the ladder to the mattress. It also has given us adults a spot to sit off the mattress while comforting them to sleep when needed, so we don't end up waking them when we leave.

I based the height of the queen legs (made four of them) off the size of a standard storage tote, which was ~13". We can fit 12-16 totes of clothes or other random storage under the bed as a result. The queen frame was just a simple 64"x84" rectangle out of 2x6s with 7 2x4s used as crossbeams to hold the mattress.

Note on the mattresses - these 8" memory foam mattresses are just as comfortable as our expensive name brand king mattress, but MUCH cheaper!

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Mainstays-8-inch-Memory-Foam-Mattress-Multiple-Sizes/47826185

Despite raising the loft, I kept the height of the stair platform the same, but just added a second 'ladder' rung to get up to the loft (refer back to the 4x10 landing spot on the loft). To keep with the using available storage space theme, instead of attaching the stairs permanently, I used 1"x4" hinges to that we could swing the stairs up and put 4 more storage totes under there. (However, we quickly found that the kids liked that area as a 'fort', so we've left it open for their use.)

In the picture, you'll note there are four treads/steps on the stairs because I thought to myself "little feet, little steps" would be better. I soon learned that the littles are more than capable of using adult sized steps while adults nearly killed themselves coming down the little feet, little steps. As such, I ended up removing one of the middle steps and moving the new singular middle to a spot between the other two. Much better, stay with 3 steps.

While the queen can stand alone, I still attached it to the 'legs' of the loft so that our rambunctious boys didn't 'sweep the leg' and bring the whole thing down on themselves while under it.

Love how this turned out! Great build, added a back to the table. It looks awesome in our living room.

This was my first project, probably a little ambitious for a first project but the plans made it super easy. As soon as I was done with the 4 chairs (two armless and two corners), I immediately made two tables that we have used as side tables, as a single table and as seats. It was dirt cheap to make, probably less than $100 for everything, that’s a complete steal. The cushions cost twice as much as the entire build.

Youtube videos of build:

Part 1:  https://youtu.be/h3J68cDOvmI 

Part 2:  https://youtu.be/oUgMXG2NOJo

Our big old house doesn't have a front hall closet, so I decided to make the Nursery Armoire for our extra coats and shoes. Since our ceilings are so tall I decided to make it the full 96" that I could get out've the sheet of plywood.
I also modified the plan to adjust the door heights so that the top would make good coat hanging and the bottom can be used for shoes and boots. I also changed the drawers to be on the outside instead of behind the upper doors.
I used 3/4" plywood for the box and pine for the doors and trim.
For the doors I pocket holed the frames and then routed an edge on the backside and stapled pine paneling to fill out the middle. This matches doors I made previously to make cupboards in our full-wall brick fireplace (and the hardware matches too).
I did the top trim as in the plan, and I decided to leave the bottom plain.
It's quite large! But in the space a smaller one would've looked silly, so I'm glad I went with the height.

I decided to paint it so that I didn't have to fuss with staining, but went with the same paint as the walls for the backs and undersides of shelves to lighten it up.

Can't wait to fill it up! ....just have to give the dark paint one more go-over....

Our mud room/laundry room is very busy with 2 boys and 2 adults. Scarves, gloves and hats are generally tossed here or there, usually far and wide when it comes to my boys.

My solution was a coat rack with cubby. Like most of my creations, it is a Kelley Special, all up in my head. I don't have plans, although I will make some when I make the next ones for me and my husband.

I used poplar 1x4's for the sides, bottom and back attachment and 1x6's for the front where coat hooks will be mounted, 2 small coat hooks on the sides, wood glue, and pocket holes to construct it.

If you add the time I spent on it, it didn't take too long, but it took a while since it was a few minutes here and a few minutes there. I am very happy with the final product, and we are starting to test it out now that the weather is cold again.

If you want to see more pictures take a swing by my blog: www.trekkiemom.com