Community Brag Posts

I was shopping around for a bunk bed for my 2 and 4 year old girls. I didn't want the standard, cheap metal frame for $200, but I also didn't want to spend $2,000 on a big box store bed (made in China) with a 300% mark-up! I stumbled upon Ana's site and was HOOKED! I found the "Sweet Pea Bunk Bed" and immediately printed the plans.

I was a little hesitant to take on such a project because I am...by no means...a carpenter. I found a few mistakes in the instructions, but was able to work through them. I decided against the tin roof, pergola, and flower boxes, but instead went with a "beach house" theme.

My girls LOVE LOVE LOVE it! They especially love the windows and the little shelf where they can put their favorite toy at night when it's time to sleep. I also let each of our kids (plus mom and dad) put hand prints on the rails of the upper bunk so my daughter on the bottom bunk has something to look at. Added a push button light too.

My adivce to anyone thinking of doing this bunk bed: Read through the instructions thoroughly first. Do NOT take shortcuts. Cut, sand and paint EVERYTHING before assembling.

I work full-time and take a few night classes (for fun), so this project took me 4 weekends to build (including a 3-day weekend, thanks to a holiday). Enjoy!

Bench was made using the plans on the site. I modified the plans to create these accompanying 15" x 15" side tables. cut list for each table:

7 2x4 at 15" each (stained for the top part of the table).
4 2x4 @13 1/2" each (for legs)
5 1x4 @ 15" each (used for the top of the table)
2 1x4 @ 8" each (used for the top of the table)
4 1x4 @ 17" each (for legs)

Time varies depending on if you cut, sand, stain, and treat the lumber for outdoor use. The estimated time below is does not include time for the stain/weatherproof treatment.

Got plans from this site. Made two carts so far. Second one smaller. Iron wheel little $$

I'm doing a lot of projects in the shop this summer (starting with planing 240 fence pickts :S) and so I decided that this stool would be an excellent edition (better than plastic chairs) to the shop.

I increased the length of the legs to 30 inches (from the plan length of 23) and its quite solid with the increase.

I don't have a miter saw, so I did this with my table saw and the outcome was very good. Be sure you use a square to make sure your miter gauge is calibrated before making the cuts.

I used 1x2 and 2x2 (2) furring strips from orange that cost $3.12 and $1.47 respectively. I had some 1x12 scraps around and trimmed one down a bit and glued/screwed 1x2s on either side to make it wide enough.

I didn't fill the holes because filler is a bit pricey for the shop stool.

I think I'll make a round top for it eventually, but for now it does just fine.

New to raising chickens, but eager to jump right in to it.
We bought a pre-made coop for the main home for our new chicks and it's very nice, not something I could do myself since I'm not yet at that level, but I saw this chicken tractor and thought it would come in handy for what I have in mind so I made up my mind to build it.
The lumber, chicken wire, staples, and wheels are all store bought new and came to about $75. The materials we had on hand were the screws, hinges, plastic coated metal shelving (used in the nesting area, I thought that would make it easy to clean), paint, and the corner piece of vinyl siding for the roof cap (hubby's brilliant idea, and I painted it green with spray paint for vinyl).
I did not try to build it quickly, I don't really know how much time it took me, but if I had to guess I'd guess total time would amount to about 3 afternoons, by myself.
I wanted to leave the top on the one side open with the option to slap on the other boards if/when the need arises. I have the other t1-11 panels that can sit right in those areas because I stapled the chicken wire in a way that would allow it.
I also added a flip up panel as seen in the pictures for access. I didn't want a small door that I would have a hard time getting to things in there. I'm so glad I added this feature, it sure gives plenty of room for me to maintain the food and water dispensers as well as get in there and catch the little chickies :)
I wanted it green to blend into the wooded background in our backyard. I didn't want to take any beauty away from the cedar greenhouse and fencing we added last year, and this tractor would be moved from time to time and I felt this green that we had on hand was perfect to help it blend in rather than stand out.
This thing is heavy! I have a hard time moving it around and usually need my husband to move it so I won't hurt myself. I am considering some options... I don't like the rope I have on it to pull it, any suggestions would be appreciated.
As with the other items I've made with Ana's plans, this was fun and pretty easy to make. I love this site! Soon I will take on my next project, I've bought and gathered the materials, I'm anxious to get started :)
Thank you for looking :)

Well as any parent knows children have a lot of toys and pretty much take over every room in the house. Children also have fixation with pushing any button they see. So with that in mind I had to get creative. So one day while on break from work I walked next door to home depot (a bad and expensive place for me to work next door to) I walked by the discarded wood pile that is all 70% off like I normally do. Well to my surprise they had 20 10ft 1x12's sitting there. Some had dings and minor splits but I jumped on it and scored them all for $125.00. So when I found the time I started with building my bookcases with built in toy boxes then tore down that crappy old mantle that was up over the fireplace and got to work on a new one. We are mounting the TV over the fire place so I had to get creative and figure out (here comes my geeky side) where I was going to put my fairly large center channel speaker for my surround sound. well as you can see I just decided to build around it. I think it came out pretty cool and my little girl loves her toy boxes. I'm also happy I can now raise all my electronics out of the reach of curious little fingers.

Put this together over a weekend. First time using drawer slides. They're a little finicky,  just be patient.

I wanted to build something for my Daughter's 1st Birthday that would last a long time. This was perfect!

My Husband built this bed in about two weeks time (in addition to working 70+ hours at his real job). This past week I have helped with all the painting and decorating. As you can see he modified the plans to omit the slide. We hung soft white rope lights under the bed to illuminate the inside of the castle. My husband paired the rope lights with a remote control light switch so our daughter can turn them on and off safely. We are incredibly pleased with the results of our hard work as well as our sweet Natalie! Thank you Ana White for this amazing site of yours!!! My husband has also built from your site the clubhouse loft bed (PBK version) for our son, a computer desk, as well as the rustic X console table for me!!! We LOVE your site!!!! Thank you again!!!

Here's the kids new desk area that I built. One desk for each kid, one Mac for each kid.

Couldn't wait to show it off, I'll post another picture when I have it in the room! This goes with the Michael Collection twin platform bed. The open area you see will be covered by the bed. Its a bit dusty still and the top isn't completely finished but I'm so excited how it has turned out!

This is a modified version of the sturdy workbench. I made it six feet long, about three feet wide (I can't remember exactly), and 36'' high. Since I'm 6'2'', I needed a bench that didn't keep me constantly bending over.

I used Douglas Fir framing lumber and 3/4'' plywood for the surface. The plywood was a cheap replaceable option since hardwood is extremely expensive in my area. The wood warped a bit after I built it, so its clearly not perfect. But who cares, its a workbench after all...

I used left over paint / stain I had laying around in the garage. The gray is a custom mix interior paint, and the stain is Minwax Golden Oak. I used 1 coat of stain, and three coats of Poly.

First, if you don't have one, the pocket hole jig is the only way to go. I spent years cutting dado slots for shelves. What a game changer. I stayed with the over-all dimensions of the Dawson Media Console. Like so many, I made the inside areas fit our current and future needs. I could not be more pleased. Oh, I invested in an HVLP fan  sprayer for this. Again...how did I not already own this? The project turned out perfectly. From fit to finish it's excellent.

Coffee table to match

My neighbor needed bunk beds and was fustrated that she couldn't find what she wanted for under $500. She knew that I built my entertainment center and asked for my help.

We picked out the classic bunk beds because they came apart in to small pieces that would be easier to handle since we live in three floor townhouses. She also really liked the ladder that didn't take up more floor space.

Building was fairly straight forward. It was a little hard to read the direction at times, so we had to depend on the photos at times.

The best part is that we spent under $150 for supplies not including the bedding and mattresses. That is a screaming deal.

Thanks for posting this plan. It turned out great.

We took apart our old rotting picnic table, saved what wood we could salvage, sanded it all down and had enough wood to build this table. We added an extra board for the tabletop to make the slats sit closer together. It was easy to put together and would have taken less than two hours had it not been for all the sanding we had to do. Now we have a sturdy outdoor coffee table for our patio.

Loosely based on a few different plans found on internet and books, made this bookshelf out of oak plywood and oak boards.