Community Brag Posts

Benchwright Coffee Table. Minwax Dark Walnut & Satin Polyurethane

I broke down and got the pocket hole jig... easily cut this project's time in half

Needed a few different types of screws than listed in the plan

After shopping for a dining room table with my wife in mid November, I came to the realization that I could make a table like the ones being sold at the store for a fraction of the price.  I spent some time surfing the web looking for farmhouse table designs when I stumbled upon Ana's website.  The Farmhouse table (pocket hole updated version) really jumped out at me as something that I could accomplish as a person who had never worked with wood before.  So starting the Friday after Thanksgiving I began building the table in secret, as I planned to surprise my wife with it for christmas.  

Feeling ambious, I decided to add two of the farmhouse benches to my workload thinking it would make my surprise all the better.  After a lot of long nights, I was able to complete the benches and table as well as stain and add a couple coats of polyurethane just in the nick of time.  My wife was very surprised and couldn't be happier with out the table turned out.  I can't wait to try more Ana White projects!

I couldn't find any queen sized plans on the website so I took a twin plan and modified it to fit a queen bed. There are a couple things I would do different such as use MDF instead of the plywood it called for. The plywood, even painted, appears very rough. Also, I am going to frame in the sides on the bench across the foot of the bed and leave some overhang to cover up the seam in the benches. Overall it was a very easy and smooth project. I am def investing in Kreg on my next project. Baskets will fill the empty space and a headboard is to come!

Lots of projects going on around here, but today I’m sharing my farmhouse dining table I built a little over a year ago (waaay before this blog!).  This was my very first woodworking project.  I did happen to snap a few photos of the process – sorry about the poor quality, these were taken with my phone!

The wood for building this table was around $100!  I think Pottery Barn was selling this table for around $1800 at the time.  Mine might not look identical, but for the cost differential, I’m a happy camper!

For the stain I really wanted to create a natural-looking aged finish so I used the old steel wool and vinegar treatment.

My son loves his new bed. It was his favorite part of Christmas. He now has his own little sanctuary to hide out in.

After completing this console table from Ana Whites' The Hand Built Home, I'm sold on doing more projects from this book! My wife has gone ahead and put sticky notes throughout the book on stuff she wants built! So pretty much I have all the projects in the book to complete. I also had guys at the fire department I work for make comments on how much they liked it. Keep the plans coming Ana!!

I was inspired to build this bed by this post at Big Box Detox. http://www.bigboxdetox.com/diy-make-own-upholstered-bed

I chose not to build the headboard because I have my bed placed in front of a window. However, I may add it in the future. For those of you going on a search for fabric and batting I recommend scoping out Joann's Fabric and Crafts, especially when they offer 50% coupons. The cost for me for wood, batting and fabric was less than $150! My project can also be found on my blog at designroost.net

Happy building!

Built two Rustic X end tables and one Rustic X coffee table. I modified the design to fit my room better. Just building the two tables (no sanding) took me about 5 hours.

Second Ana White project.  Modified it from the "X" to a "Z" coffee table.  Hand distressed it.  Narrowed the width, bread board ends, and added clavos and trunk corners I purchased on Amazon.  Very happy with this second build.  It went much easier than my first one.   

I used the jewelry cabinet as inspiration by adding crown moulding to the top and b-board to the door and changing the measurements.

I am really new at this woodbuilding thing, but found this and gave it a try.

Turned out quite good in an afternoon.

I did not use a Kreg Jig as I live in belgium (Europe), but Wolfcraft has a similar kind of tool, with the advantage of showing the mesurements in cm instead of inches.

Structure : used 69x44cm

Surface : used 150x35cm

Pain : V33 cacao for structure and ivory for surface.

My wife and I traveled to Boston for Thanksgiving with our daughter.  While we were there ,we were browsing around Restoration Hardware and stumbled on a loft bed.  My daughter fell in love with it, but I was hesitant of the 3300 price tag, thinking how fast she is growing.   I decided to do some research and thanks to your site , I have one happy child. It took me about a week and half start to finish and cost me 600 dollars in all materials , a few miscellaneous tools, and a new mattress .  It was fun to build , plans were accurate , and the completed project is flawless.   Thank you for your help!!!   Bianco Family