Community Brag Posts

We knew we wanted to make this bookcase as soon as we saw it! I plan to put baskets and toys in it later, but for right now all books. The only difference to the original plan is that we put some plywood behind the bottom two shelves so that we could have a backing when we do use toys. My three year old loves to sit and go through all the board books at the bottom and clean up is a snap!

This was my first attempt at building furniture. I decided to make new nightstands for my wife and I. I used the bedside table plans, and they worked excellent. I used poplar hardwood for the material. I stained it using Minwax Special Walnut, and I used Minwax Satin Polyurethane. I am currently working on the second one, which will be my wife's (she said she wanted me to build mine first, so that if I messed it up, hers wouldn't be messed up, lol). Mine turned out good, I am very happy with it. Thanks for the plans! After the next nightstand is built, I would like to build a matching triple dresser...

I stuck to the plans for the most part. The only change I made was to add an additional 2x6 to the top to make it a bit deeper. I added a few inches to the bottom/top 2x4 on the base to support the additional depth of the top.

I used a Bernzomatic handheld propane torch to burn the wood. The technique really enhances the wood grain. I then applied two coats of Urethane Spar Varnish, allowing 30 minutes between coats.

Patrick

My dad and I built these beds for my 7-year-old daughter for Christmas. We followed the plans almost completely, with a few tweaks of our own. We didn't feel that the decorative feet would be very stable, so we just continued the length of the bookshelf and desk all the way to the floor. We put a piece of 1/4 in. MDF on top of the slats to help support the memory foam mattress. We also stapled canvas to the underside of the top bunk to hide the slats. I didn't want a headboard or foot board on the lower bunk (toe-stubber!), so instead of building the matching Chelsea bottom bunk, we just made a simple platform bed. We added magnet boards to each side of the desk. I liked the idea of magnets better than bulletin boards. Since this plan didn't include a ladder, we built the ladder from the Loft Bed plan. The bed had some significant wobble to it, so we attached it to the wall. Took ALL of the wobble out and it is very solid and secure now. I'm very pleased with how these beds turned out and my daughter loves them as well!

I loved the look of this table and wanted to try something a little bit different.

After about a month of looking for a new bunk bed for my daughters and becoming more frustrated with every new search at the outrageous price and often cheap quality of what's available I decided to look to the web for inspiration to build one myself. It took a little while to work myself up to going for it but man am I glad I did. And I am even more glad I found Ana White's site almost immediately. Her incredibly well written and documented plan for this bed made it not only doable but incredibly fun for me. And it gave me the confidence to create a loft bed for my son from nothing but an idea and dream. Thanks a ton Ana!

The painting took me a long time but it was fun learning all the skills required to make this project. I added a little microwave oven under the sink and a utensil holder along one side. The wood construction was quick - the painting knobs, and jig cut-outs took a little longer!

Built from Ana White plan. Gray barnboard and red barnwood inlay.

Use the general idea of the kitchen island plans. I had an old butcher block work table top from June 1952. I wanted to cut it down and make a bathroom vanity. We used cedar legs for the posts and shelves.

I saw this at the perfect time for deciding to make one for my niece for Christmas. It was too cute of an idea to not make!! She turns 3 at the end of January and it's perfect-sized for her. From what I hear, she threw a tantrum when her parents told her she had to stop playing with it because it was naptime! I'm hoping that she will share with her brother when he's older (he's about 7mos now) and they can play with it together.

I apologize for the lack of pictures, I got the buntings done about one day before we had to pack it up to head out for the holidays, so there wasn't much time for pictures!

For the hutch part, I attached each side with bolts and wing nuts so that it could be knocked down for transport (especially since we have smallish cars and had to drive an hour to gift it, and the recipient had to drive 2 hours back to their house!). I added some holes just under the dowel (lining up with the holes in the base when knocked down) so that it could be connected again as a shorter version for transport. This actually worked out pretty well and you can almost use the dowel as a handle when it's like that. The only issue I ran into with that was once I put the lower velcro on for the theater curtains, they would hit when trying to collapse it and we wound up losing one in transport.

Buntings weren't too hard, but I've been sewing much longer than I've been building! I did have some issues getting the theater curtain to lay right.

This plan isn't an Ana-White, but I wanted to share due to the low cost. I'm sure many of you are like me and are about tired of building on the garage floor.

(I'll be posting more projects soon)

I modified the plan slightly by making a thicker top (doubled the OSB and some 1/2 plywood I had around the garage for a smoother surface.) and 1 x 4 furring strips for trim around the top edge. This gave a very sturdy setup and matched the height of my table saw, making this my outfeed table when needed.

We decided to make loft beds for our girls room to offer them more space and also give them some individual room. The old room had daybeds that just took up so much of the room.

I saw the hanging beds on this site and thought they would be great. So I got to work.. I used 1x4 s for the platform to lighten the weight of the bed. I had to customize the sizes a bit but that wasn't a big deal. I used the Kreg jig to joint the 2x4s as well as on the rail posts. They are attached below the platform to the front 2x4. We also used chain rather than rope as chain doesn't give.

We are really pleased with the results. The girls love them. Each has their own desk space now, they shared one before, and their own storage space.

Cost us with all wood, supplies, hardware, paint, about $150-175

I just completed my first project and while it's not perfect, I learned a lot and am pleased with the results!

Ana White's plans are super easy and fun to do! I made these for my mom and I really enjoyed doing it. It’s an antique white water base stain.

David Marks