Community Brag Posts

Made this for my grandson, didn't take to long. Now him and his dad are going to paint.

This was our finished product following the design from Anna that was exactly what we were looking for to fill out entry. We were able to design it to fit our space and our needs for a family of 4 and as you can see it gets used ALL DAY. We both like the stained finish rather than paint and the only regret I have is not using the Kreg on everything. On a side note we also liked the top piece so much we created off the design to build a storage area for the kids in their playroom. The only thing missing from the picture is the rod that we will be hanging baskets off underneath. Thanks Anna for the ideas.

My dad and I built this project for my 3 year old daughter for Christmas. She was ready to move out of her crib and this bed seemed like a great fit for her. We followed the plans almost completely. We opted to use a piece of 3/4 in. plywood on the cleats for the mattress support instead of slats. We also added 4 cross cleats under the plywood for added support. I added a florescent light over the play area underneath because it was a little dark under there. I'm very happy with how this bed turned out and my daughter loves it as well!

This project is the mirror from The Handbuilt Home and is the first project I made from the book. I changed the size since I wanted the mirror for my bathroom and adjustments were so easy to do. I used regular pine boards and a mirror I got from Lowes - Lowes cut the mirror to the size I needed at no charge. I painted the frame with two coats of a celery colored chalk paint,  one coat of white chalk paint then sanded to distress. I attached the mirror using a glue and seal caulking and secured with mirror brackets so I could hang up right away without waiting for the glue to dry .  This was a super fun project, easy to do. Love the book, and plan to  build more projects from it!

This is the first piece of furniture I have ever built. I'm super proud. It was fairly easy. I can't wait to fill my house with all of my future creations!

This was quite a straightforward project. I added a shelf along the bottom and a small overhang with scrap boards. Both add a lot in terms of play, especially because I screwed little hooks into the overhang which my son loves to hang things on. This toy workbench can be a lot of things - fun for tools, nature play, art, an outdoor kitchen, or so many other options.

Made this table as a Christmas present for my wife. I modified a few details like the legs because I was able to use some old timbers from her dads farm. And for the apron, I just ripped a 2x6 in half. First time I've used plans from this site, thanks so much for making them available. -Matt M

Built this for my wife for our anniversary. Plans for the table was easy to follow. Used poplar for the table top. I copied the chairs from our large dining room table that we purchased so the two sets would match. I’m an Ana White follower looking forward using more plans. I used a jig saw to cut the circular table top instead of the skill saw using a fence.

I still can't believe my husband and I built this. We have never built anything before. well unless assembling cheapo furniture from a box counts! It was scary at first but nothing you can't do trust me. It is not perfect but it looks awesome I think. It's about 2 inches too wide on each side of the mattress, not sure why but you can't really tell. I am super happy with it! Thank you so much Ana for this website!!

I took this and modified slightly. My wife wanted it a little lower since our room is smaller. I took the original plan then just drew out a rough sketch with the dimensions I wanted. I modified the cut list accordingly. I prepped all the wood for cutting and had all wood cut and headboard assembled in just over 4 hours. The finishing of puttying and sanding, puttying and sanding, puttying and sanding, then painting and painting and painting took about 2 weeks due to weather and other time constraints. But the patience paid off and we have a nice looking headboard. We had no scraps so the cost for us was about $150. Already have had friends ask how much to make one for them.

This table was made with already turned legs purchased at HD, one 4 x 8 sheet of oak plywood cut into two 4 x 4 sheets, pine for the cooler supports and edged with 1 x 3 oak routed with an ogee detail. Table supports were attached to the legs using pocket holes. Legs and supports were attached to the table bottom using pocket holes. The opening for the cooler was cut by plunging a circular saw from the top.

Saw this on Ana's site just in time to make it for a changing table for baby number 4. This was our most difficult plan to take on so far, but it turned out to be pretty straight forward. The details on the plan were a great help - using the spacers to make the drawer openings perfectly spaced, and attaching the drawer fronts on after attaching the rails were great tips. We also used dowel drawer slides for the top 2 drawers, which we really ended up liking.

My daughter, like most other 2 & 3 year olds, love playing dress up. Over time we have collected a large selection of princess dresses and various other dress up clothes. Where do you put this stuff? My wife went to Pinterest for ideas. She came to me asking if I could make her a closet. A closet, what? She then showed me a picture. I said "that looks like a box. I can do better." the idea of repurposing a dresser sounded like a much better and time saving idea. So I set off to the second hand stores in search of a sterdy, decorative, not too expensive dresser.

Once the dresser had been procurred ($30 at Goodwill) and transported home, the project began. I first removed all but the bottom drawer and drawer supports. Next I removed the hardware from the remaining drawer and deglossed the entire dresser and drawer. Once deglossed, I put down a single coat of white primer. The next day I came back and put down two coats of paint. The outside I used a cream color to match the playroom where it would be housed. On the inside of the dresser I painted it bright Pink; Bear Paint calls this color "sexy Pink". We'll call it bright pink since its for my 3 year old.

After two coats of paint the project was pretty much complete. Then I had the bright idea to add lights. I went to the hardware store looking for under cabinet lighting. I was unimpressed with the lighting options and price points. To Amazon.com I go. I found 16 feet of LED Strip lighting for $4 and a power supply for a couple extra bucks. The lights came with a remote control. When UPS delivered the package of lights I couldnt wait to install them. This was going to put the closet over the top. I cut the strip to the size I needed and installed using the provided 3M tape. It could not have been easier to install. I was able to cut the strip into the size strips I needed (64 inches total).

The final product with the lights on can be found on my youtube page:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gE1soeC2OaE

My daughter was THRILLED! She loves using the remote to turn the lights on and off as well as changing the colors of the lights.

This project was super easy!

Made exactly to the plans with the exception of the middle 2x4 between the legs. I used 1/2" threaded rod, some steel rings welded to the rod, and a double sided clevis to make the connection in the middle. 

Changed it up to use less 2x4's for the seat and a few others. Grey stain from Dutch Boy turned out great.

I made modified the plans to make the bed a full instead of a twin. This was a little tricky, because the full bed is bigger then a 4x8 sheet of plywood. If you are interested I can get pics of the extra support I had to build to suport the plywood seem. I also used redoak, which is why it cost so much. The extra money was well worth the cost when you use the finish. The headboard I used is from my wifes great grandmas' house in Southern Louisiana. It is 125 year old cypres storm shutter.

I really wanted to have a raised bed garden to grow organic veggies for my family but was so discouraged by the cost of ready-made planters that I almost gave up. While searching for options on Pinterest I came across these fabulous, affordable and untreated wood planters and after a trip to the home store, we built 10 according to the plans. I couldn't be happier with the results; thank you Ana!