Community Brag Posts

Got a new (and larger, King sized) mattress this summer, and wanted to have a real bed/headboard for the 1st time ever instead of just using one of those metal frames. Looked online for awhile, and somehow stumbled on this site - and so so glad I did, it saved me tons of $$! I really liked the farmhouse beds from PB, so decided to modify the plans from here to look more like that one - with a solid headboard and footboard (I used plywood for it).

It took me a long time to finish because I did all the sanding by hand, and used a hand saw to make cuts that I didn't get done when I bought the wood (the only power tool I own is a drill - and prior to this I'd only ever used it for drilling to hang shelves on the wall).

I've definitely got the building bug now, and have so many ideas for other projects I want to tackle. Thank you so much for this site and all the inspiration! Even though its not absolutely perfect, I absolutely love my new bed!

My wife and I needed space in our kitchen to store various items. This cabinet works perfectly for that purpose.

Loved the project.  i'd been away from woodworking a while and this sure got me started again.  My husband was so impressed he fixed me a place in his shop and bought me some new equipment. It took me several days over weekends and after work, and i tried my hand at distressing and was pleased with the results. Thanks for the directions, they were great!

Pam Barlow

Fun and easy. Bed is extremely sturdy. I used pocket screws for all four corner connections.

This bed took us a long time to make as my husband and I worked on it on weeknights and weekends when our daughter napped. We spent a lot of time making the plan/design, picking our materials and determining how to assemble and finish it. Thankfully, we actually finished it (completely) the day before we ended up having our second child - just in time!

We used the measurements of the Lydia Toddler Bed but our design was based more on the Lydia Daybed/Queen Bed. For instance, we used 1x3s and 1x2s for the legs instead of the 2x2s in the Toddler plans. We also used a solid piece of the Purebond formaldehyde free plywood to get a clean look for the headboard/footboard pieces.

I seen the Reclaimed-Wood Headboard, Queen Size plan and thought hey i can do that. Well this is the result and I'm happy with it. I did do it a little different like routering a slot for the boards to fit down in. I wood burned the image and stained the inside of it to look like that. It didn't take to long to make the most time was spent sanding and staining.

I couldn't find a wrapping paper holder, so I thought I would take a shot at it myself. So, using Ana's advice on the Kreg jig, and some leftovers from her headboard project, I had 4 - 1x4's (42" each) I "Kreged" (and glued) together. Making a giant frame. Then I used a 1" paddle drill bit to put holes 3 1/2" apart all they way down the right side (about 1/2 way through the board). Next, I used a 1x2 and drilled holes all the way down and all the way through (matching the height of the ones on the other side). Then I used a scroll saw to cut out the extra little piece on the 1x2 and make the slots for the pole to enter. And sanded and attached to the left side. I added a 1x2 at the top and bottom, all the way across the inside back to mount. I had some leftover pvc I cut to fit and then decided to buy aluminum conduit pipe from the electrical dept. (It's only 2$ for a 10' piece) then I cut it with a hacksaw and smoothed the sharp edges with a file. Perfect. Stronger than the pvc and nicer looking.

The project was easy and fun. The plans are perfect, provided you follow instructions. I assembled the back legs backwards and that complicated the instalation of the back rest. I liked the result in the end.

I love this Letter Bin that Lady Goats posted. I made it right away and finally just got it hung up on the wall. The frame came from Michael's for $4 and I had the scrap 1/4" MDF around the garage. My jig saw and I were not getting along that day (should've used a multi-tool) so my cuts are slightly off but I still love it. The caulk finished off the edges nice. This is perfect for our mail coming in the door and helps get even more paper off the table below (first project built...I was so excited to get it done, it made it into the house before sanding or painting). Thanks again Lady Goats for the great plans!

Ah behold the allure of a really good set of plans. :) Famous last words, "it looked a lot easier on paper!"

I happened across the wonderful plans for the Farmhouse Table on this site. Then I saw how it only took Handy Andy a mere 2-3 hours to make his out of reclaimed wood and thinking I would enlist my retired carpenter father to help me, easy peasy, right? Well, that was the plan anyway. :)

A couple of things to note, I purchased new fir wood as it was the most cost effective and frankly the least problematic in regards to finding the straightest boards. I did vary the design in that I added the shelf under the table for both storage as well as a footrest for diners. The design I ended up with was a little more complicated and I tried sanding as much of the boards from the beginning as possible in order to try and cut down on the amount of time spent on my knees later. Yeah, that was a nice thought.

Dad and I followed the plan provided, allowing my modifications for the footrest/shelf and I also made my top 45" wide. (I have another dining table that I had hopes of butting them together for large dinner parties if needed and wanted them relatively the same size). I will say that what I ended up with was an extremely heavy table which I transported home to stain and varathane on my own.

A couple of weeks later, well, the project took more than 2-3 hours (heh) but I am really happy with the results. If I were to do it again, I would probably have stained it a tad darker as this was my first staining/sanding/varathaning project and I took a little too much of the stain off sanding. It's okay, maybe someday I will strip off the varathane and restain it. Then again, it took so much time to do the first time maybe I won't!

A couple questions:
I would like to keep my table outdoors, but would like to add low profile metal feet to protect the wood. Does anyone have a suggestion where to look for heavy duty feet?

Second, any suggestions on how to get the spar varathane off my concrete patio? Yikes!

Thank you Ana for the wonderful plans!

Made this table starting with Rustic X coffee table plans and made slight modifcations.

This was easier than I thought. My kids helped me with it. I decided to leave the bottom shelf off as it can be added at a later time if desired. 

I'm going to take the same concept and make two loft beds for my kids.

What started out as an innocent shopping trip for a bed, sparked an idea, and led me to Ana White. Next thing I know...I had built a Farmhouse Bed. All by myself! Then I started a blog to document my whole bed building adventure - http://gleeinspired.blogspot.com/2010/10/bed.html.

Thanks Ana! You are truly amazing!

I built this bed in July in anticipation of my two children sharing a room for the first time. They love it. In August, I thought to add the $10 ledges to the frame of the bed when I realized our walls wouldn't support their weight and we're in a rental. I used 1x3s instead of 1x4s those plans called for so the shelves would sit at the same depth as the 2x4s on the frame of the bed.

I wish I knew more about painting soft wood because I don't love how the paint job turned out, though it is green per my son's request. I couldn't deal with more green, hence the ledges are stained.

I love the little alcove this has created. I added curtains and we read stories in there every night. Thank you so much for the inspiration and plans!

I have made six of these so far.  Starting to become an expert on this one.  They look great in the yard and will look even better when I make the table to go with them. 

I followed the project for the most part but did not want the dowels as it makes for less space for the giant Costco sized spices!  my dimensions are 23 x 39.  From start to finish it took about 5 hours but with 2 children learning how to do a project like this.  We could have easily completed it in half that time. I will be adding onto it for the bottom soon to accommodate foils, bags, etc.

This was my first building project using plans from Ana's website. I love it in my entry way where it fits perfectly and fills up an otherwise blank wall.

I wanted to make a headboard for our Queen-sized bed and wanted it to be something I hadn't seen before. I came across a pallet of kitchen cabinet doors at a discount resale shop and knew these would look great! I used a 1/32" spacer between each door so I wouldn't have to sand the edges. If I ever do something like this again, I would do another row to make it just a bit taller to give it a hotel room look.

I decided to build this for my wife for Christmas my times up and im not done yet but she loves it.