Community Brag Posts

Beautiful desk! Thank you for the free plans.

This table is adapted from the triple pedestal farmhouse table, so that it would fit in my dining room. I don't care as much for the curved accents in the origional plans, so I left them straight.  

Lesson learned when choosing lumber: kiln dried studs when buying 2x4's is slightly more expensive, but worth the extra cost. The cheap stuff is wet and difficult to work with, and can sometimes shrink after it dries over the course of a month. 

I actually made these a year ago and finally got around to blogging/brag posting. This was the very first DIY furniture I ever attempted. In fact it's what introduced me to Ana White and got me inspired to start my blog! I saw outdoor couches at Pottery Barn that I loved but were way out of my price range, especially because I wanted two. This project could not have been easier. It took me two afternoons, one for each couch, but now that I know what I'm doing I could put them both together in a few hours. They held up with heavy usage all summer. I'm so excited I took a chance on these plans!

I wanted to use our laundry basket dresser as a collector for dirty laundry in our bathroom, and wanted it to have doors so it would blend in better. I also made the shelf above for our towels. It is painted white with a faux-zinc finish on the top. I made the top slightly larger so it would overhang and added cute little bun feet. My talented friend Carli helped me build the doors (and by helped I mean I handed her things while she impressed me with all her tools and skills!) and frame.

I love the fancy X desk plans but made some adjustments to suit my tastes better.

I used 4x4s instead of the 2x4's for the legs and 2x6's instead of 2x12's for the top. Once I have everything built, I hand planed the desktop to even out the 2x6's and make it feel less like standard hardware store lumber and more like an old handmade farm table. I love all the slight surface imperfections that the hand plane left behind.

As always, building it doesn't take long, but finishing it does. I only had about 6 hours invested in the build, but doing the many layers of stain, paint, shellac, and poly took several more days to complete.

for the base of the desk, I started by staining it with a vinegar and steel wool concoction. After letting it dry I lightly sanded off the chalky surface, leaving the aged looking wood. I then used white primer and a rag to give it a white washed look. After the white washing was dry, I used fine steel wool rubbing the surface to reveal some of the faux aged wood below. CAUTION: If you plan on using water based stains, paints or sealers, you may want to avoid using steel wool to avoid rust spots.

For the desktop I alternated coats of Morish Teak and Rosewood from ZAR until I was happy with the color. I had some troublesome knots that kept leaking sap so I sealed them with de-waxed shellac. before sealing everything with polyurethane.

I'm really happy with my new desk. Thanks for the inspiration!

I reworked the dimensions for the Farmhouse Doll Bed to accommodate my 20 lb Japanese Chin, Delilah, and reinforced the bottom to support her weight with an additional center leg and 3/4" plywood.  I used 4" foam for the mattress and fleece fabric to make her "bed spread" and pillows.  She loves her new fancy bed!

I used the surf bed plan and put a plywood face on the front and added the roofline, windows and flower boxes. The steps double as a bookshelf. 

With the third baby set to arrive in several months, I needed to take back the crib from my youngest and consolidate the girls living space. After scouring the Anna White site and looking dreamily at plans and general building instructions for several months, these beds are what I came up with. A combination of the Lydia and Farmhouse beds, I made alterations for the wood I had on hand and the final product I envisioned- complete with decorative trim and even wallpaper! My girls love them!

I built ledge shelves for our kitchen using reclaimed wood I painted teal, then silver, then flat black (Napoleon).

Love having them. :)

Our 5 year old's toy box. My son chose the colors and my awesome wife painted it. Letters are from Hobby Lobby and the lock on the left was actually my son's idea.

I just made one of the shelves instead of two like the plan calls for. It's painted a dark brown to match the bunk bed that I previously made for my girls. Mine was a little more expensive because I used 1x12's instead of plywood.

My husband designed this after the farm house bed. I wanted panels on the head board and foot board to "dress it up a bit" and storage drawers. He did a wonderful job. I don't think I have ever had a more prized piece of furniture. Now to find some tall night stands.

My 2 girls  like to play board games on the floor, instead of the dining table. Which I don’t mind. But as I get older, it’s getting less and less comfortable each time. That’s when I decided that we need a coffee table to make playing board games on the floor more comfortable for everyone concerned… no matter what their age is.

But I don’t like coffee tables taking up space in the middle of the room. I love having the room nice and open without furniture sitting in the middle of the floor getting in the way, when it’s not being used.

That’s when I decided that instead of a Coffee Table, what I needed was a Side Table, that could also be used as a coffee table when needed. Either for a board game, or for when you have visitors and you need a place for coffee cups and snacks.

I think it turned out great!

First project for actual furniture ever. This stuff is better than a good book that you can't put down. I am so addicted!

This was a family summer project. I built the bed and furniture...my wife and daughter did all the painting and picked out the accent pieces!

This farmhouse bedside table was made from figured black walnut and finished with Sutherland-Welles Tung oil.  I used a Kreg pocket hole jig for the joinery work