Community Brag Posts

Made a coffee table for my sister from Anna’s plans - just made a couple modifications- turned out beautiful, thank you Anna! I love all your plans and have purchased and made several others that turned out perfect!

Arlene

I was in love with the West Elm slat collection but knew I could never afford it let alone live in a spot that would have the outdoor space for it. Luckily as fate would have it, I stumbled across the perfect townhouse with a huge rooftop patio in downtown Vancouver last year right at the same time I discovered Ana White - with no experience in this kind of project, but a love for DIY and alot of determination I'm proud to say I finally finished my dream patio set, and it looks even better than I could have imagined! Thanks Ana :)

As part of my backyard overhaul I've added an outdoor shower and chalkboard against the wall of the house. There's also a small sand pit and deck area, so the shower comes in handy to wash the dirty feet. I had a few pallets sitting under the deck for years and finally put them to use. Some cuts here and there and some sanding and they look great. For the floor mat I just cut the pallet piece you can see in one of the photos in half and framed it with treated 2x4". The chalkboard is a plain sheet of 2x4' project board primed and painted several coats with flat black exterior paint. I used this over the 'chalkboard' paint because it's exterior grade. It works great, even better than chalkboard paint imo. The frame is made of the cut slats of the pallet, just glued and nailed on. The fence also is a cut pallet. I just made random cuts about half way through on varying angles which resulted in two mirrored halves of the pallet. They fit the space perfectly. I love the random look of it and may give it some paint eventually.

Built this from the mini farmhouse bedside table plans, but decided to use the lathe on the legs (which also added a lot of time). This was one of the first furniture projects I've done and it was pretty easy to follow the plans.

I had to make some adjustments because I didn't have the wood in the sizes indicated in the project. But the result was very pleasing.

I adapted the Braden Bench plan to make it more of a built-in feature of our mudroom. It's added wonderful organization to our busiest room.

I modified the legs to fit a counter height table
I made the seat 25in tall to fit a 36in table...

Changed the top a bit, but otherwise matches the plans.

Thank you Hilary for the wonderful design and thank you Anna for the plans. I tend to spend my fall and winter months on woodworking and sewing so this is my first project for the season. We had some left over 2.4's and I saw this table and thought, what a good way to use some of that leftover lumber. I didn't really know where I was going to put the table but once it was finished it made itself a home in our spare bedroom. I then saw a battery operated candle lantern that had the "X" pattern and I thought that would go perfectly with the table. Well, that then led me into another project. I wanted to do something different with the lantern instead sitting in on the table top so with some of the leftover wood from the table shelf, I made a post to hang the lantern from. I also used Anna's technique of distressing the edges with Minwax stain marker. It added just enough detail, what a great use of the stain marker.

The end table was my first project of the rustic "X" family. The second was the "X" console which also sits in the spare room. I'm now working on the Farmhouse Bed and am thinking of incorporating the some "X's" maybe on the headboard and also incorporate the hardware onto the headboard/footboard corners. It's not a traditional set that you would find in a bedroom, but it's a guest room and we don't really feel we need a dresser of drawers for our visitors so this works perfectly. It fits right into our decor and is very welcoming.

I love the stain that Hilary used, thank you for the advise. I have a jar of vinegar and steel wool sitting now. Can't wait to try that stain!

My daughter needed a loft bed to give her more floor and storage space in her bedroom. I modified the original plans to fit her twin XL bed, which is 5 inches longer than a regular bed. I also added an extra 2x6 across the back two posts for extra support.

Cutting and assembly was relatively easy; I glued every joint and used pocket holes per the instructions. I sanded using 80, 120 and 220 grit. The finish is a Minwax "parchment" water-based stain, with 3 coats of Polycrylic. All pocket holes were pre-drilled prior to finishing.

I assembled the platform and footboard in the garage and brought it into the house as a single unit; same with the headboard. I brought in the rails separately. To assemble, I marked 1 1/4 inches from the outside post edges, and used wood scraps/clamps to align and hold the rails while securing them with pocket hole screws.

My daughter's mattress is very high; it rises only about an inch below the top of the top rail. So I build a bed-length shelf which also had the added benefit of providing a little more height/protection against her rolling out of bed in the middle of the night (see pics).

In all, I was surprised at how long this took me. Probably because I'm a novice and this was only my 2nd project. The totals are:
- Cut and assembly: 14 hours
- Sanding: 25 hours
- Finishing: 2 days

After finishing, I left all pieces in the garage for 5 days to air-out before bringing into the house.

Total cost the lumber was $125, 1 qt stain @ $13, 1/2 gal Polycrylic @ $50 per gal, and $20 hardware for a total of just over $200.

So we finished construction on a new house in September and my wife wanted to buy a $3000 table for our keeping/breakfast room. I bet her a new TV that I could do it for 10% of that. 

It's not perfect... there are some gaps between the boards and especially between the breadboard and those perpendicular to them... but it still looks amazing. And. Ow I have a new TV. 

Heart Bench for Garden

My wife had seen this post by Ana & thought it'd be great for a writing desk that had storage for her laptop so she'd be able to keep an eye out for the kiddo.

So I decided to use Ana's plans for the storage crates (without the casters) & mount those to the wall for cubbie storage.

I used "white wood" from the local Depot for this piece. However using the common boards will prove to be more cost effective for when you leave your Kreg Jig set at 1/2 inch like myself. :-(

The directions are straight forward, but. clamping & placing screws for the pocket holes were a bit more tricky. Make sure you have ample clamps on hand before attempting this.

Now, you can make the legs as Ana suggests, but if you want "fancy" turned legs are another option. $16.00 per at my local Depot., but. I found stair balusters at $3.00 per & used my miter saw to get them to the proper length per the plans & the same method used to knock off the dowel at the top of them in order to keep it flat.

Finially had it cut, assembled & sanded in 3 hours time. Hence me overlooking the Kreg Jig depth. ( nail gun saved me). You may also want to dry fit everything together. I found out I cut my side aprons too long (3/4 inch) & my inner base was off. Easily solved with scrap wood, glue, nail gun & LOTS of wood filler. Which was sanded & I can't even see the mess up.

Finishing was fun & easy. My color had already been decided via my boss (wife) as it was a fun green color from a Hoosier Cabinet & Matching cupboard I repair & refinished for my daughter's room 2 years ago. As well as the balusters came with a coat of white paint on them already. I sanded the whole project (sans the legs) with 120 then 220 grit paper on my mouse sander & my random orbit. The mouse is able to get the interrior as to where my 5 inch random orbit can't fit. But you could hand sand as well, I'm just lazy.

Once it was all sanded I rubbed down with some denaturated alcohol & old t-shirts I cut up long ago & stored in soft drink fridge packs. You can never have enough of either! I like to use the denaturated alcohol because it evaporates quickly. . .and I like the smell.
I painted the aprons down & let dry. Meanwhile I started staining the portions I could as to not mess up the paint. Once It dried I stained the remaining portions & got the sandpaper out again.

I wouldn't recommend using the power sanders but I did only on the legs due to the prefinished paint that was on them. I wanted to get the wood showing but around the edge of that I wanted to see the white paint & then the green. Careful not to hit the stained the areas!
Once that's done I used my same wipe down technique as after sanding & prepair to glaze. USE GLOVES FOR THE NEXT STEP!

Now you can get latex free or latex medical looking gloves. Just stop that. GO GET MEDICAL GLOVES. I've worked in my profession for 16 years, medical exam gloves & the gloves you get at the hardware store tear up. Grab some BarrierMax brand if you can. You'll be able to rebuild a car engine without tearing.

Now you're ready to glaze & Brooke at KillerB was dead on in her posts on the glaze. Must read!

All in all I think it came out perfect & can't wait to do this again.

My wife and I made his and hers nightstands based on the Kentwood Nightstand plans. Pretty easy. This was our first project and all I can say is that we've learned alot from the builds. The kreg jig, which we purchased at Lowes, is amazing. We live in Southern California and wood seems to be pretty pricey here. Still with wood being expensive I find piece of mind knowing that the furniture is solid and custom. Thanks Ana!

I'd never done hinges before, and decided to go with surface-mounted hinges because I was pretty sure I could get those right. I wanted to leave the wood its natural color, both because I thought it would look good in this room, and because I think it makes the hardware pop. Accordingly, I used iron-on edge banding on the plywood so the edges don't show.

I used a simple, homemade finish of mineral oil and beeswax, and the hardware is just from Home Depot. I'm not positive how much time it took -- I did it in bits and pieces over several weeks. In any case, I'm really happy with how it turned out! The new owner of the bed likes it immensely, too.

A fairly simple project to build for dining. Love how it turned out. Changed a few things from the blue print to accommodate our space and size needs. Thanks Ana

After a trip to IKEA my daughter fell in love with play food and pots/pans. My mom encouraged me that 14 months isn't too little for a play kitchen so I took the plunge! I adapted the plans slightly - making a single door for the refrigerator, measuring both doors so they overlay and aren't inset, putting one shelf in the oven instead of both beneath the sink, and raising the shelf to add room for pegs. I also decided to nix the backing to save on costs since this will eventually be placed up against a wall.

I really wanted to keep the kitchen as chemical free as possible. Paint chips and scratches, and stain has a ton of fumes. So what to do? Take a leaf from the Shanty Sister's book and dye it with RIT dye! I used one liquid bottle of teal and diluted it with a 1/2 cup of water. There was more than enough to do the kitchen, and the wood took the dye so beautifully. For the top coat, I used non-toxic Mod Podge. The backsplash and knobs/handles/burners are painted with chalk board paint.

For all the little details:
- oven knobs are closet dowel rod holders
- shaker pegs are cheap at hobby lobby $1.47 for 5!
- burners are painted cork coasters
- oven "glass" is replacement frame glazing (plexi) from Hobby Lobby
- sink from goodwill
- "wall mounted" faucet is a spigot with a fun red replacement handle since the handles on the spigots were incredibly boring
- fridge backing is roof flashing for a shiny metallic (and magnetic!) look
- curtain is a 99 cent bandana

I totally adore this little kitchen, and my daughter does too! It's a bit on the taller side but she has time to grow into it. Considering the cheap plastic ones are $100+, I was so happy that my cost was just under $97. Not bad for solid wood with a lot of extras!