Community Brag Posts
Double Decker kitchen island
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We took the basic plan but made it a smidge higher (36" high) and added a second shelf. The island is longer that the plans, at 60". Provides us space for all our pantry items.
Hall Tree
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For the top I followed the plans for the most part. I made this for my mother for Christmas and she wanted shelves under the bench instead of a storage bin so I modified the original bench plans. I purchased the baskets for $12.99 each from "At Home" and the medium size fits pretty good.
Office space - ladder desk and shelves
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My wife needed an office space and the ladder desk and bookshelves was the perfect plan for it. In fact when I was looking at the pictures and plans online she thought I was looking at an online furniture store! She said "I like that,we should buy that" I made the desk part first and surprised her with it one evening.
Unfortunately I don't have a garage and not a lot of tools, so the desk is mostly hand cut and some of the bookshelf as well. I finally borrowed a mitre to finished off the cuts and (redo the ones I screwed up) It is a little rough but I love this space! And so does my wife!. My next project I hope to improve my staining skills! Lol. I admit I'm kinda proud of it. On to more projects!
Modified Queen Farmhouse Bed
I used Ana's Queen size Farmhouse bed with the modifications for the box spring. I also changed the plans slightly, instead of the 1" x4" on the footboard and head board I used 2" x 6" at the bottom. I don't have a nail gun or finishing nails so this provided the stability and saved me a few dollars. I also made the corner posts longer than the plans to make the bed taller.
I love this bed, I made it extra tall, so you have to jump into it. And there is plenty of storage underneath!
It took me and my dad about 4 hours of actual cutting and assembling, but an additional 10-20 hours of sanding and painting. It took me a few months to actually finish it after work.
THANK YOU ANA for the plans!!!
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coffee table
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My version of benchright coffee table. Made this for my daughter. It's made of solid cherry.
Comments
Patchwork Dresser
This was an anniversary gift, so I wanted it to lean more "chic" than "shabby" and as a result I spent a little extra money. Instead of using different colors of stains, I used different kinds of hardwoods to provide the color contrast. I changed the dimensions to fit our space and my wife's requests. In the end I believe the dresser was 50" wide, 31" tall (not including legs) and 20" deep.
Carcase - The carase is made of 3/4" plywood and the the divider is held in place by a dado groove. I used a roundover bit to soften the edges. I then applied a vinyl spackle to the edges of the plywood so the paint would go on uniformly.
Drawers - The drawers were made with 1/2" plywood for the sides and 1/4" for the bottoms. Isntead of nailing the bottoms to the drawer sides, I routed a dado groove into the sides that holds the bottoms in place. I used full-extension ball-bearing drawer slides, which in hindsight may have been a mistake. Combining the the full-extension with weight of the hardwoods created a decent tipping hazard. As a result, I've needed to add wieght to the backside of the dresser for stability.
Feet - In lieu of casters, I bought some premade 6" legs from a local big box store for about $10-$15. I don't regret this purchase as they worked out very well.
Finish - The paint I used was super thick and covered great but was difficult to brush on with any consistency or finesse. It was like painting with pancake batter. I had impossible visions of being able to sand the finish down to an incredible flat surface but after redoing it twice, I settled for a brushed look.
Cutting Table for Sewing room
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Jennifer wanted a cutting table for her sewing room and so I took Ana-White's Sewing Table plans and made them taller into a cutting table. We aimed for 36" (Standard Counter-Top Height), but ended up at 36 19/64" due to the casters not being exactly two inches. Jennifer's a little short so I was really worried about the extra 19/64" (but don't tell her I said that :)
We decided to use MDF instead of plywood to avoid the risk of snags on finer fabrics.
Instead of simple hinges for the legs, I chose locking hinges available from Lee Valley https://www.leevalley.com/en-ca/shop/hardware/table-hardware/legs/leg-b… ($38 for all four).
We purchased 2" Casters from Amazon.ca https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B07G84R9Q9/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_… ($22.99 for all four).
The base was cut from one sheet of 3/4" MDF
We used 2 1/2" screws and glue to build the base. We pre-drilled and counter sunk the screws, ensuring squarness all around.
We attached the casters with the screws provided.
Then we cut the leaves from some scrap 3/4" MDF and attached them with some old door hinges we had.
Once the leaves were attached, we attached the locking hinges for the legs.
We cut and planed the legs a little, and then routered the corners to give them a bit of a nicer look.
Once assembly was finished we applied a coat of primer and two coats of white, satin, interior paint.
The whole thing came out really well and is a nice addition to the sewing room. Once again, I found the plans on this site to be really helpful and easy to understand. Thank you!
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Queen Farmhouse Bed (Rough-cut lumber)
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We constructed our farmhouse bed from rough-cut lumber (mostly pine with a few eastern red cedar panels). However, the top rails of the headboard and footboard were reclaimed from an old railraod depot and maintain their faded red color. I will admit, using rough-cut lumber practically tripled our efforts because nothing was square or even, but all in all, I think it was worth it!
Comments
Outdoor concrete/wood coffee table w/ browning emblem
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My first project using countertop concrete mix. This specific concrete calls for very low water mix ratios, and I was hesitant to over water the mix. I should have used more because it came out very pourous. Not bad over all though. I used a urethane Matte finish on the concrete and a semigloss poly for the wood base that is made from 4x4's and 2x4's. I used a special walnut color stain from minwax for the base and used a browning triler hitch cover for the emblem.
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Urethane Matte on concrete
Semigloss polyurethane for the base
First project
First project since high school woodworking class. I was pleased with the outcome but, I had a few bumps along the way. I learned from my mistakes so the next one will be better!
Folding Workbench
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Made a folding Workbench for my small workshop.
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Doll Bunk Beds
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I was looking for something to make for my niece for Christmas that could be treated as an heirloom to hand down to future generations...thus, it had to be sturdy. My mother made the mattress, pillow, and blanket sets. I loved the way this turned out and my niece was pleasantly surprised!
Planked Wood Sideboard - 2nd Ana White Project
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My wife and I looked all over town for just the right piece of furniture for our entry at our new home. After looking and looking I decided I would build this plan. Turned out amazing and all our friends want help building their own.
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Comments
Fri, 02/06/2015 - 03:27
Nice Finish!
You did a great job on this project. I love the stain and finish on this piece. Thanks for sharing!
Captain America for Grandson #2
A fun project to make ending with a functional product to boot! I went all out making sure that each truck/shelf would coordinate with each grandson's theme/decor in their bedrooms. Chase, who will turn one next month, has a super heroes/comics theme for his room. Therefore, I selected Captain America as the star of the big rig shelf. Red, white & blue paints, some wooden shapes and some creativity and Captain America was ready for Mr. Smiles.
Vintage x back step stool
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Super easy step stool to put together. We made it from reclaimed white oak from side table made in the 50s by a family member. The stool is for a grandchild that is due in December for all of her adventures in mischief.
Ladybug Moped Rocker
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There were some parts missing from the plans. I wrote out what I did to build this rocker on my website.
http://www.domesticated-engineer.com/1/post/2012/12/ladybug-moped-rocke…
Make sure to use hard wood! My rocker broke within the first hour. Wood glue fixed it but it gave me a good scare!
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Robins egg blue console table
Made this beautiful TV stand from the "Rustic X Console table plans". I shortened it to 2 ft high to fit the space for a TV. Love how it turned out!!
Comments
Mon, 01/19/2015 - 15:11
No Mid support
To you have any trouble with sagging without the 2x4 in the middle? Looks great like this!
Toddler Book Shelf
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I needed a book display rack for my boys so I built this one from the plate rack plans and modified it to suit the size I needed. I actually used all scrap lumber from previous projects, so the cost was minimal.
Table & Chairs for Kindergarten Co-Op
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Simple table and chairs for a kindergarten homeschooling co-op. Perfect size for 4-6yr olds. Sturdy enough for older kids as well. We used a stair tread for the seat tops instead of 1x3 to make it more solid and to minimize little fingers getting caught between slats also the bull nose on the stair tread makes a nice edge for little legs to rest against.
![](/sites/default/files/9C3D18F1-69A9-469B-BD64-ECA179B4F570_0.jpeg)
It is finished using two coats of Minwax PolyShades stain & polyurethane in classic oak with sanding using 320 grit sandpaper in between coats. Then a polish with steel wool #0000, beeswax and orange oil.
Raised Cedar Fence Post Berry Patch
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I used the same cedar fence boards, but for a large berry patch made with minimal cuts. The end boards are 1/2 the length of the long side boards. I made them 2 fence widths high - about 11 inches. Each bed is nearly 12 feet long. I joined the dogeared ends of 2 boards in the center, making a diamond cut out pattern that looked good. In order to support the tall sides, I used cedar 2x4x8 boards. Use 18-24 inch posts on each corner and at the center joint. I cut an additional board in half, affixing it to the center posts, to brace the long sides and add stability. Each box is approximately 3 feet wide, 12 feet long, and 11 inches tall. You'll need 8 fence posts for the long sides, 2 for the short sides, and 1/2 for the brace - you could use a different piece of wood for this, but the cedar fence posts are such a deal. You'll also need approximately 9 feet of cedar 2x4 for the corner posts - I bought 8 foot lengths and cut each into 2 foot posts for stability. The cost was around I'll add 2x4 posts in the spring and put a trellis behind the raspberries. If the birds start to steal my blueberries, I'll add metal or wooden corner posts that will support fruit netting. We're planting strawberries around the base of the larger fruit bushes. The 11 inch sides should keep rabbits from invading. If they are persistent, I'll add a few inches of chicken wire around the top edge. This made the equivalent square footage of 4 of Ana's original $10 beds.
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Comments
Fri, 12/07/2012 - 17:57
Cedar Compost Bin
This was similar to the construction I used for a compost bin - will post that next!
Sun, 12/09/2012 - 10:40
Raised Beds
I'm putting together several L-shaped raised beds out of 6x6s with the internal walls being 2x6s. This gives me encouragement. I really like the look of this! Thanks.
Sun, 12/09/2012 - 10:42
Raised Beds
I'm putting together several L-shaped raised beds out of 6x6s with the internal walls being 2x6s. This gives me encouragement. I really like the look of this! Thanks.
Comments
Pam the Goatherd
Fri, 11/23/2012 - 21:11
Lovely!
Lovely!