Community Brag Posts

This is my first project, just to see if I could actually build something. I used some wood and paint we had lying around the garage, since I didn't want to put money into something I might screw up! This turned out to be pretty easy, despite the wood being a little warped from sitting in the garage for years. It's not perfect, but now I have a place to store my husband's golf magazines that were cluttering up the bathroom -- and the courage to try something bigger!

Custom Bathroom Vanity in traditional furniture styling. Designed two ways, one with a hand hammered copper sink and matching hardware, the other with a Kohler Wave sink with black aged hardware. 

i was having a BBQ for my boyfriend's 27th birthday and we didn't have anything to sit on outside other than those fold up chairs that you take to tailgates. We went to look at buying some furniture from Lowes and we were pretty shocked at the prices. Since I had my mind set on having something other than a lawn chair for people to sit on when they came over, I figured I would give this blog a once over to see what it had. I am so glad that I did! I was able to make this loveseat in three days, and it is bigger, more comfortable, sturdier, and $500 cheaper than the same piece of furniture that I had picked out at Lowes. ( I realize this project could totally be done faster but I am a full time student along with a full time job,,, I did what I could. Plus a storm rolled through and knocked my power out ) I love my new patio bench and can't wait to build the matching chairs and perhaps a small table.

I liked this dresser. I modified the plan to suit my needs and added some features to bring it up to my tastes. I dovetailed the drawers and used Blum soft close 18" under mount slides. The drawers were costly and time consuming but I am very happy with the form and function. I added some height and depth.

I also used some different construction methods. I built the legs first then three individual face frames that were attached individually, instead of adding one piece at a time.

This was a great project, I wish I haven't painted it but using brown maple is really best suited for paint.

Super easy to follow and build! We went with treated lumber from Home Depot and have around $1500 into the project. Will be looking at adding an automatic fan and thermostat next year. Benches on one side for starters and a raised bed on the other side.

Changed the plans around some so that we can install shaker style doors later on.

Based on the original rustic-x-coffee-table. Modified the length, width and height dimensions to fit our needs. To accommodate our desired widths, we mixed 2x4 and 2x6 boards. Followed the theme for a side table as well.

The cross braces used 1/2 depth mirrored dados in each full brace instead of 1 full and 2 cut pieces (this was done using a series of partial depth cuts with a sliding-compound miter...I don't own a table saw...yet).

Finishing was done using steel wool + vinegar, followed by satin poly. We wanted to have more protection and a little more "warmth" than a wax coat. Two coats of poly thinned by 1:1 mineral spirits was used to keep coats light with minimal build up. A light sanding to bring down grain-lift was done after the first coat. This allowed some of the fine wood texture to come through that would be lost with a typical 3-4 full strength poly coats.

Pottery Barn inspired headboard was created by using a modified version of the Reclaimed Wood headboard. I turned the planks vertical and cut them 32" long. I added a piece of rope ceiling trim. For the finish, I spray painted the whole piece black. After it was dry, I dry brushed cream paint on top. I finished it off with polyurethane.

We moved about 18 months ago to a house without a fireplace after having one for almost 7 years. When The Christmas dilemma of where to hang the stockings came up last year, we used an Ana White plan and built a super amazing faux fireplace. After the holidays we decided we'd install it in our bedroom instead of storing it away all year....AND we ended up liking it there so much, that's where it stayed and a bookshelf took its spot in the living room. This Christmas when the stocking question was raised I looked online for ideas and, wouldn't you know it, Ana White to the rescue again!! We are completely in love with our new Christmas shelf. Also as a bonus, we now know how to use a miter saw, which I'm sure will open up all kinds of new project possibilities!

Happy Holidays!

A simple mudroom hutch for my small entry way. Come on in take of your shoes, hang up your coat, and put away your hat. Make yourself tahome. This was inspired by the Yellow mudroom hutch I found on this site.

I loved working on this project and my sincerest thanks to Ana and Elisha for this design. The picture is missing one drawer handle, because, erm, I lost it. I didn't want to wait to find it before posing this brag :).