Community Brag Posts

I saw Ana's Laundry Basket Dresser & thought it was an awesome idea, I am notorious for not folding the clean laundry for weeks & our new puppy likes to steal the clean socks & in the process pulls out other clothing all over the closet floor. I plan to build two of the basket dressers & then space them apart & add a top to them to make it like a folding table with the basket storage built into it but that involves a trip to Lowes. This project also gave me the best idea for tidying up our mudroom. Our local trash/recycling company decided 6 months ago to go to an every other week pick up schedule for recycling, with an every week pick up we only had a bin & a half, very managable & tidy. Now with every other week pick up somehow we generate 4 bins! As you can imagine, even with breaking down cardborad & nealty placing items in the bins, it gets messy & looks awful & this is the main way people enter our home. So after seeing this dresser project I got the idea to just adjust the plans to fit our bins. I also only had a single sheet of plywood & limited space so I tweaked the design from Ana's plan to accomodate my needs & materials. Now our bins are contained & the bin dresser doubles as a large table where we can put down the groceries when we get home from shopping! While I put it down as a weekend project, I only did so because I spread out the work over two days because I wanted to give the paint time to dry, I like to paint & stain my Projects before assembling as it's easier to get full coverage & I don't end up with dificult to paint knooks & cranies.

Grabbed some cheap whiteboard for my first project. My wife was looking at buying an island and I decided to surprise her by trying my hand at building one. Turned out to be an enjoyable new hobby that I hope to continue (plus, Laura now says I am her "favorite husband!").

Materials breakdown:
The lumber is white board from Lowe's for $115
The countertop is laminate Pragel from Ikea for $59 (cut to size)
Paint, polyurethane and drawer hinges were $50

I had another $75 in tools, glue, wood filler, nails, etc, because this was my first project.

Using only scraps from all my other projects, I modified Ana's plans to create this workspace in the house we just moved into. I changed the dimensions of the shelves to take advantage of the materials I had on hand. Additionally, though I have a lot of different things on the shelves in this picture, I'll be using the shelves more for books and reference materials, so I needed standard shelf sizes. Though this is a simple design, cutting some of the angles and installing the shelves was a bit tricky, therefore I think this is more of an intermedite project. I also added 2x4 legs to support my Mac. Can't have that tumbling to the ground!

Living room console. Three-quarter inch birch ply, and one by two clear grain pine.

This is my third project from this site (ok, third project EVER). I was coming on to look for doll bed plans, and the Rustic X Console showed up on my screen....I loved it instantly, and knew I had to try it. My husband ran out and picked up a Kreg Jig for me, and we spent a couple evenings on it. Had lots of fun, though now I know why Ana says to make sure you buy straight boards--the middle shelves were not straight, and that was frustrating to work with but we made it work! Now I just need to figure out what I'll be using it for.

I loved this coffee table plan. I found it on www.morelikehome.net and also linked on Ana White's page. My wife and I loved the size and also the number of drawers for storage. I would say that the plans were great and I had to only make minor adjustments due to my own errors.

It took me about four days to complete. I used the Kreg jig to complete most of the joining. I put it all together by the end of the second day. It is solid as a rock. The last two days were mostly staining all pieces and then restaining to get the right finish. It also took a couple more weeks to find pulls and get them installed. But now it's all done and we love it already!

We sanded, stained, painted, and distressed the wood before building. That was truly the most time consuming part. The plans were great and everything went together smoothly! We decided to take off the top 2 planks from the footboard, and used those as the side rail. We created the ladder from what we had on hand. 

I chose to adjust the great design to have a free standing tree with backing and a live bark base. Fun project.

I wasn't very experienced when I built this table. It was only my second big piece of furniture (farmhouse bed was my first) and it was the first time I had every used a compound mitre saw, which my husband had just bought for my birthday. We had no dining room furniture, so I made the 2 benches to go with, until we could set aside money for the ever so expensive dining chairs. (We'll keep one bench for sure for the kiddos!) My seasoned carpenter husband was so impressed when he came home from out of town to find this table done just in time for the holidays. I love it so much and am very proud of the finish since it was the first time EVER I had used stain or poly. We did order materials for the stretchers, but haven't put them on yet. They were from Fastenal and are pretty pricey - but hopefully, they'll give the industrial touch to finish it off. The whole project took me under 2 weeks - but it would take far less for someone who is more skilled and doesn't have to stop every 5 minutes to tend to 2 very active toddlers.

First furniture project with my Kreg Jig. Went smoothly. Loved the plans and how descriptive they were. This is a great beginner project. It only took me about 2 hours to complete.

Thanks for the plans!

Curly maple blanket chest with teak top for daughter’s Christmas.

Project took a lot more time and patience than the last few little ones that I have done. I like the simple outdoor table but wanted a little bit more. I used the basic concept and mixed it with a patio table from PB that I really enjoyed but didnt want to pay $800 for. The table looks fantastic and am still debating on what type of finish, if any, to use. Hoping to make the matching bench soon for one of the sides of the table.

I have wanted a swing bed for ages and got hubby on board with this. We built a full size bed (plenty of room for me and all 3 grandkids!) using poplar. I had the turned dowels from a major score at my Habitat Store several years ago. $2 per dowel! I wanted an old fashioned look and so added the corner brackets to all sides and the resin appliques on the back.

I primed with cream colored ceiling paint, an "Oops" paint from my neighborhood home improvement store. The baby blue was another "Oops" paint - another score- only $5 for a gallon of Valspar eggshell. After a very light distressing, I finished it with a paste wax.

I make the design and drawing and Hubby makes all the cuts. I joined all with biscuit joinery for a strong and solid piece.

We hung it from the ceiling joists with 1" manila ropes, added lots of pillows and plants and it is my happy place. A night blooming jasmine adds a heady fragrance that puts me right at peace ... A great refuge from a crazy work day!!!

Took a canopy bed plan but made it to look like a house for my grandson.  

He loves it!