Community Brag Posts

This is actually a mash up of Ana's "Mudroom Bench with Easy Drawers" design, and a "Mudroom Lockers" post by Infarrantly Creative. The end result is a 66" W x 98" H x 19 1/4" D built-in bench with 2 drawers and 4 cabinets. I did the cabinets first, to easily support them while installing on a temporary ledger board without the bench in the way. Unlike Infarrantly, I did not have existing cabinets to re-purpose, but I found 30W x 24H x 12D cabinets that practically matched the adjoining kitchen in both color and style. I also added matching pulls and handles to tie both rooms together. I almost went with taller cabinets to the ceiling, but this approach with Crown Molding "not-to-ceiling" matches the kitchen cabinets. I also bought matching trim pieces for the ends and across the bottom so anything touching the cabinets matched in color and texture. In hindsight, the color-matched paint was so close, though, I could have saved some cash by cutting and painting those pieces instead. Everything gray below this point is 1x material cut to spec and then painted. The bench is based on Ana's design (modified to two drawers) with Infarrantly's stained top. The top is a pine board from HD stained to closely match our LVP in that room, and the entire first floor. You will notice the top rail of the bench frame (attached to the top with Kreg pocket holes to minimize visible nails/screws) is also stained to give illusion of a thicker slab. The stain closely matches our LVP in that room, and the entire first floor. This was my first time building drawers, but thanks to Ana's "Easy" drawer design, it still worked out pretty well. The drawer frame technique (instead of faces) made everything a little more forgiving (which I definitely needed). After painting and reinstalling, I noticed that some of the reveal around the drawers did not line up evenly and straight around them. I simply adjusted the rails (drawer side), and the middle upright between them, without needing to remove or rebuild the drawers or the frames - WHEW! Between the cabinets and bench, I used 1x12's and 1x2's, down the sides - although you could leverage the existing wall finish. I also added vertical shiplap to the back, but again you could leave the existing wall finish or use beadboard. It is painted teal to coordinate with the adjoining kitchen's tile and backsplash. I added the Hummingbird coat hooks, since we love those feathered visitors around our deck in the summer. Thanks to both Ana White and Infarrantly Creative for inspiring this addition to our new home.

Made these as a wedding gift for my niece and her husband. I found the peel and stick skins on Amazon for about $30 for a set of two. Makes a really cool looking top although I will say it also makes it much more delicate to scratches and scuffs. I decided to add 1/8" trim pieces all around the edge of the stock 2x4 plywood since it's not a perfect 2 feet by 4 feet measurement. That also allowed me to fold the edge of the peel and stick skins to where they were then underneath the trim board that was glued and nailed in. I think it gave it a perfect looking edge. I also mounted led corn hole lights (also purchased on Amazon) that make it fun to play in the dark. Another great plan Ana! My niece is going to be stoked!

Total cost for all materials used was around $116 but keep in mind I added extra things not mentioned in the plans. Without those additions it would have been about $50 so very inexpensive.

The kitchen took most of a Saturday afternoon to build and then another few hours of painting.  We built it for our daughter's second birthday last fall before Ana had any fridge plans posted, so my husband came up with the fridge plans.  He also changed the sink a little by adding the little shelves to the side.  

We are so happy with our new bed. Made the headboard a foot lower. Like it a bit better this way. Thanks Ana for the awesome plans Greetings from Belgium Marrah and Erik

Well, my Kreg Jig arrived today so I had to play with it. However, I only had about an hour and a half before my friend came over to watch the hockey game. Having just put the drink station in I decided a shelf for mugs next to it was needed.

I know the barn beam doesn't really call for any Kreg joints, but I found a way.

There's no way I'm going to stain it with a patina like this. I just took the sander to it briefly because the top and bottom pieces were so rough cut they were fuzzy. The front and back are oak and have become quite smooth.

This was my version of the cabin bed plans on this site.
My son loves it and of course my wife does too..

Sorry for the poor photo.  I will take a better one when I find my camera.  We made this bench for our little shih tzu but it soon became a bench for everyone to test out.  If I had to repeat this project, I would probably keep the legs from the original plan.  These store bought legs don't seem sturdy enough.

After my free drink station project I was going to swear off pallet wood for larger pieces, then I came across what may be a holy grail of pallets. 4 feet by 5 feet made with 4X4's and 2X6's held together with screws rather than nails. Yup, something had to be done with this.

so the sort of free comes from the lumber being free while I paid for the stain and poly. Of course, you could say we always pay for those, in this instance though they weren't leftovers from another project.

I say sort of Tryde because it shares the basics of the table, 2 by top pieces, breadboards, chunky 4X4 legs. However, given my wood choices the lumber sizes are all mixed around. Also because I was originally going to make the modern X leg kids picnic table but didn't have any good wood for the legs.

So instead of the breadboards being the wide pieces those are now 2X3's with 2X6's for the table top pieces. Another difference is that instead of 1X4's for the aprons boxed out I used 2X4's. This really wasn't a big deal because I had a Kreg Jig. By the way, got the master system and it rocks my socks off.

Compared to my last pallet wood projects these boards pretty much look store bought, I wish I had remembered to take a picture before I stained it. They're definitely a bit knotty but that's OK because even when I don't want an overly distressed look I still don't think wood should be perfect, if I wanted that I would use MDF.