Community Brag Posts

I had a different idea for the barn door hardware. I used 1/2" black pipe and fittings for the rail . I found rollers on eBay that were perfect for this application. It went together great and I love the industrial look .

Built this while 8 months preggo with help from my husband and best friend (sewing). I wanted to make it big enough to be an extra bed and I wanted it to be comfortable so I invested in an 8"memory foam mattress. Here is the pic before the leg base went on.
We made the back 3" higher since the mattress is so thick. I have kids so I made the cushion cover around the whole mattress so we could take it off and wash it. I staple gunned plain grey fabric to hide the plywood of the lid (since I was limited to fabric I had found).

It is a little too deep to sit on for two people but it is great in a corner where you can lounge on it with a book or snuggle for a movie with your partner or kids! :)

Wood /glue/adhesive spray - about $120
Fabric - bargain bin upholstory fabric/thread - $67
Cushion covers (filled with old pillows,leftover uphostry foam and two KING pillows) - cream, from IKEA bargain bin 4@ $5 each= $20+tx
Mattress- Twin memory foam (Classic 8")- $199+tx @ Jysk on sale (they go on sale every two months).

So the whole thing was about $450 and we love it. The only thing I saw that came close was $3000 in a store downtown.

Thank you so much for the plans Ana!!

Samantha A.
Halifax, NS

I had recently put a bathroom, tiled/carpeted my basement to make it more into a family room. The basement of my house is connected to the garage and has an entry door from the garage. As you can see the walls are brick and my wife wanted something to organize our coats and shoes. I found the plans on this sight for the entry way bench and shelf/coat rack and thought that would be perfect. I don't think it could have worked out better for the new basement/family room.

Thank you for the inspiration - I love how mine turned out!

Full timelapse and thoughts are in the imgur album.

We have a family that we are very close with. We both have young boys with Down syndrome, so getting to know them has been a lifesaver. Well, I wanted to help "save their life" too by making another organizer bin for the kid's schoolwork. I used scraps from my garage and an old Ikea frame that a friend gave me. As you can see, I modified from the original plan to add a letter holder and hooks for the keys. Now they don't have to "ohhh and ahhhh" when they come to my house, because now they'll one all of their own.

We wanted a bench to go with our new table, but couldn't find one we liked, so we decided to make this our first project. Finished it with paint and an over glaze to match the finish on the chairs. Couldn't be happier with the results!

Made it for a friend who will be on the go with her new baby.  I included screw hooks to either hang bags or separate. Tray & box are removable also. Bottoms are chalkboard paint. She wanted to paint it so i will stop here.

Maddie needed a little extra boost to comfortably reach the bathroom sink. She loves this stool!

I modifyed the Simplest Stool to be oober short, and painted the design using leftover wall paint samples

Really wanted one of these but everything I found was way too expensive so I found these plans, tweaked em a bit to fit the space I had and voila, double tilt-out trash bin. Thanks for the wonderful plans!

To bring a bit of order to my son's growing book collection, I built him a TIE fighter bookshelf. (By him I mean me, because he doesn't really care about TIE fighters. Chewbacca? Yes.) I was able to make use of some scrap lumber I already owned. Paint was the only item I purchased for the project.

We used Ana's Laundry Basket Dresser plan and modified it slightly to fit our needs and our space. We made spaces for two laundry baskets, plus a shelf for laundry supplies and a bigger top for ironing/folding. We also attached casters to the bottom so we can wheel it around wherever we want!

See more pictures on our website strawbridgestuff.com

This was my first project, and I am happy with the way it turned out. My inspiration came from the bed on the home page. It took many trips to blue and orange stores but now I have the tools I need for the next project. The cost of the project was a little higher than most of the brag posts, because I didn't use any scrap wood and had to buy a sander. If I built it again I could do it for about $100. Same with the time, this project took a lot longer than most because I put 4 coats of paint and did a lot of thinking/planning/football game breaks.

I followed the plans for about 90% of the project. The only modifications I made were on the side rails. I used a smaller board because my mattress has two pads and it was very thick. I went with the smaller side rail so I was able to still keep the storage space under the bed. Also I used joist hangers for the frame. If I were to do it over I would do the same thing, but use more 2x4's instead of the 2x6's. This would have given me even more storage space under the bed.

All in all, very happy with the project and can't wait to use the leftovers to build a twin version and brave the farmhouse table. Thanks Ana!

I originally got the idea to build a bed for my son when I needed to get something new for him and went looking online for beds for sale on Craigslist. I found a bed that looked like a barn and that made me search for plans to build one since why overpay for something you can build yourself?! I found Ana’s plan and knew immediately it was the one. I started at Thanksgiving and had it finished for Christmas. I can’t thank Ana and Jamie from That’s My Letter enough for such great plans. They were so detailed but easy to follow. I do all my own rehab work on my house and I am a weekend warrior carpenter so this was a really fun build. My son is about to turn 5 and is a huge Star Wars fan and so am I. I knew this had to be my theme so I bought him a bunch of stickers and a sign (couldn't help myself on this one, had to do the Jedi like my father sign) to decorate the bed on Christmas day. He was excited to get the stickers but he didn’t know I built this for him. I hid it in the garage the whole time and he never found out. So when we went to his room to see if for the first time he went nuts. My 2 year old daughter loved it too and they play in it together all the time. I had a few issues during the build with some measurements but was able to make it work. In the end I love it and so do the kids, especially my son! The window grilles take it to another level so I recommend them if you build this. I even sanded a lot of the edges around the windows and in the doorway to give it a more “weathered” look. I already have my next project chosen from Ana’s plans. I will hopefully be posting the results of the X desk build in the near future. Thank you Ana for all the plans, I will most definitely be showing this off and giving you credit every time. Chris

Helped a friend build this one - plans were great! See blog post for more info.

Well with a new addition to family it was time to start baby proofing the house. With some help from the wife we decided to build a dual purpose door to keep babies out and dogs in. After looking all over the internet this is what we found. I hope you like it. sorry about the photo being so dark..

I made this set for my grandchild!  Love the plans!  I modified the stove to include a range-top microwave, and included doors for the kitchen sink.