Community Brag Posts

Ana's benches are soo addictive - I had to try my hands at this one! It is meant for the porch on the new house to be built sometime next (?) year. I must say, I didn't quite manage to get accurate cut-outs with the jig saw, but the design is quite forgiving. The timber is Cypress Pine - an Australian native - sold as fence pickets in the convenient size of 65mmx20mm. I love the grain and variation in colors, ranging from chocolate to blond, and think it is totally underrated. The is top made from 5 planks, so a little wider than the original plans.

This project was desperately desired and needed! We had old wire shelving which previous owners of the home had installed improperly and were falling off the wall. This took about 6 weeks from start to finish, but I am SO happy with the results. Unfortunately, here in south Florida, our homes are built with metal studs which are more often than not spaced all over the place. So, attaching anything to a wall securely is next to impossible. I believe I've gotten things as securely attached as possible and things seem to be holding up really well. The icing on the cake was my mother-in-law purchasing 100 Huggable Hangers for me for my birthday! The OCD in me was ecstatic! Anyhow, thanks Ana for the great plans and helping bring custom organization to our homes!

Found these plans and fell in love! Opted to use 7 2x6's for the top with 2x8's for the breadboard! Knocked it out between Saturday and Sunday. Planning on doing the steel wool and vinegar agingtechnique after distressing the table with various tools. Ended up being 7ft 1/2 in by 3ft 2 1/2in. Definitely looking forward to searching through the plans and trying other projects! Was my first time building a furniture piece from scratch!

25" height, using it as a lunch table. Did a polyurethane varnish.

Thank you for the plans! They were easy to follow and my girlfriend and I are very happy how the pergola turned out. I used the 2x6's and 2x4's due to being in Nebraska with heavy snow and high winds often to give it more durability. I can't wait to start on the sectional. Total cost was about 350 dollars...so cheap in comparison to what they sell for.

We loved the radiant air in our new early 20th century house, but as our daughter learned to crawl, we needed to prevent her little fingers from touching the two radiators that were still uncovered. After I finished my first few builds, I custom designed these radiator covers with 1x2s, 1x3s 2x2s and 1x12s. Needless to say, I got a ton of use out of my Kreg Jig. On the middle panel of the larger cover, I used a bit of decorative metal that they sell at the Big Box stores (of course, it would have been easier to use more of it, but I am a bit paranoid about little fingers touching a metal cover). For a final touch, I covered the top of the larger cover with decorative glass. For the smaller cover, I matched the distressed pink throughout the rest of my daughter's nursery.

I used old barn wood I had out back its not a perfect fit all across the top but I made it that way on purpose I like the things that don't look perfect! Great project did it all in about 2 hours! 

Adjusted a little from the plans to fit better the space available. Also I used some scrap plywood for the bottom.
 

I was sick of all the books all over the front room. I needed to find something to store them on. Our kids had broken those cheap bookshelves from a big box store, so I need something sturdy. As you can tell by the pictures our youngest son loves to sit on it. I used the jig saw to cut the curves and it was super easy. I used a plate for the pattern on the curve. Great idea and plans!

We wanted to make a large sandbox for lots of kids. We love that it has an easy cover and two large benches to sit.

Supplies and Steps are shared at http://myhomedonemyway.blogspot.com/2013/07/building-6-x-8-sandbox.html

Had fun building this and and putting on the pillows and cushions.

I just finished my first project with a Kreg Jig, I used the colors from another kennel project that we found on the site because we thought it would go well with our living room. I adjusted the plans to fit our furniture and dogs, so it is shorter and not as deep as the the original plans show.

This was my first finished project using plans from Ana's site, and I am very pleased with the finished product. Every aspect of the finished sideboard is based on something from the site. I started with the plans for the Planked Wood Sideboard, and made no modifications as the dimensions were perfect for our basement family room. I decided to inset the back (http://www.friendly-home.net/2012/02/gigantic-rustic-sideboard.html) as Ana explained that Hillary had done, and love the final result. This will allow us to use this to potentially divide a room in an open concept space at some point in the future.

For the finishing process, I decided to follow the "Rustic Yet Refined" finish tutorial highlighted on both the Ana-White site (http://ana-white.com/2013/08/rustic-yet-refined-wood-finish) and Jen Woodhouse House of Wood (http://jenwoodhouse.com/blog/2013/06/07/diy-dining-table/). I fully intended to complete the 9 step process, but found that after we applied the Minwax pre-stain wood conditioner, followed by Minwax special walnut stain and wiped it off within 15-30 seconds, the finish mirrored the restoration hardware finish that we were going for. We decided not to proceed with layering on the weathered oak or applying the whitewash, and went straight to the spar urethane satin coats.

Overall, the project was a success, but was difficult to finish during the Minnesota winter as it was unbelievably cold and was forced to complete the finishing process in our basement/laundry room, which extended the length of the project. I am very excited to begin building other pieces from Ana's plans.

We are trying to tidy up our laundry/mud room and needed a place for the recyclables. I ran across Ana's plans for these pull out cabinets and raised panel doors, adjusted the measurements to fit our space, and had at it! It's kind of a tight fit in that room but these seem to help with the clutter. I also added that little table on top for folding laundry.

Chicken coop I made to look like a little red barn complete with a working barn door. We have seven girls and they love their lovely barn home.

This is a smaller version of the easiest chalkboard shelf. We needed a smaller shelf to fit between the garage door and coat closet so this was it. It was also my first time using my Kreg Jig, which I love. Such a simple little project but I am excited.

After seeing the plans for the Factory Cart Coffee Table on this site, I decided I should build one. I didn't actually follow the plans exactly...really just used them as "inspiration". I went with 5" swivel casters and 8" fixed casters, and the stain is Minwax hickory poly that has been sanded back a bit. I'm really happy with how it turned out.

Now on to the next project !