Community Brag Posts

I've been eyeing blanket ladders in Pottery Barn and other stores for a while. No way was I paying over $200 for one, so I turned to Ana! I had some supplies on hand so this project only took me 20 minutes to make (minus staining) and cost $12! I set the rungs higher up because it's going behind my couch so I left the bottom open. I didn't bother with wood filler for the screws because I was going for rustic and the blankets would be covering it anyways. I used 1 x3's instead of 2 x 4's since I wanted it to be a little thinner. I stained it with Minewax Dark Walnut and used a little water on the wood before I stained to bring the woodgrain out.  I'm going to make a few more as gifts now that I know how easy it is!

I've been wanting to create some bathroom decor....here it is!

I made this after seeing the Rustic Wood Entertaining Shelves on the Pottery Barn website. I fell in LOVE with the wine glass rack, but $80 was way too much for me. I had some leftover 2x6s in the garage, so I Kreg jigged them together to make the shelf. I found some under cabinet mount wine glass racks at Bed Bath & Beyond for $10, so I bought them and spray painted them with Rustoleum oil rubbed bronze, and attached them to the bottom of my shelf. I found some shelving brackets at Home Depot and used those to hang the shelf on the wall. I could not be more proud of my wine glass rack/shelf!

As you can see, the theme is a little different then the original, but the storage remains! Because of the room I actually made the side drawers the full length of the bed, and put false fronts on the end. 

I started giving much needed attention to my deck and found Ana's plan for this bench. I modified it slightly to make it longer (for four seats instead of three).

My husband followed the plans Ana-White provided to make me this. I love it! We're also going to make the chairs in the future. To check out additional photos of this table and other home projects we've tackled please take a look at my blog, Our Up House Love.

I built this table based off the plans from Rogue Engineer for an X based side table with concrete top, but I modified the angles to make the table 18" tall and 34" wide.  I also made the top from 2x8 boards instead of using concrete.  More details in the blog post.  A table base like this would cost $100 from Pier 1, but this plan helped me make my own base for about $8.  Awesome!

Easy beginner project. I had a spare pressure-treated picket on hand, so I used it instead of cedar. We're repainting our house this summer, so I stained the wood to match our eventual new house color.

This is my first build from Ana’s plans. First I had to build the work bench in order to have something sturdy to work on. Thanks to home depot it was very inexpensive to build. I didn’t use wood conditioner and now I wish I had. I also used a 2 in 1 stain and seal. In retrospect would have used stain and then a varnish. All and all I’m very happy with the look and the stability. Even though I built it in my garage while its 94 degrees here in Florida I still enjoyed the project.

Took a Saturday to make this project. Loved the plans!

This table was quite simple to build. The hard part was the sanding and the painting/staining. It is sturdy. I also like that I can sand or touch up stain if it is ever damaged. Most store bought tables don't have that ability since the table top is usually a veneer.
Step by Step Summary on my blog - http://thequaintcottage.blogspot.com

We needed a Dining table to fit our growing family and our friends. Combined ideas from the iTable, Farmhouse and Big Ur table plans. Used 8ft boards so with the breadboards it measures roughly 8ft 7in long. Rustoleum Kona stain. Only took the weekend to build. Thanks Ana!

I built these doors to save some space from my old swinging door and to add some visual interest to the hallway since this is the first thing you see when you walk in the front door.  You can find full details and tutorial plus alot more pictures on my blog post:

https://chasingadreamblog.wordpress.com/2015/07/20/dress-up-the-mess-sliding-doors-to-laundry-room/

This project started with our older girl wanting sleep in the same room as her younger sister once she was out of a crib. Since it meant no more sneaking into Mom & Dad's bed I was happy to comply. The only problem was all the plans I found were for one bed not two. Both girls love storytime in bed, so I had to make it strong enough for the whole family to be up in bed. To not turn her room into a construction zone, it was made in sections that could fit up the stairs & through the bedroom door. 

All together we have a twin bed, a crib-size bed, three removable railings (to let me put them in bed when they fall asleep elsewhere), a slide anyone can use, a secret tunnel to crawl through underneath (and strong enough for adults to use as a step-ladder), a spiral stair for the kids to climb, and enough room for adults to sit up underneath. There is a flag pole next to the slide, but neither my wife nor I have gotten around to making them a flag yet. 

I moved from a big apartment to a small house and I needed more horizontal space. Shelves look great in use and are very stable. All the newbie mistakes in picking wood, cutting and sanding fade into the background.

What did I learn? - This is one time when getting the nice dressed lumber is worth it since they laminate better. I spent a lot of (useless) time applying wood filler trying to get the gaps invisible. - Get the scraps out of the way ASAP so I don't keep confusing them with the cut pieces. - It's hard to set the miter saw to the "same" 10 degrees more than once since its not a preset on the miter saw, so do all the angled cuts at the same time. -For some reason, one shelf was shorter than the rest.

Used the plans to make a desk for my girls!