Community Brag Posts

Rustic farmhouse using lap-siding on 3/4” plywood for the top.

After searching for a bed for our tween we found that we couldn't find the bed we wanted for the price we wanted to pay. I'd been eyeing this site for months and finally decided to take the plunge. The Shanty-2-Chic blog really motivated me to get this going.

This was our first (and arguably most expensive) project ever- husband ended up acquiring new tools to make the job easier, haha.

We followed the tutorial from the site with modifications for a full size mattress. (Just substituted 53x75 for the queen measurements and adjusted cuts accordingly.)

Used furring strips (1x3) for mattress support to save money.

Finished with zinsser primer (bought a quart for all our future projects)- this stuff is awesome!

Picked a flat white paint in a color that matched her dresser.

Cost of Daughters New Bed:
Lumber $120,
Kreg jig clamp $29
Air compresser with nail gun $150

Learning how to construct furniture ourselves: Priceless

Plans were perfect. This was my first build.

After building the small dresser from the cabin (or camp) collection, we wanted a side table to match. Pottery barn makes one, and there were some similar plans on Ana's site, so we kind of made it up as we went, following the same basic design as the dresser, only with modified dimensions, and less drawers, etc. This was a super quick build after the dresser, and we made it all from scraps we had lying around - only things were purchased were the hardward for the drawer, and 1 square dowel for the drawer slides - less than 5 bucks! Used left over paint from the dresser as well.

After finally getting fed up with having our mattress on one of those cheap metal "frames", and no headboard, I decided to try my hand at a platform bed and plank headboard.

I followed the headboard plans to a T, with the exception of using 1x4's for the front trim instead of molding (at HD/Lowe's, the cheapest option would have set me back $40), and making it higher and wider to fit my bed plans. Everything came together very easily.

For the bed, I drew up the plans myself. I wanted clean lines and a modern look, with short wide legs. Instead of having the mattress rest on slats, I elected to hide the box spring within the wood frame, with the mattress sunk down 4" below the lip of the frame.

Total cost for headboard: $100
Total cost for bed: $80

Do NOT waste your time going to Lowe's or HD to buy any of the 1x's. The only frustrating part of this project was finding un-warped wood, and the big box stores had me pulling my hair out. Find a local wood place in your area, give them a call, and ask if they sell to non-contractors. My local yard was actually cheaper than the big box stores, and their wood was straight as a board, as it should be.

This bed was my biggest project so far and it was very time consuming. I love it though, and it looks great in my son's room!

I wanted to use a long cut off of 3/4 “ plywood and a bed frame my neighbor gave me. This is what I came up with.

This was a neat project that made a great Christmas present, along with some horses, of course. What really finished it off was the shim shingled roof. I also liked the hinged doors which gives it a little action for the kids to play with.

Thanks for the plans.

Peter

U-shaped breakfast nook custom built for client.

For the bones - I just laid the 2x4's out like studs all the way around.  Odd corner in back R, 106 degrees, made for some fun mitreing on molding and plywood.

For the decorative finish, used single-piece paneling, not the wainscoting sheet-panels, to give a fuller look.

Modified roof orientation and extended to 16

After completing the Queen Farmhouse headboard, we wanted tables to go with the set. Our guest room is small, so we opted for the mini-farmhouse table rather than the normal size that Ana has listed. It was quite a process, the little drawers are harder than they look! We do love the end result though!

Wanted to build matching nightstands based on the Kentwood design which I liked. I also wanted to make sure the doors were hung for the appropriate side of the bed for easy opening. Hopefully guests will love these in their room!

Built from the Wide Cabin Dresser w/ metal slides plans.  I used soft-close ball bearing drawer slides instead of the European style ones suggested.  The other departure from the plans: I liked the way the three separate boards in the open (bottom) row looked in the Pottery Barn model, hence used that instead of the flat board shown in the plans (and many of the other brag posts).

I don't know how people manage to get this done in a single digit number of hours.  It took me a single digit number of hours just to get the drawers right and I would still say they're not 100% perfect.  Having said this, I rated this project "intermediate" since I'm sure people with more wood-working experience than me (this was my first) would avoid some careless mistakes that I made and which required a few redo's here and there.

The bed was modified to allow room for a trundle, but decided we didn't want the trundle after all. The extra space does allow for more storage area and our daughter uses a stool since the bed sits up a bit higher. Brackets were added so that the bed could be taken down and moved easily. So glad the brackets were added, they made the bed solid for lots of little girls jumping. Decorative trim and accents were added to dress it up. Pratt & Lambert's Ovation Paint was used. I used a latex base coat and then applied the metallic pearl finish. The metallic finish needed to be sprayed on and ran easily, but what a beautiful finish!

We used the farmhouse table plans from this website, and modified the length and width. The finished length is about 8 1/3' long (100") and 45" wide.

This was our first build and my husband and I learned a lot! We could not find untreated 4x4s ANYWHERE in our area. We searched for days and called probably 10-15 places. We were just going to build with 2x4s, but my husband's work ended up having some pallets that used 4x4s come in with a shipment. They were not in the best shape, but we wanted it to look rustic so we weren't too concerned. Also, our 2x6s were a little warped, so they bow down at the ends. We searched through piles and we didn't really notice until they were on (breadboards). We did buy a Kreg Jig Kit and are so glad we did! We have used it for other projects and can't wait to use it for more. Such a great purchase!

I learned to ALWAYS do a test piece of stain first. This was new to us. We stained it the first time, and then had it spray coated with polyurethane (my stepfather does cabinets). I hated the finish! So I ended up spending an entire day (from 8 in the morning until midnight) stripping the 3 coats of polyurethane and stain. We could not get it all out, but got most of it. We then re-stained it with a lighter color (custom stain left over from our kitchen) and finished it with Minwax Wipe-On Poly. I like the more natural finish much better. If I could talk my husband into it, I would build another one so I could get the stain right.

Overall, I'm pleased with how it came out! The plans were easy to follow, and not hard to modify using a little math.