Community Brag Posts

I needed a step stool for my son to be able to reach the bathroom sink to brush teeth and wash hands. This plan was exactly what I was looking for. As I do with all first time projects, I built this out of inexpensive pine. It is very sturdy, and holds me without a problem. I routed the edges of the treads, and used 1x3 material for the braces as opposed to the 1x2 called for in the plan. The plan was easy to follow and the cutting list worked perfectly. The most challenging part was creating the curves with the jig saw, but truly wasn't bad at all.

I finished these night stands this past spring. I followed the Kentwood night stand plan from Ana-White, but made a few design changes. I decided to arc the doors to give the tables a little more character. The material I chose was 3/4" pine. The table bases are finished off with 3 coats of Sherwin Williams paint, and the tops are walnut stained with 3 coats of poly. The contrast between the base and the top came out great, the stands look beautiful in our bedroom and offer lots of storage.  

These are the cubby seats featured on Shanty 2 Chic's site along with Pottery Barn inspired Trestle table. This was a lot of fun to make because it was the first project I did using my hand saw. I normally have the wood cut at home depot. But now I can do it on my own!! you can check them out on my blog: goldhoopstochickencoops.blogspot.com

I used Ana's Gaby Kitchen Island plans and shortened the island to fit our small kitchen. I did not have reclaimed wood, so I used a vinegar and steel wool solution to transform the fir and pine into a completely unexpected look. For the top, I trimmed the edges of the 2 x 6s with my table saw to get a smoother top surface, then routered the edges with a 1/2 inch round over bit (thanks Steve Ramsey). I used white pine down the middle to make up for the edges I removed which looks like a cool custom stripe. (I also used the white pine for the side supports so hopefully there's some cohesion.)

Thank you Ana for the inspiration and great project! Can't wait for the next one :)

This was my first ever time building anything, even though I've wanted to for a really long time! It was great! I love this website. Wish I had a nailgun at the time I did this project, but I did get one after I realized how much I love carpentry. Thanks Ana!

I loved the plans for this table. My husband and I spent about 5 hours making it yesterday. The plans and instructions are well planned and easy to use.
I've made a few projects from Ana's website, it's always so easy to understand and such beautiful projects.

This is my first project using Ana's site. The step by step plans made is really easy. I enjoyed it so much. Can't wait for my next make!

This is our basement closet. We wanted to make it more useful. We were inspired by the plans for the closet makeover.

I've been meaning to build a coffee table for a few months now. About a month ago we received a hutch from some family friends. The back of it was made of 3/4" tongue and groove boards. So, I used those boards to make the top of the table and a couple of 2x4's to make the base. It's got a cool rustic feel that goes really well with the beach chic design that we have in our living room. For the design i really liked the look of the x picnic table, so I modified it for a coffee table.

I modified this plan slightly in how I attached the legs to the table top. I put screw inserts into the bottom of the table so I could screw the legs in and not worry about the wood stripping. We move often and I can't move the whole table assembled. Also, I haven't secured the cross beam, so this table will completely flatten and be easy to pack.

Modern Adirondack Chairs

I made this set for my granddaughter using the Fancy Doll Crib plans. On this build I enlarged the size of the Fancy doll crib to be closer to the Olivia crib. For anyone interested: ends-13 5/8”; bottom-21¾”; side rails 21”; legs-20”; 12- 3/8” dowels @ 8¼”. I thought the scale of the finials from Lowe’s were too large, so I found some I liked better at Hobby Lobby: 3 pcs per pack @ $1.47, item #165274. Since I got 6 altogether, I put two on the high chair. Love the look. I also changed the shape of the curve of the ends and replicated that on the highchair back. The shape of the highchair tray is also curved and slightly cantilevered over the side ends; the tray is 4¾” x 13” to allow for the curve, cut from a 6” wide length of scrap. The vintage lamb theme that I used with my great-nieces is carried out with this set, too. I found the water-slip decals at www.decalcottage.com.

This table was made using the original farmhouse table plans with pocket holes.I tapered the two inside sides of the 4x4s (25%) and subtracted the bottom support structure. All pieces were glued and screwed using the kreg system. Even without the lower support this table is rock solid. I choose to make this table look a little more traditional then the farmhouse table to match our design plans.

All parts of the table were sanded down smooth to 180 grit and treated with minwax prestain wood conditioner. The table was then stained with cabot premium wood stain and sealer in one(espresso -satin). Warning large surfaces are hard to stain evenly with out brush marks using this product. I used 3 coats in all with a light sanding using 600 grit after the first coat since it is a water based stain. It covered just a little more of the natural wood grain then I would have liked but I did prefer it to the polyshades product I used on the custom bench behind it.

When using pine it maybe best to just go for the distressed look. I am worried that my smooth table top will get destroyed by my son but he knows he isn't allowed to play cars on the table now so I am crossing my fingers. So far the table top is holding up very nicely to any abuse but it is still early on in its life.

I think in the future I will bite the bullet and use hard woods. As long as it takes to build furniture its nice if it lasts a little longer.

We made the table with modifications to extend it from 72 inches to 96 inches. We created breadboard table ends. 

I needed an end table that was a little bigger than the average end table - I had a space to fill in a corner between a couch and chair and was tired of the blank space being used as a dumping ground for...things my kids didn't want to put away or throw away. :) So I pulled ideas from a couple projects here and came up this. The cost was free since I just used the leftover wood from other projects we'd done and paint we already had lying around.

I fell in love with this table and decided to tackle it as my first ever furniture build. We spent more money that we'd planned investing in some new tools (i.e. Kreg Jig Mini and Clamps). We also had a lot of anxiety about initially getting started and trying the Kreg Jig for the first time, but I watched Ana's Kreg Jig Tutorial on Youtube, and it was actually very easy.

I'm going to say that it took us 10-20 hours to complete, because of the way we finished the table. We only worked on it 1-2 hours each week though, so it took us a couple months. :-)

This table is now on our patio where we can use it for toy storage or as a serving buffet for BBQ's. I'd call it a success! Thanks Ana for the inspiration!