Community Brag Posts

For this project, I used 6 foot cedar fence posts and 8 foot cedar 2x4s. I used a pencil to space the boards and allow extra air flow. More space between boards is acceptable - even to the extent of dropping off one full board and putting an inch between each side rail.

Another option is to make your sides interlocking layers, one or two boards high - http://cedarstackingcompostbin.blogspot.com/

Since I am composting large amounts of leaves and grass clippings, mine is made in one piece. I don't turn my pile often - when I do, I can either lift the whole thing up or move the pile from side to side. I cut the 2x8x8 posts - cut a 3 foot length off of each end. Save the 2 foot center piece to brace the long sides. Affix your 1/2 (3 foot side) and full fence (6 foot side) boards to the 2x4, leaving the desired gap between each board. Affix each board with 2 weather proof screws - I used coated deck screws.

Attach the vertical posts to the inside of the cedar fence boards, including the short 2 foot boards that are just long enough to brace the long sides. I alternated the dog eared sides, so that each corner had one flat and one notched board.

I used 24 cedar fence posts and 16 feet of cedar 2x4. Note, I was able to do this all along. The trash cans acted as supports - no clamps or saw horses needed.

I built this buffet table for our dining room using the Gaby Kitchen Island plans. I used some reclaimed boards I salvaged from a trash pile at work for the top and side aprons. I also used old pallet wood for the bottom shelf boards. This gave it the cool, rustic look I was going for and really helped set it apart. Really fun project. 

Thank you for the plans. It was a fun build and my girls love it!

I needed to do something with the empty space at the bottom of our stairs. I was browsing Ana's site and the Tryde Console Table caught my eye. The next trip down to the farm, I scavenged for the wood I would need to build it. I found some beautiful old brigde timbers that were 9 inches wide so we modified the plans a bit to use 2 of the 9" boards instead of the 4 smaller ones the plans call for. The dimensions were close but we needed to tweak the rest of the project a bit as well to make it all work. For the finish, I just rubbed it with Tung Oil as to not cover up the beauty of the old wood.

This was a weekend project , lots of fun !

mortise and tenon joints with dado for breadboards

Chestwick queen platform bed! My first building project ever! Altered slightly from original plans in that I left the feet off so it sits on the ground. Added a canopy that hangs from the ceiling. The chandelier is an antique from Great Barrington, MA that I found at an antique shop while hiking the Appalachian Trail. Took the wiring out and sprayed it black. Now it's rigged to use with candles for a super-romantic look. :)

http://ana-white.com/2012/06/chestwick-queen-bed

Loved this coffee table ever since I saw it at Restoration Hardware. Thank you Ana & Jen.

Made the chairs to sit around our firepit .Live in AZ.

Easy DIY Garage Workbench—My first ever project! I learned how to use a sliding miter saw and circular saw, how to choose wood, how to make a circular saw guide, and how to sand properly! Thank you so much for these plans! I learned from Ana’s website, the beginner woodworking subreddit and, as my mom likes to call it, the University of YouTube :)

This was a fan and easy project to build. I wanted the sides a little bit more decorative so I added a tree branch effect instead of the x's. I used a paint samples from lowes and did the under coat of paint in a rusty orange color. I put Vaseline on the parts I wanted to look weathered when the paint was dry. Then I found a diy chalk paint recipe online and did the outer coat again with a lowes paint sample in a reddish color that I mixed to make the chalk paint. When it was dry I sanded the parts tht had Vaseline to let the orange come out. Then I took minwax finishing paste wax and polished the whole thing. I reduced the size of the console to half and added 3 inches to fit perfectly under my tv.

I used a larger, premade top from Home Depot to turn the stool into a side table.

Thanks for the plans

We made this for our daughter for Christmas. We used purple spray paint and I made the mattresses and pillows from Ana's plans, too. Our son sanded it and we presented it to a very happy little girl!

I used the Smiling Mudroom as a starting point, but had to make some modifications for size and to accomodate the fact that I couldn't secure much to the wall behind the bench because there is a pocket door in that wall.

The main difference in my plans is that the sides of the cubby/bench are continuous instead of broken into Cubby, Divider, and Bench. I think it would have been easier to keep things square (which I didn't, really) and certainly could have moved it all by myself without any husband help (but he needed to feel useful, right?) if I had built it as separate pieces. But, it was worth a shot.

Up close it's a bit rough looking here and there because I got the plywood that is only sanded on one side (Home Depot guy was less than helpful when I asked to find the furniture plywood). So I had to do a lot of extra sanding and filling myself and at some point I just threw up my hands and said "RUSTIC! It's done."

Minor errors aside, I am really happy with this. It was my first big project, and first one with the Kreg jig, and I had fun.

please sample my other work at the adress provided below.