Community Brag Posts

I love my new sofa! It is ten times more comfy than our old one. We live on an island and it was definitely cheaper to build my own sofa than to ship one in and pay duty on it. Thank you Ana for making this possible! Never thought I'd be building my own sofa, but we are so thankful for it. We even threw together our own little ottoman/toy box to go along with it from scraps...added bonus!

This project was inspired and guided by the plans for the

Farmhouse Storage Bed with Hinged Footboard by birdsandsoap.

The most visible parts, head and foot board, are made of beetle-killed blue stain Lodgepole pine, locally sourced and milled.

The boxes are made of 3/4" maple plywood and rest on a frame of 1 by 2's. I am still working on the 6 drawers, which will have blue stain pine fronts as well.

The bed slats between the boxes are stapled to webbing and the first and last slat are held by dowels drilled into the supporting rails to prevent the slats from sliding around.

Knock-down design - by removing the few (non-loadbearing) screws that fasten the head/foot boards to the boxes, the bed can be disassembled into manageable/movable components.

This project was made with two 2x4s and two solid wood round discs. Although it’s hard to see in the photos, the pillar has a unique shape due to the v-notched 2x4s. This design is very sturdy and should hold about anything you would like to place on it.  See Link for full build Instructions:

http://www.instructables.com/id/Side-Table-or-Plant-Stand-Made-From-2x4…

We badly needed a new kitchen table since ours has been completely destroyed over the years. Not a bad table, but too "smooth and perfect" for our lifestyle. I wanted something darker a lot more rustic that would not HIGHLIGHT nicks and scratches so badly.

I fell in love with a table at World Market, but it was the wrong size. It's called the Napa Gathering Collection.  It comes in either a counter-height 3' x 3' table or a standard height 3' x 5' table.  Shorter table is too long for the kitchen and the counter-height one was too small.  *sigh*  Here's a photo of the set.  LOVE this!!!!  So upset it's so small.  World Market photo below makes it appear a lot more red than it is.

Anyway, it's made out of Acacia wood, so it was massively heavy and strong. I loved it so much that I bought the four gathering chairs and spent over a month trying to get Acacia wood without spending a fortune. No luck. So I decided the most similar table here on Ana's site was the Tryde coffee table.

I researched different hardwoods, but was so nervous to spend that much  money that I decided my first kitchen table would be a rough draft with super cheap wood.  LOL  If I love it then I didn't spend a lot.  If I don't love it, I will learn from it and can build it again someday with more expensive hardwood like maple. 

I used the 2x8 hemlock for the tabletop, hemlock 4x4 legs and finished hemlock 1x4's everywhere else.  I used cheap 2x2 studs for the support structure underneath.  This table was almost exclusively built using Kreg joins, with only a few exceptions where necessary.  No visible screw holes to fill ANYWHERE!  Yay!  LOVE my Kreg Jig!

Lots of sanding, Benite wood conditioner, red-ish dye, dark chestnut stain and three coats of poly later... and I moved it into my kitchen this morning!  So excited!!!  I love how it turned out! 

Used cedar for the planks in the headboard and footboard

Added some common trim pieces like the rope

Built the frame as described in the Queen plans - found that a standard metal ammo can on its side is the perfect height to set up the side panels at the corners.
Used 2x4 studs for the cross slats, but set them on their side to give some added height.

Used minwax Walnut stain - really looks nice on the cedar - just one coat for the cedar

Waxed top of the footboard

Stained a small footstool using Walnut.

Kingsize version is a monster - very solid, no movement or creaking

This was my favorite project I have made so far! And was a challenge to get the hardware just so. But I highly recommended giving it a try!

I loved this when I saw it posted the other day, it really doesn't take long to make and adds character to our kitchen! I added a dowel that i sanded a little on one side to the long end of the 1x4 so that the chalk won't slide off, just something that I can see happening here.

I had a empty space that needed something and this was an expensive fun way to fill it.

Had the perfect space for a little playhouse under the stairs in the basement and it's been our plan for 4 years to do something. Finally, we did something. Wanted depth so I added the roof and portico. Also added cedar shingles that I picked up for $7 at HD. Inside I had extra laminate flooring so I put that down and added beadboard, chair rail and crown molding. There's also a small transom window above the small kitchen area. The kids love the barnhouse doors with old fashioned doorbell, mailslot and window. The bookshelf under the stairs was the final touch. I didn't use any plans from this awesome site but did, as always, get a bunch of tips and inspiration!

Pin for Later!

Doll crib

Seeing your planked wood sideboard clicked for us and the cabinet we'd been looking for. We wanted rustic and I chose to make it around a plywood casing instead of using the plans due to the poor strength of the pallet wood. Most of the time was used in deconstructing and cleaning the 40+ year old pallets. Also our space called for a smaller unit. It's used as our coffee cabinet. Since I had a basic structure already in the plywood I was able to be creative in how I used the scraps of pallet wood.