Community Brag Posts

I had so much fun doing the prototype of the pirate’s treasure trunk, I built another one today! It was a super-fast build, and I did some things differently today which really speeded up the finishing process.

The first difference on this one is the use of the ½” x 2 ½” angle. It’s the next size larger than the one from yesterday. Instead of using the screws that came with it, I used some 1 ¼” Kreg screws. The hardware and screws are painted with some gloss black paint. I think it made for a sturdier hinge, so I’ll be doing them that way from now on. I also made a little “gasket” out of felt to go behind the bracket at the bottom where the pivot screw is attached. I’m hoping this will protect from friction over time.

For the finish, I started it with the gray wash just like the original. For the walnut glaze, instead of mixing the Minwax Express Color with mixing glaze, I just diluted it with some water. This dried much faster, but it gave the same look. I added 2 coats of Minwax oil modified water based poly before attaching the hardware. I still used the super glue before attaching with the furniture nails, but skipped the mod podge step, and just went over the hardware and keyhole with an artist’s brush and some poly.

All the wood was scrap and the finishing materials were left over from other projects. I bought the corner brackets and the larger angle brackets this morning at Ace for $7.50. These pieces cost a little more than Lowe’s, but Ace was closer so it saved me a trip.

There's another one of these in work (a lady’s trunk) which I will post later.

Used scrap cedar fence pickets for this build- only sanded the roughness off the top so that the saw marks remained to give it a rustic look.  added tea stain then steel wool vinegar mix to age the boards, then a coat of poly on top.  Very quick build, held together by brad nails. 

This project took an afternoon to cut and assemble and a morning to paint. I wanted to try a light grey stain but only had dark browns on hand so I did a grey wash with some grey paint I had from another project and wiped down with an old rag. I love how it turned out! The X’s Were a little tricky for this beginner but I figured it out after a refresher course with the speed square. 

For years I have wanted a dining room table with benches and after searching the net for plans for my husband to make it happen, I found Ana's site and knew that it was a possibility to build it and that it didn't have to be a project only for my husband. My husband built the table and my first build was the benches. My husband found a couple of wrought iron balusters that he used at supports on the table legs. We used 2 x instead of 1x which gave it a much bulkier look.

I had an old bookshelf in the garage.....wobbly and just not having any justice. I took it apart and turned it into a play kitchen. Used the plans and modified to what wood I had available from the shelves.

Got some butternut from a friend and here it is.

First time building furniture and enjoyed the project.  I used better lumber as I wanted to avoid paint but it turned out well for my first try.  Thank you Ana White for a good set of plans.

Like so many others, I saw this and had to have one of my own. It was cute and quick - perfect! I had the same height issues that others had. The center supports are too tall for the 1x2 and 1x3 on the front. I wound up using all 1x3's, 2 on the front and 3 on the back. Because the cubbies came out a bit deeper, I thought I would try it as a utensil holder in the kitchen. Cute, huh.

Loved working on this table. An easy build for sure. Couldn't find wheel casters that I liked so had to use another 4x4 to give it height. Will be building another one soon :)
Thank you so much for sharing the plans.

I built this indoor playhouse for my daughter who turned 2 in september. She loves to help mommy cook, loves to have little tea party's for her dolls and love to watch Chip n' Dale terriorize Donald Duck. So I thought I would give Alexandra her very own little house to do all those things. I hope you all like it and have just as much fun building one of these as I did. 

My wife wanted a small bench for our entryway/foyer.  I happened to have some reclaimed pine barn wood laying in my shop, so I whipped this up.  

The original plan was to use a colored wax or thinned paint on it to give it a weathered appearance (which is why I did screws and plugs from the top - I thought they were going to be painted over), but the wood turned out too beautiful with all of the character.  We couldn't bring ourselves to paint it.

There are a few more pics and details in my blog post about this small reclaimed barn wood bench.

This was my first furniture project. I made this desk/vanity for my twin daughters' 9th birthday. I sized them to fit the space and added doors rather than drawers. I also made the stools using the plans for the upholstered bench - just resized. It was a fun project and I can't wait to start another! You can read more on my blog: http://karlakroese.blogspot.com/2011/08/new-hobby.html

My friend "Lisette" asked for a small modern coffee table. For her small studio apartment. So I came up with this modern-ish table. Made of 2x2's and a 20"x40" glass top.I found it on the side of the road with a FREE sign on it in Pacific Beach. Oh how I love beach people and all the free stuff they leave around :)

I built this table using modified pocket hole plans and a mix of pine, spruce and cedar lumber.

When I laminated the boards together to the table top I also applied four culls to try to keep it flat as possible. When I removed the culls the boards weren't as even as I had wanted so I used a belt sander with a 120 grit to take out the high spots. I filled the knot holes with some 5 minute epoxy and I really liked the look. I would use decent epoxy if I do another large lamination of knottty wood as the $5 microtube I bought was thick and hand to work into the small voids around the knots. After the epoxy cured for 12 hours I gently used the belt sander gentle to remove the excess and then gave the entire table top a little 220 grit action. 

I left off the ends to fit a smaller kitchen.

I used the Rustic Bench plans, but adjusted the length to make it smaller, since my plywood top was a bit wider and shorter than the top on the plan. It was the last remnant from our incredibly versatile plywood sheet. I also had to cut out the two cross supports, because 1) they’re too difficult for me to figure out (they’re not right in either of my benches) and 2) I didn’t feel like buying a board just for those. I had just the right amount of spare lumber lying around, and I was going to maximize it!

At first, I wanted to just build a bench for my sister for Christmas, and paint it like our island. But after visiting my parents over Thanksgiving and taking home some reclaimed tile from their old outdoor bar, I knew this bench had a better destiny than mere paint. When I laid down the tile scraps and they fit perfectly, I knew serendipity had spoken.
This was the first time I’d ever worked with tile. I did a little research (aka grilling my husband’s best friend, who is a tile guru), and discovered I didn’t really need any fancy materials to lay the tile down on. As it’s just a bench, and in no need for mold-prevention or cement board like bathroom walls, all I needed to do was rough up the plywood top with my grinder and a steel-wool like disk. With the bench already sanded and painted, I started the tiling process. I bought a bucket of tile adhesive and grout all-in-one, and went to town. I didn’t have a trowel, so I made do with my putty spatula. I just had to make the grooves in the adhesive one-by-one as opposed to one quick stroke. I spread the adhesive, laid the tiles, carefully washed off any overspread on the sides, and let it sit for 24 hours. Then I spread in the grout (it’s all the same stuff, just different application), washed the overspread off again, and let it sit for another 24 hours. Then I had a gorgeous top!

This piece was inspired by Ana’s plans and built as a collaborative project with my son.  The stock was all salvaged from a century+ old railroad depot on the University of Idaho campus that was marked for demolition.  The green and cream boards were the ceiling of the depot, and the unfinished stock came from the flooring, which was 1” tongue and groove red fir.  The first agricultural crops, forest products, and settlers of the region (North Idaho, Eastern Washington) flowed through that terminal.  This piece, therefore, is iconic of the regikn’s rough-hewn beginnings and stands as a reminder of its important past.

Now that we've got two kids in school, the previous system of storing school papers just wasn't going to work (see pic below). I used the plans on Ana's site as a guideline and made the letter bin to fit my space. I decided to also make it a holder for the mail and all our keys.

This was made used all leftover wood hanging out in the garage. Luan was used for the letter bin, and strapping (1/2" pine) was used for the mail holder. I spray painted black and then painted it a creamy white, the color of our house trim. I distressed a little bit and then added the hooks. I hope it can stand the test of time.