Community Brag Posts

It's the first thing I've built on my land in the Cape Breton highlands, Nova Scotia, Canada. We staked it down because it gets really windy here! Great design, thanks Ana!

My first projec twith drawers! the metabox drawers were definetly easy to make and use and work beautifully.

I made the carcase using plywood and did 1x2 poplar for the face frame. Shaker doors are 1x3 poplar and sureply underlayment for the inserts.

cabinet doors were finished using BIN primer (2 coats with sanding) and then Benjamin Moore Advance cabinet paint in High gloss silver satin. Interiors were finished using leftover / mistints, and I still need to do some filling and sanding on the insides of the doors (I have to take them down to do a final coat but am waiting until I have finished the other set of doors)

the upper cabinet is a dish drying cupboard so I omitted the bottom plywood piece and instead used 1x3 on the front and back so the bottom would be open. then I made the shelves using 1x2 and dowel (paint the dowel first before cutting!!). This thing is a dream to do dishes in!

Used Kreg pocket screws, Kreg jig for the euro hinges (1 1/4 and 1/3" overlay), and also a kreg jig for the shelf pins. Metabox hinges for the drawers. Still trying to decide on handle hardware so I'm using painters tape at the moment.

Countertops are concrete using Rapidset mortar mix and the michael builds method (linked below).

Planters are just a small poplar shelf using leftover 1x3 with metal terra cotta pot hooks attached to the front. I lined the pots at the bottom with plastic yogourt tubs with holes in the bottom so the cutlery doesn't chip the pots. Those also drain onto the drain rack below. everything is painted the same colour although I used high gloss for the door fronts, so the shelvings behind the pots matches the wall perfectly and sort of dissappears into the walls to highlight the terracotta.

sink is a "new" vintage ceramic sink that I found on FB marketplace for 50$!!! had never been installed and didn't even have the holes bored out. unfortunately the drain holes were very deep and requied some macgyvering but luckily my husband had a great attitude about it and managed to make it work with a lot of googling for odd sized drain bins. Props to husband for doing all the plumbing on this bad boy, including moving over our RO system from the other side of the kitchen and installing a new hose bib under the sink for the other side of the house (why not?!).

I learned so much from this project! Including to store your poplar inside and on the flat surface or it will warp and your doors will not be flush. luckily it only affected one door but it is still super annoying.

thank you ana for everythign! loved the comment "Get on board with these euro hinges!" you are so right they are so forgiving!!

This was my very first project I tackled from Ana's site. I wanted to see if I could do it, so started with something easy. I think it turned out great and looks great in our flower bed in front of our house.

Built for my Daughter and Son-in-laws new home

We had a good time building this table. We made it smaller (6 feet) than the original plans, and also changed up the breadboard a little bit. We are a military family so made it so it assembles/disassembles with carriage bolts instead of screws. Hopefully that helps it hold up over time with frequent moves.

Varythane golden oak stain on the top and rustoleum charcoal chalk paint for the base. Sanded lightly and a light touch of the paint on the tabletop to create a distressed look.

My first “big” piece of furniture! I have over the last year realized I had a little sawdust in my blood! My dad is a 3rd generation carpenter, he is the youngest of 5 boys and he is now 79. I started with a couple of quilt/blanket ladders for my daughters, then graduated to a headboard. Then last Christmas I surprised my dad with an oak bookshelf (because oak is the best 😉) I knew that’s what my dad loved. It brought him to tears! So, then my daughters began showing me pictures of desks, tv chests, etc and I gained a little confidence with each piece.

I finished these last weekend and finally took pictures.

I found 44 5' cedar pickets on craigslist for $30 and built these raised beds. I built them according to Ana's instructions except I made them bigger (4'x8'). Since my boards were 5' long I couldn't span the entire length and went with a brickwork style overlap so there wasn't one seam in the center or a weird off-center seam. And, of course, I blogged about it.

I made this for my daughter this year for Christmas. I’m pretty proud of how it turned out.

This was my first project from a list of many...so simple, it was perfect for getting started after a long winter's rest.

Thank you Ana for the plan! I really wanted the floating shelves from Pottery Barn, but they were super pricey. I searched out the fancy hardware that PB uses to mount them and it would have cost as much for the mounting hardware alone than to buy them finished from Pottery Barn.

These shelves were an easy solution for the same look, without the hassle of having to build a sleeve to fit over cleats like other more seamless designs.

For my ledges, I chose to use 1x3s instead of 1x4s for the rear and base of the ledges. I didn't want them to protrude from the wall as far, nor did I want the rear of the ledges to be as visible (I'm wierded out by the contrast of the thick, dark line behind the pics. I would have chosen 1x2s for the back, but I didn't think it would be sturdy enough and it might be a little trickier to drill. I measured them to be a little smaller than the length of my sofa and they turned out just right. I built them in an hour or two and brought them in and stained them on my kitchen counter ( placed waxed paper underneath). It was February and too cold to do outside.

The best advice I have is to be really choosy about the lumber you buy. The "top choice," as they call it, should be renamed "crappiest choice." I guess that's what you get for cheap pine, right!

It fit just right for my budget and it was worth sifting through to make sure I wasn't getting a piece that was warped or twisted. I live in an old house and I'm sure the walls aren't exactly even (as you can see in the pic, the floor even slants a little to the right) but one of my ledges is not fully flush against the wall on one side because the board bows out a little (or maybe my wall bows in?).

Whatever. I'm thrilled with the look and love how I can display so many pics at one time. I'm thinking I want to put at least 4 pictures in each frame, and rotate them out seasonally. That way my display will go with the season. Yep, I'm a genius like that, hehe.

A great console for the entryway with tons of storage!

Rustic X Hall Tree with White and natural finish!

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