Community Brag Posts

Had a lot of fun making this! Followed plans exactly!

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!

Project was rather simple. Just wanted to create a space that my wife could work her projects rather than always working on our dinning room table. Took the concept of the plans and made the table work for the space we had available.

Glad to finish this build.  Completed the matching end table over a year ago.  Finally got around to find this table.  I enjoy Ana's plans and look forward to selecting my next project.  Thanks for the free plans!

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.

2x4s and a kreg jig is all you need!

I used silvered pallet wood that was constructed using the method outlined in the farmhouse bed headboard plans. In addition, I rabbeted the edges of the boards and glued them together. I took a cue from another builder and put the rear "box" legs more towards the center. It's a little high, but I love it! Thanks, Ana!

I made a few modifications because I built it all out of cedar. Mostly just adding additional bracing so that the shelves were sturdy. Just need some hooks for my tools.

I first saw this workbench and hutch on Ana's website, but didn't commit to the project until I saw them in person, as part of a model home that had been decorated by local Pottery Barn design services. I was sold. I built this for roughly $1900.00 less than PB charges. It was an easy weekend build for a guy with less than one years' experience in this arena.

This Harvest table is the heart of our home. It was one of the first furniture projects we ever completed and my favorite finish to date. The night we spontaneously decided to buy lumber and build this table we had a lot of unexected visitors. We were out in the driveway working and a bunch of friends dropped by randomly so we all took a hand in building this table. It was so much fun. Spontaneous building party.

When I finished it it was my first time using a belt sander which wound up gouging some of the wood. The table top is super smooth but very rustic and I LOVE IT. I started with pre-stain conditioner, then cherry stain which I hated, then early american mixed with dark walnut. At this point it looked pretty lovely but I wanted it to look aged and gray so I lime waxed, dark waxed and buffed the whole surface of this piece. It turned out so special and you can see some red notes from the cherry stain and those are my favorite moments on this table.
Thanks again Ana.

** updated with a few better photos on 11/21

What a beautiful bench to build.  Will build the matching table soon.

My most *favoritest* project ever. I modified the Braden plans like crazy to fit my family's needs for the sunroom/mudroom. I kept the bottom open so the it woould allow for baskets to slide it easily (which makes sweeping inside a snap). Also, I added some braces about midway down to hold the coat hooks for my 3 and 5 year-old. I had them show me how high they could reach and I just placed the braces there.

I literally used up whatever I could find in my garage for this project. We had a TON of scrap wood in varying thicknesses and lengths so I just used that. The only thing that I had to buy for this project was some 1x2 to finish off the trim.

Can't wait to get hardware on and style her up pretty! Will post final pics as soon as I do. :) I've been DYING to get something up on Ana's brag board and I can't wait to keep 'em coming.

I saw the idea for this bed on Pinterest originally. It linked to a blog that had the step by step plan (http://www.thehandmadehome.net/2011/08/how-to-build-a-loft/). However, I would have never even approached the idea or project without a few of Ana's plans under my belt first. I have gained so much confidence in my building on this site, and will always be a HUGE fan here :) Thank you Ana for all the fantastic plans you continue to share!

I still want to finish out and make the under bed area more fun and creative with curtains and such, but we LOVE having the full floor in the room for our play area. My boys absolutely love their bed!!

Lesson learned....... Drilling straight holes is critical.

Super easy weekend project! 

I Decided to paint a feature wall in my kitchen! I’m really into geometric shapes right now and the next few projects I have planned will reflect this. 

I used some skinny tape to mark my lines and then put yellow frog tape on each side of the skinny tape and then removed the thin tape in the middle that was marking my straight line, this way my lines were all the same thickness and it was a really easy way to make sure I liked my line placement. I tried to make sure i had no two lines parallel with each other so that my pattern looked random and abstract. To limit the gold paint from bleeding and make certain my lines would be as crisp as possible I did a first coat with navy (same as wall color) over the taped lines- this kinda seals up the edges of the tape with the wall. Taping my lines was the most tedious part of this project but once they were on, it was as easy as waiting for coats of paint to dry. And I love the finished product! Really adds a POP to our kitchen! 

Check out the project on my Instagram, I will be posting some process photos and videos soon. @halfwayhandy

For this project, we combined plans from the Farmhouse table and also the Tryde coffee table. We have a smaller dining room so we had to modify the plans to fit our ideal size (44"wide x 62"long). I did not want the stretcher underneath as it would take up leg room and it is very sturdy without it. We used 2x12s for the tabletop & 2x8s for the breadboards. We used 4x4 posts for the legs and 2x4 for all the other support pieces. We constructed the table in 2 pieces: the frame and then the table top so it would easier to move into place then do the final assembly. This was our first time building furniture and first time using the Kreg Jig. I think the Kreg was easy to use and worth the investment. Overall, we were surprised at how well it turned out and will look to Ana for more plans in the future!

I have always loved benches at the dining table. They are so practical for cleaning, kids, and for cramming extra people at a table! We are (mostly) happy with our current table, but I was so sick of 6 clunky chairs floating around my kitchen, and these benches were the perfect solution. They were very simple to make and are exactly what I wanted!

I mixed my own color of stain for the top board from two Cabot colors (Golden Oak and Walnut) to create a color that break up all the oak in the room, while still fitting in. I painted the bases of the benches a creamy ivory for the same reason, to break up all the oak, and distressed the edges lightly.

I omitted the "x" feature in the plans because I was happy with the look of just the board along the bottom.