Community Brag Posts

This is a century old red oak fireplace mantel I bought off of Craigslist. It came out of a home in Louisville, KY. It was in bad shape as you can see in the photos. I stripped it and replaced the veneer that needed it. I had to modify it a bit to install it to my mother-in-laws brick fireplace. The mirror is mercury glass and beveled. I did add some red oak rope trim which I beveled to give a more formal look. I countersunk some holes along the sides that I covered with some red oak trim. This allowed me to attach studs to the brick and then attach the mantel to the studs. The very top shelf was rotted so I found some beautiful spalted red oak and rebuilt this. The former onlay on the front was beyond repair and I found the current salvaged onlay on Ebay for around $10. I am really happy with how it turned out.

These mini farmhouse tables are great examples of a creative way to personalize plans.  They both cheer for thier college team!  And as fall in the south is here, college football is king.  Please go to www.ourhomemadefamily.com for my thoughts on how the finish is the personality of all my custom builds.

I reduced the length by 12 inches to accomodate my space, and I ripped the boards on the table saw so they would be more flush when I assembled the tabletop. Otherwise, I followed the plan exactly. Distressed tabletop before staining. 

This was made from a plan I found on this site. It was made out of scrap from another project so I had to adapt the plans based on the wood I had.

Ana's simplest console inspired my first build. I decided to make it a bit wider like one I saw on Shanty 2 Chic's website, and this is what I came up with. So excited about my first build - can't wait for the next!

This project took us four days. The biggest job that took us awhile was sanding and painting.

I started with the standard laundry basket dresser but went with shelves. I thought that the baskets would last liner this way. The baskets used are from IKEA and sit on felt runners to keep the noise down.

We built this farmhouse table for my Mom's house, to create a space big enough for our growing family to gather at holidays and birthdays. We added to the size- the final dimensions were 82″ (long) x42″ (wide) x 30″(tall). It is a huge, chunky table! My parents prefer natural finishes, so we gave the natural wood several protective coats of polycrylic. 

project for my niece's Christmas gift.

I love how this table turned out! This table was built for a friend of mine who wanted a rustic farmhouse table with "fancy" legs. The legs and apron are painted white and distressed. The table top is stained 2 x 6 pine. We love it! Thank you so much for the plans Ana! The legs are 5" turned maple legs. First, I painted the legs and apron "java brown" and then using Minwax furniture paste wax, I applied wax to the areas that I wanted to distress. After two coats of satin white paint, I distressed the legs using 220 grit sandpaper. Two coats of wax and the legs were silky smooth! The top is 2 x 6 yellow pine. I used two coats of Rustoleum dark walnut, one coat of sanding sealer, a final sanding with 220 grit sandpaper and two coats of wax. Love it!!

This was a custom build for a friend. It's nearly 8 feet long and I used the plans from the classic chair made simple for the back legs and support for the seat. Everything else was customized to fit her needs. =) Lots and lots and lots of pocket holes but this piece turned out better than what was pictured in my head! 

Love this shelf. We found we had to pre-drill holes since the wood we used was very dense, but in the end it was still a 1-day project (including buying wood and running other errands). It was perfect for our storage room since we really wanted a shelf to store totes, but didn't want to spend a lot on a room we never go in. In the end we spent $80 on wood, which is far less than comparable metal shelves for $160-$180 elsewhere. In addition this thing is STURDY. Thank you Ana!!

Our home (like many) does not have a fireplace or mantle. So, I decided to build one. Thank goodness for Lowes. They pre-cut all wood for me. I was afraid to use a drill (I'm a rookie), so I nailed all pieces of wood with 1 1/2 inch nails. Wood glue was fabulous prior to using the hammer. I omitted decorative molding too. I think I used too much antique paint, but I can always re-paint it next year. I don't think I'll have the mantle up all year long, but it's great for a Christmas decoration. I hope this gives hope to anyone out there considering this project. If I can do it, YOU can totally do it! Thank you SO much for helping a novice builder like me add something to our home.

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!