Community Brag Posts

I can't thank Ana enough for her plans on this project. We recently purchased a big project house that was going to need a lot of work (and a lot of money.) That's why I was thrilled to find Ana's plans for the exact West Elm Wood Slat Sectional I was eying for my screened in porch. The exact configuration at West Elm would have cost $2130, but I built it and sewed all the cushions for just $288! Ana's sewing plan was really helpful too, but I altered mine to include zippers in the back to remove the fabric for washing, and ties to hold the cushions securely to the sectional. We finished the sectional with super easy india ink and poly for a deep black finish that still shows the wood grain. The screened in porch is now our favorite room in the house! Thanks Ana!

I built this chair for about $12. I used 6 four foot landscaping timbers. The legs are 12''
and i used 1/4'' cedar or you could use pallets. The ends are Dog Cut . The chair is sealed and finished with Helsmans Clear. E mail me if you have any questions

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.

Sister asked me to make her a table. Since I am out or work right now I said yes and got this thing done in about 3 days! 

I built this from wood scraps. I saw one at Walmart online but thought it was too small. I built this to suit my tall toddler.

2x4s and a kreg jig is all you need!

We loved making this project, I even learned how to work with angles.

What a fast, fun, and FUNCTIONAL project!  I did lower the seat height, as I think it allows you to sink into them a bit more -- especially with the cushions I had for them (which BTW, were on sale at Lowe's for $14.99/each.. normally like $60, I think).  Thanks ANA, for making yet another project such a breeze!

I built this table using a hybrid approach; I used Ana's plans as a loose guideline (leg angles) and drafted the rest using the dimensions supplied at Pottery Barn's website (for the fixed table, not the extendable version).

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

We opted to make this a regular easel (no chalkboard) and just used a sheet of paneling as the background. It's perfect, our toddler loves it. Thanks Ana!

Just finished this maple bookcase with fluted trim for my daughter's room.  I chose all maple trim even though it's painted because I wanted a good hardwood with low grain that would look good for decades to come.  Full build details are on my website.  Router bits used were a roman ogee and a core box bit.

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!!

Built this from Ana's plan. Made a few small floor changes and added casing, baseboard, trim and cedar shake shingles.

Bookcase followed plans exactly, finished in rustoleum white, varathane carbon gray stain for back paneling. 

Finished with satin oil based poly to add some protection.

This was a gift to my good friends son. She said he needed a desk for his homework, but I hear he's using it as a dinner table. :) It was a fun project.

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.

I decided to build the art table and use it as a lego table instead. I had a piece of 3/4" maple plywood left over from a previous project, so the only thing that I had to buy were the 1x4's and lego plates.