Community Brag Posts

We are developing a completely off-grid property and before starting on construction of the house, we decided to start with a smaller project to get our feet wet (no pun intended!). We also wanted a place to soak our sore muscles while we build a house since we are restricted to taking 60-second hot showers, and so we came up with the idea of a wood-fired cedar hot tub.

Buying a cedar hot tub retail can cost anywhere from $3,000 to $7,000, but we were curious to see what we could build our own for and it turns out, we spent $850. Since there were no existing plans on the internet that we cound find for such a project, we decided to document the entire process and make our own! We struggled a bit with the build, but on our blog we documented what worked to save other people time who want to build something similar. In our post here, you will find a 9-part video series on how we put the hot tub together. Enjoy!

Used Ana's doll high chair plans. Modified the tray with a curved hinged tray. Painted in her favorited color!

Pallet Bookshelf.
A great project turning old pallets into a funky bookcase.
My bookcase is slightly different than the plans that dan-k put up but that is mainly because of the type of pallet i used - there may be a difference between US and european pallets?
I recommend getting 3 pallets, all of the same size, and all in pretty good condition - which is trickier than I expected.
The wood from the 3rd pallet is used as the shelves and the supports underneath the shelves.
I really enjoyed making this, and love how it turned out.
Hopefully the photos inspire others to give it a go!

Entry Way Table. Although not made from one of your plans I wanted to share it as is the biggest thing I have made so far from my own design.

I essentially used the same materials as posted on Ana's website, with the addition of modifiying the plans to fit to my needs. I used the same hinges, however got mine from home depot Canada for 3 bucks each! woot woot. The paint was a high gloss enamal with 4 coats on the top or so. The legs were bought from a local hair pin leg guy and the cabanit doors were something a lil more special. The doors were made from 3 really really really old fence boards, that were sanded down and stained with golden oak minwax then 2 layers of oil polyurathane. Since the boards were a little more fragine than i thought, i attached them together with an extremely thing pieace of birch plywood and screws on the back. I really loved this project and pleased that ana replicated it on her website. Thanks Ana!

I asked for labor on Mother's Day and my two sons and I built the daybed in about 6 hours. I used treated wood. They did not have treated 1x3s so we used 1x4s instead. Waiting on it to cure before staining. It was a great Mother's Day!

Update: I added a crossbar and put a light up. Now I can use it anytime of day! So excited because there are so many options. Can't wait to build even more. Great plans!

After moving from Hawaii to Maryland, I was finally able to make good on my promise to make a new bed for Suzie. I made very few minor modifications to the plans as posted.

Living room console. Three-quarter inch birch ply, and one by two clear grain pine.

This sandbox is based off one on this website. We made ours 5ft x 5ft x 1ft and instead of spacing the boards out 1/2' we put them right next to each other and routered out the space for the hinges :) It looks amazing and such fun!

I used the plans from your site to build this table for a friend. I made a couple of little design changes just to make it look different. The plans were very easy to follow, and I had a lot of fun putting this together. I did have a small problem with the pine stock wanting to bow and twist, but that was taken care of with the planer and sander.

The bed is a mixutre of the loft bed plan and the farmhouse loft bed plan with some modifications of my own thrown in.  I liked the headboard look of the farmhouse loft bed and incorporated it into the plan.  I also made the side rails out of 1x10's to make it more beefy looking and I think it works better.  The supports for the mattress are made out of 3/4" bookshelves, cut down to fit as it added more support than 1/2's.  The desk is based off the loft bed desk plan, but I made the top piece out of 3/4" MDF. I think it makes a nicer look.  I added 1x2's to the face of the bookcases and desk top to finish it off and make everything look more finished.

I also added a programmable, remote controlled, RBG LED lighting system under the bed.  My daughter can go from dance party to mood lighting depending on the situation.  This bed will deliver.

I also modeled everything in 3D CAD using Solid Edge.  This was a very helpful tool to get all the measurements correct as well as incorporating 3 different deisigns blended with my own.

I chose to adjust the great design to have a free standing tree with backing and a live bark base. Fun project.

This kids mini dining table is a pretty easy build, especially if you have a Kreg Jig. I love that it is so pretty at a great price. It fits in well with our home too, which is awesome. The final product measures 30"x48", so it is big enough if your little one decides to have some friends over for dinner. One of my goals when building was I wanted multiple kids to be able to paint, color, glue, cut, or eat at it without getting in each others way. I think it won't be a problem! The whole project only takes a few hours. It was my first project with the Kreg Jig that has been sitting in my garage since Christmas. I was scared to use it. I can't believe I waited so long! That thing is amazing!
Thanks Ana for all of the encouragement and inspiration. I truly enjoy building furniture. It is so exciting thinking about my next project. I can't wait to use your plans to build storage for our entire play room!

Day one...Two of us making cuts and starting headboard and footboard.

Day two...Working solo, had to get creative in order to add posts and 24 and 26 to top of headboard. Sanding and staining complete.

Day three...Two of us again. Built frame and added slats using decking brackets rather than screws for ease in disassembly. Attached headboard and rails with bolts.

Only issue not specified in plans was how to attach frame to footboard. But we made it work.

Thanks, Ana!!