Community Brag Posts

I needed a project, my daughter and son-in-law wanted a cabinet that had to be custom built to fit in their small space. It was just what I needed. Nothing simple for my 1st time, oh, no! I wanted doors and drawers. Learned a lot, and know I have a lot more to learn. The importance of getting things square is probably #1 on my list. I thought I'd start parking my car in the garage, but this was too much fun - the tools are staying!

I did this table in 8 hours and I am ready to do some other projects. The final goal is to do the all house.

Needed a table under the TV, and this was perfect. I had to adjust the dimensions to decrease the length 6 inches to make it fit. Used the black tea, vinegar and steel wool combo for stain. Turned out great!

Built this for my two boys, ages 3 and 1.5. They are in heaven! I found the plans extremely helpful and allowed for simple modifications along the way (ie 7’ ceilings). 

I have always helped my dad with projects, but this was the first one I ever did without my dad! The directions were very easy and I had no trouble at all. The table turned out beautiful. I modified it a bit by making it a little longer and using a 1x2 on the ends to cover the rough edges instead of a bread board. I also made 2 benches as we are a family of 10. I have 2 high chairs attached to the end. This table will seat 12 adults comfortably! I am so excited to finally have a big sturdy table. Thank you sooo much for this site. I have a new hobby now! ;o)

Our guest bedroom has been utterly neglected and stark. When I found a pair of lamps at Goodwill recently, I knew it was time to make bedside tables.

These were created on the fly, without even a sketch or a trip to the lumber yard, though I had to select a plan title for this post.

I took a plywood scrap, cut it in half, framed it with 1x2 furring strips, added 2x2 legs, and then used more furring strips to stabilize the legs.

They were assembled quickly, and then I faced choices about how to finish them. I ended up using Minwax Provincial for the tops, then taping them off with trash bags and spray painting the rest.

They're plain, but versatile enough for whatever I end up doing to decorate the guest room in the future. I plan to stick baskets underneath them, when I find a good deal.

Next up will be a headboard for the bed.

This took about a week to complete.  I modify the original plan to include "built in" dressers and a night stand type of dresser.  The night stand has shelves built on the side.     Two beds were built of different configurations.  

My dad and I built this toybox for my son on a weekend afternoon.  We were able to use some tongue and groove boards that my dad had pulled off a job site.  We glued them together to get the width we needed then cut them to size according to the directions.  Its not perfect, and I think I might paint it this spring, but my dad and I made it for my son and I think that is pretty awesome! 

PIcture ledges ~ made my living room look so much better. Thanks Ana

I had fun with this one. I was in a race to complete 4 major things before entertaining a group of 30 people in our home. My wife was searching Craigslist for existing pieces. I love to build things so I had to intervene. This pine desk/table was preceded by craftsman wainscoting, the hutch and buffet on this site, and a large framed mirror.

I went by the plan pretty much exactly. I made it 6 feet long. I used middle grade pine from Menard's, glue, brad nails, and screws. My finish process was min-wax wood conditioner, min-wax special walnut stain, and a per-catalyzed lacquer satin clear coat.

Total buy, build, sand, finish was around 8 hours.

I would love to build for you. To your exact specifications. Message me.

Built this from Ana's plans over a weekend and spent a few nights painting/staining/finishing. We decided to use a true quarter sawn red oak for the top. This is not a cheap wood (~$180) for the top alone, but I wanted it to be solid and thick. It is extremely hard so you will not want to use this if you don't have the necessary tools, like a table saw. It is usually purchased rough cut, which means the width can range in size by inches. You will need the table saw with a sharp blade in order to cut it down to matching widths. For the stain we used a General Finishers gel stain in Java from Woodcraft. That was followed with a General Finishers Gel topcoat. This is an excellent topcoat as we have 0 scratches in almost 6 months of regular use. My wife painted the base in a Cream Puff color from Behr I believe with a dark stain glaze, followed by a wax coat. This is a solid table that cost a fraction of what this would be in the stores. Most of our friends think we bought it! Thanks Ana! 

Thank you so much for the plans! My wife is extremely happy with the results and so am I. I am in the process of adapting these plans to make a matching end table. Once again, thank you!

Two little girls we know recently celebrated their 1st birthdays, 4 months apart. I thought chairs would make perfect gifts. I finally got around to finishing both chairs around the time of the second girl's birthday. The other one was rather belated. The parents didn't know I was making it so it was still a nice surprise. My own 1 year old rather enjoyed testing them out.
I've previously made one of these full size chairs for my 8yo. but for these I changed the measurements to be smaller and easier for a one year old to sit on. I made the seat 28cm high and adjusted all the other measurements to suit. I enjoy using Sketchup so resizing the plan was a good excuse to use it again (I used an old ikea chair we had on hand as a guide for the sizing.)
I primed and painted the wood used for the slats before I cut it to size. This was so much easier than trying to paint in between them. Filling the screw holes was a bit of a chore and I'm not totally happy how some of them were still rather visible under the paint. A bit more practice needed I guess. Finishing took quite a while because of all the drying time. Chose to distress them to help disguise any bumps and marks they're likely to sustain. I discovered there is a fine line between distressing and distressing too much.
Really happy with how they turned out. Thanks for the fantastic plans!

This was my first woodworking project. 

Super easy, super fun

These shelves were absolutely perfect for hiding behind my daughter's bedroom door. Space is tight in her little room, and that 27-inch stretch of wall was not being utilized.

These shelves were so simple and took no time at all. I think total cutting and assembly time was about an hour for all four.

I put them together using pocket holes, so the order of assembly was a bit different than the original plan. I screwed the sides to the bottom, then added the front beam, and attached the back last, using pocket holes and filling them with spackle.

I can't wait to find more nooks and crannies to build creative storage from plans on this site.

THANKS!
Anna

More pics and details on the blog post:
http://lassothemoon.typepad.com/lasso_the_moon/2013/07/emmas-secret-lib…

We wanted to transition our two year old out of the crib and skip the toddler bed and this worked perfectly. 

I made the cuts over a lunch hour and assembled in one night. 

If you have never used a pocket jig, just practice on a piece of scrap. Also make sure you consider how you will attach the rails before beginning. Depending on what you use you may want to make the headboard more narrow to accommodate for the rails not being flush with the insides of the posts. 

I made steps out of the scraps from the outer rails and the slats. Our little guy loves it!

I found a barn door headboard in a rustic furniture store years ago. They wanted $2700 for a Queen size....no thank you! I followed the plans for the Farmhouse King Bed and added cross pieces for barn door look using instructions from the Brookstone Headboard. I cut the legs at 56” to add some height and I set the bottom of the back panel at 18” above the floor to make sure no gap is seen with our thinner, memory foam mattress. I couldn’t be happier with our headboard and the total cost, including screws & stain, was about $150! Boom! Thank you Ana White for sharing plans! I’m working on the Mini Farmhouse Bedside Table now & feel like I can build anything! I would highly recommend Power Pro Premium Interior screws (no splitting or stripped heads, no pre-drilling & they counter-sink great in soft wood). For the 4x4 posts I used GRK UberGrade R4 multi-purpose 4” screws, which had the same quality, all from Lowe’s.