Community Brag Posts

I have been wanted to build this table for over a year and finally had the time for it. The plans made the cuts very simple.

I built the sofa and loveseat from 2X4's and used 1X4's for the top of the coffee table. I used standard patio cushions for the sofa and cut the tops off to use at the side for arm rests.

Small kids picnic table (from Ana's plan)

Pa pop

We modified these plans for a customer down to two lockers. We also added a divider for the cubbies on the top per her request. We found the whole thing to be a bit top heavy and easy to get a wobble. Recommend securing it to the wall with a tether or L bracket. Also, it is CRITICAL to not skimp on the quality of wood and getting straight boards for this. We did not and it was seriously skewed for a while until we did a lot of adjusting...and it still has a bow! Also I recommend doing the build all in one day. I think since we broke it up into two days it allowed the wood to warp more than had it all been assembled and fastened/tightened at one time. Message us with any questions! The stain is Minwax Jacobean- one coat. We got the hooks from Home Depot. The customer wanted plenty of storage so per her request we used 8 hooks! Good luck with this build!

I built this for my son using the fire truck loft and playhouse loft plans combined. I put tread on the stairs to add safety and enhance the realism. I was pleased with the instructions. The hardest part was painting it red. I hate painting anything red. Make sure you get a primer tinted to gray that works with the red you choose.

I made the blue chair first for our oldest granddaughter, I thought I wanted to curve the top, so I did for the next one for the younger granddaughter. Great plans, easy to follow. Thanks so much!

This was our very first project EVER and it came out beautiful! We needed a dinner table and couldn't find anything that came close to the thousand dollar Pottery Barn Benchright table. While searching for used furniture I came across these plans to build my own. After days of begging and convincing, my husband agreed to help me build it. Now he thanks me all the time! It was so fun and easy.

We did have a couple hiccups with the measurements. Ana did say to read through the plans and comments first, but we failed to write down and remember what others suggested. That being said, these plans were very easy. We took our time building this table since it was our first time using a miter saw and our first time building anything. Our table was a little more expensive than other braggers because we didn't use reclaimed wood and since we are beginners, we botched a couple cuts and had to buy a few extra boards :). After sanding, we took some chains and a hammer to the tabletop and legs to make a more distressed and rustic look. We painted the bolts and pipe black with Rustoleum Flat Black. Our pipe was longer than our table, so we had it cut. If you buy your pipe from Lowe's, they will cut and thread it for you. We couldn't find any hardware that look anything similar to the Pottery Barn Benchright. We checked Home Depot and Lowe's, but decided to settle with some plumbing knobs that screwed in the pipe. Once we painted everything and put it all together, we actually loved the pipe knob look more than the Pottery Barn table hardware!

This table is so darn sturdy and will last forever. I can't thank Ana enough, and thank you to everyone that posts these brags, because you helped me convince my husband and myself that we could do this!

I think I get more compliments on these galley shelves/picture ledges than anything else I’ve made, and these were probably the easiest things to make!

It cost me about $25 a piece but they were nearly 8 feet long each. I used a paint sprayer to paint them, WAY easier than brushing on the paint! watch for drips though (my first time using a sprayer, treat it like spray paint, light easy coats!)

My office faux mantle came out awesome thanks to Ana White. The only changes we made was that we used dental crown molding and we added the base. Other than that everything else was exactly according to the plans.

Kentwood Nightstand

My husband and I are expecting our second child this April. We knew we wanted to move our 2 year old out of her crib and into a “big” girl bed so that the new baby could use the crib. I saw the Play House Loft Bed on Pinterest and fell in love. I showed it to my husband and convinced him it would be a great winter project for us. He of course started his research and had nightmares of our daughter falling over the top bunk. So when I saw the Sweet Pea bed I knew it was perfect. I pitched the idea to my husband that the bottom bunk could be her bed and the top would be her play area. He was sold. We went to Lowes and bought our first round of lumber and immediately realized this project was going to be more expensive than expected but we were still up for the challenge. My husband worked on the project two full days, I worked on it a half day and then together we worked on it a few hours over nap time or after putting our daughter to bed.

We made some modification to the plans, we liked the look of a flat front rather than 2x4’s so we used a flat sheet of ply wood. We added carpet to our stairs to help prevent any major injuries if fallen down. We left the roof off for now but may add it on later. We also decided to leave the bottom open for any size storage we needed. We added a fabric ruffle to hide the space.

Looking back we wish we would have done this project in the spring/summer and not dead winter. We had to park our cars outside and use our garage to cut and paint all the wood which meant space was limited. This also prevented us from being able to use a spray gun to paint. Had we been able to spray the paint this project would have moved a lot quicker!

Once the project was complete we were so happy with the outcome. Our daughter absolutely LOVES her new bed and loves her play area upstairs!

We just love your work and detailed plans!

Hubby and I built the Console Unit and plan to add on the base units and hutches. We built the unit only 30" tall vs. the 34-1/2" height from the plans. We used oak plywood and oak trim and finished it with a Fruitwood Stain and Polyurethane Seal. We shortened the height of the upper shelf, adding two shallow drawers and a pull-out tray for setting our cable modem on and hooking up our laptop to view movies and You Tube videos on our television, when desired. My hubby loves to make You Tube videos and made one of our work and posted it at:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6JuQ4N-jUq4

Keep up the great work and we plan to posted more pics!

Modified Essential Adirondack Chair
I modified the basic design by making the seat 3 inches higher and 1 inch wider to better accommodate my senior body.
I also used cedar fence boards for the seat and back instead of 1x10s, and added clunky cup holders.
I used Barn Red stain and Thompson's Water Seal for the finish.

These little birdie feeders ended up being part of our Easter festivities. It was such a quick and easy project. I can't wait to hang them and see the looks on my kids faces as the neighborhood birds fly up for a snack.

We had almost all of the wood on hand from previous projects, they only thing we bought was the board for the faces.

I decided I had to have a farm table, but could not pay the store bought prices. SO I spent weeks poring over plans trying to figure out which one to make.
We picked this plan because I felt like as a beginning it would be hard to make the legs. I REALLY wanted to get the husky legs found in the plan but they were a little pricey, so I just got the same height legs at lowes.
I am SO happy with my table. For anyone feeling daunted by pocket holes and a kreg jig: get a kreg jig mini. I couldn't afford the regular kreg jig but the mini was only 20 bucks or less.
Happy building!

I built this farmtable using old fashioned methods of tongue and groove, biscuits, etc.  It was a true labor of love but it came out great.  The stain I made using vinegar, steel wool and water.  I the protected it with spar urethane.  Next project is the chairs and benches.  Thanks Ana for the inspiration.