Community Brag Posts

We have a lot of birthdays (5-6 year old range) this week so we decided to try some of these plans out. So much fun and they get easier each time :)

Well, this is my first post and my first real project. Bunk beds out of knotty Pine that can be used as single beds when the kids no longer want to share a room. I wasn't willing to spend $1500-$2000 on bunk beds when I knew I could make some myself. So here it is, I would do it a little different if I was too do it again. I know it's not perfect, but I'm proud of it.......always room for improvement.

I saw this on pintrest and took the big Kids picnic table and modified it to include a removable top and sandbox.

This was our first project; and definitley and inspiration to do more. I am so excited to have this in our dining room. Project took about 8 hrs to build and 4-5 days to stain and poly. We used a Gunstock stain with 2 coats of Walnut over that.

Overall cost was about $150 with wood, stain, materials and poly. We ended up working with 2 types of wood (yellow & white pine) which proved frustrating as we tried to match the stain color. All ended up OK after a couple of trial and error on some scrap wood.

I can't wait to make the matching benches. Thanks Ana!

My husband surprised me with a big pile of wood in the garage on Christmas morning. 3 weeks later, this beautiful table is in my kitchen. The pictures do not do it justice - it turned out amazing. We have plans to make the matching bench when it warms a bit - our garage is freezing!

It took at least 20 hours to cut the wood, sand and assemble. It took another 10+ plus hours to stain and put 3 coats of the polyurethane.

The great people at Orange cut our wood for us, and we took it home and notched it out using a jigsaw. Once we got the hang of it, it was really easy.

We had a hard time finding 2 3/4 screws, so we used 2 1/2. It worked great. We used Elmer's Carpenter's Wood Filler in natural to fill the screw holes. It turned out so nice and looks great with the stain on top.

Neither my husband or I have very much experience building anything, so we took our time - measuring about 60 times and cutting once. However, it paid off. The table looks so great and I cannot wait to make the matching bench!

I took the original plan design for a Murphy bed - it was inspired by a Dr. Who themed bed that used a Murphy Bed Kit - I've used Ana White's plans before and thought why spend $$$ on a kit when you don't have to.  I few trips to the store and a weekend later I have my very own Tardis Murphy Bed.  It cost about $140 to build not including the mattress and accessories cost (light kit/upholstery panel/police box sign etc) I raised it up about 4" to attach legs and added some puck lights for a lighting effect.  I think it came together rather nicely.  I just have to add handles and the magnetic closures and it will be all done.

It took me all weekend to build by myself - had my brother help me with mounting the mattress box in the cabinet.  I would suggest having wood cut at the lumbar yard as it is difficult to cut the 8 and 12" boards unless you have a bigger table saw that I do.

Dog Console from Modern Farmhouse Console.

Another project inspired by Ana!

Nesting tables with golden oak stain and poly on top.  The last pic of the small table made with 1x2's for 2 legs and 2x2's for the other 2.  Distressed by my daughter Kimberly.  

Fun project that my son and our next soon to be baby will enjoy for a long time. Plans were very easy to fallow and easy to build.

I was tired of having potting plants and soil stacked up at the end of my driveway taking away from the aesthetic of the gardens so I built myself a potting stand. I love the two tone although I wish I decided on the colours prior to assembling. It would have saved me a lot of masking.

Mary Wikene

Inspired by Ana!

I made this for a grand-daughter for Christmas and followed the McKenna Doll plan from the plan catalog . My wife made the pad and quilt from a link on the doll plan site. Made from scraps left over using my Kreg jig and spray painted with a gloss purple, her favorite color. I also made a bulletin board near the desk and added cup hooks for the hangars on the ladder side.

Made my wife a Ana White DIY porch bench for our 10 year wedding anniversary. Had a custom plaque made: Sarah’s Bench.

Looks beauty on our front porch.

Jesse Micak, Ontario, Canada 

my best friend has built a couple of projects from this site. i enjoyed helping him a bit so when he decided to build one of these for yes baby that is due this summer, i figured i'd double up and build one for myself while we were at it. i haven't built anything since high school (10 years ago). he had all the tools and had made a lot of mistakes along the way so he brought be up to speed and told me a lot of "don't do this...trust me" tips that are helpful.

we used premium ply wood cut to 1x12s and poplar 1x2's for this. total wood cost was about 30 bucks per shelf. I decided to use a trim router for my framing along the outer edge. I think it gives it a professional look at it took 10 minutes to do.

NOTE: if you want to rout around the entire top and you used pocket holes....DONT DO IT. we found that one out the hard way on the other shelf. if your bit does anything but slightly round the edge it's gonna hit the screws. :(

i made a last second change and went with a vibrant red and a dark dark black to make it up. i couldn't be happier. it doesn't match my room at all but i don't care at this point. my friend did a great job taping off the trim and the lines are just awesome.

This thing is stout. i'm not a small man and would not hesitate to stand on top of this thing all day. can't wait to show it off to anyone i can:)