Community Brag Posts

I was contacted a few months back by a friend of mine to build a custom cabinet for his aquarium. I was given free reign with the design and I decided to go with a modern look to the cabinet.

I decided to go a little unconventional with the finish on this cabinet and use something I am very familiar with, an automotive finish. I chose to got this route because I knew that I wanted an ultra smooth finish. I knew that because he was using it for a large aquarium it was going to have to be built sturdily. But you can use whatever type of materials and finish to suit your project. 

I built this a couple months ago and I'm finally getting around to posting a brag post. This is the second woodworking project I've ever done and my first year gardening! I almost spent over a hundred dollars on one of these raised garden beds and then I saw Ana White's plans and I am so grateful! Hopefully my tomatoes will be ripe soon, but one thing is for sure... this raised garden bed paid for itself with the amount of veggies I'm getting from it! I have big gardening plans for next year! Sorry my second pic is sideways... can't figure it out!

This is the 2nd Rustic X Coffee table I built. This I built as a wedding gift for my Brother and His wife. Instead of the X posts on the ends I opted for a column design on the end. It was actually a little more time consuming but I think it looks great.

White cabinet made from some doors and hardware left over from my built in book case project and other wood left over from the book case and closet projects.  All I bought was the wood for the top and the legs.

Pocket Screws are my new favorite things! Total of 10 chairs made, 6 corners and 4 sides. Over 230 cuts, and 1000 pocket screws. It took me a while to finish, but I am very pleased with the result. I would not attempt this project without the Kregg Jig or similar product however. It saved me a bunch of time. The plans were detailed and easy to follow. I added a back brace to the design, and decided to make three separate units instead of a u-shaped sofa. This adds more armrests to the unit. I intend to add end tables in the corners and a table in the middle still. Instead of screwing the chairs together I used One-Wrap Velcro so the units can be reconfigured. I purchased the cushions instead of making them. Lowes had some on sale for $50. It added about $500 to the total cost, but it was worth not having to sew.

Needed a patio table for this space and decided on this plan. After the build portion, the stain finish really made it complete. Now time for some summer get togethers.

This project took 45 minutes, from measuring to filling up the drawer :)

I ripped some existing 1/4" plywood scrap down to 5" (that's how deep each divider is)

My bases are quite small: they were made from a 3/4" tall by 5/8" deep scrap piece. This made each shelf fairly shallow, but the incline is plenty so that the spices don't slide up and down.

Thanks for the inspired design! Went together simple and quick. Your site rocks.

My husband used the plans from this website to make a single Murphy bed. He didn't make any changes, save for building the frame out of solid poplar and using birch plywood for the flat surface the mattress sits on when it's unfolded. We trimmed it to mimic the the lines of a built-in in the same room, and stained it Jacobean to make it look dark. It's a solid piece of furniture and is saving us tons of space.

Table was built for my daughter, now she wants me to build the End table and Sofa table. LOL

This was a fantastic project and I love the way it turned out. You can check out my blog post for more details how it all came together.

Mostly Aunt Dottie - Faux Fireplace Blog Post

We made two of the Farmhouse Bedside Tables to go with the Farmhouse Queen Bed with Arch. The nighstands went together quickly and are beautiful! You just can't beat the quality for the cost to build them. My husband added a piece of wood behind the drawer to act as a stop so the drawer doesn't push in too far. We chose not to add drawer slides because the drawers are perfect without. Another great plan.

I altered the dimensions from the plans slightly to meet my needs. I added self-closing, heavy duty hinges for the doors because a basic euro- hinge from home depot would not hold the weight of the doors with glass. For the finish, I sanded the edges slightly after painting and used a minwax stain maker to stain the sanded areas giving a clean, distressed look. I used gel stain for the first time on this build. Softer woods such as pine or alder are prone to blotchy finishes when stained. I built the top out of Alder and stained it with gel stain from general finishes. I am very happy with how the top turned out after using the gel stain. I did not have to use a pre-stain conditioner either.

Needed a big desk. Made mine at 8' long.