Community Brag Posts

This one I can’t take complete credit for, the base shelving unit was left behind in our basement & was just beyond belief disgusting. I cleaned it up stripped it apart, stained it & put new hardware on it. The house is older & whoever “modernized” just didn’t do a spectacular job & place the cupboards in an odd way instead of utilizing the space properly. Anyway as I’ve mentioned in other projects, this is another odd corner, actually it’s not so odd because it’s supposed to be where the the fridge goes according to our landlord but it’s sized for a really small fridge & our big monster double door twice the size of this cubby, it is now in the mudroom which isn’t too inconvenient because it’s right off the kitchen & because we shut the vents in there to keep the heating cost lower in the winter the fridge doesn’t have to work too hard to keep cold. Anyway I wanted to utilize this space & found that the shelf fit perfect next to the garbage can that was there so I just made a top to fit the space & then we now have a microwave stand/coffee prep area.

My first DIY project. I went a little different and built the table top out of sassafras lumber that I bought from a local sawyer. The plans were foolproof. The only tricky part about this project is the finish. I stained the table with Minwax Dark walnut and 4 coats of polyurethane (2 parts poly to 1 part mineral spirits) to get the finish I wanted. Of course I spent the most time sanding this table. It turned out wonderfully and my wife is one happy camper!

Loved the design of the coffee table and needed something in my living room to make it feel a little less empty. As I was building the table I realized that the bottom shelf was roughly the size of a flag that I've built in the past and decided to add one to it to bring a little patriotism to my living room. I used a torch to burn the flag onto the wood. Love the way it turned out!

That was fun. Got a new dog, built her this for double duty. A crate and a table. The finishing was the lengthy part, by a LONG shot. Can't wait to start a new plan.

This table was custom made for a good friend and his family. He wanted a trestle style with bench seats for his kids and able to have room to sit at the ends as well. In addition, he wanted breadboard table top. Engineering wise, thats a tall order. So I made the table top solid by using biscuits to secure the timber and since the breadboards could not be supported by the trestle legs I used 5/8" dowel rods, 6" long, 2 per board. I used a 2x4 and scrap plywood to make a dowel jig. I also reinforced them with 3" pocket screws on the bottom.

The next challenge was bringing the legs in enough to make room for end seating while still allowing room for the benches. I used 2x6s on the top and bottom of the trestles and secured them flush to the edge to allow for leg room at the ends.

 I used 1" dowels to secure the 4x4 runner using a split/wedge technique. The benches are pretty strait forward and I also used biscuits to make solid tops.

To save money and to have a rustic look, I used douglas fur framing lumber which required many hours of scraping and sanding to make the top level and splitter free. Additionally, I used 5 layers of polyurethane to withstand the wear and tear of a young families daily use. Thankfully they fell in love with the table as much as I did!

DIY Stocking Stand  - Reader build

We turned a formal living into a bedroom so we needed a door to close off the kitchen/nook beyond. Since we were on a tight budget, we knew we could not afford the barn door hardware, so we found the next best thing:

Stanley Trolley Box Track (from Lowe's). http://tinyurl.com/2z6wpn Yes, it's ugly looking, but we painted it black and modified how it was used. We got the 6' track with the box track hangers without apron. We bought the mount bracket, but that was a mistake. The door could not pass the mount on the right side and we ended up just attaching the track to the wall without the mount on that side (pic of door open shows both mounts before we were able to close the door and before we removed the mount on the right side). Had we known, both sides would have been attached to the wall without the mount. But, we went ahead and left the mount on the left side as we didn't think it hurt the look too much.

The door: We made another mistake. We meant to buy 1x tongue and groove wood (3/4" thick) to make our door and we somehow got 8' lengths of tongue and groove paneling 1/4" thick (OOPS): http://tinyurl.com/7ea6b3r It looks good, but it's ultra light weight (stain first, then put it together). We used a flat piece of aluminum to hold it together (also painted black - along with painted screws). Due to our mistake in depth, our screws were too long so we located a 2x4 directly behind the aluminum strip on the top and the bottom of the door for stability. It helped a lot. The location of the aluminum strip at the top is strategic because the 2x4 behind it is also what holds the box track hangers that roll on the track above. We put them a few inches in on each side from the edge of the door, drilled a hole vertical through the 2x4 (a little off center so the door wouldn't rub the track) where longer bolts were used to go all the way through the 2x4 and hold the door onto the track while being hidden behind the door. I also had to get smaller screws for my door handle to go on since the door was only 1/4" thick. But, it all worked out.

The backside: Due to the fact the door is so light, we added felt to the 2x4 at the bottom so it wouldn't damage the trim.

This was my second wood project and I am really happy with how it turned out. I basically followed the plans but made mine alot bigger. It measures roughly 6' long, 33" tall, and 20" wide. I wanted to let people know how I made the center door because the video used alot of tools and skills that I do not have.
I made the doors out of 4" and 2" select pine with PH's on the back. I then cut a 5/16" groove in the center on the outside of the stiles. About 7/8-15/16 of the way up the door I installed a 1/4" wooden dowel. On the cabinet frame I installed another wooden dowel that the door dowel rests on when closed, this is also the dowel that rides in the groove that was cut on the door.
The other difficult part (for Me) was the cut out design on the bottom of the frame. I did this by using a big bowl for the center and a really thin strip of wood. Once I cut out one side I just flipped the cut piece over and traced it to the other side.
I finished the top off with 3 coats Minwax Dark Mahoganey and 3 coats of Minwax Polycrylic.

40 inch tall weathered Gray table

Made for my sons house. Just made a few changes to top with 2x6 and bottom with 1x6's.

After following Ana's blog for over a year and bookmarking dozens of projects, I finally built my first project. (I built it months ago and have since built 3 other things...so this is addictive!)

I love the modern West Elm look but didn't want to shell out over $600 for two low Parson's shelves which still would not fit my dimension exactly, so this was the perfect project for me. Initially I had intended to stain the bookshelves a warm pecan color, as I think "modern craftsman" is more my style, but honestly the outcome was so wonky that I couldn't see that the shelves would look nice stained. Instead I painted them with what was supposed to be a color match to BM's Weimeraner -- lesson #1001, BM's paint cannot really be color matched. I may repaint in the future as this is not as warm as the original, but it's been fine for the past few months.

Honestly I had many building problems with my first project -- I had mistakenly thought working with 2x2s (pine) would be 'easy', but I found the opposite to be true (and since I have done another project with 2x2s since then I can confirm that we are not meant to be bffs). I did choose straight boards, but I had the guys at Lowe's cut them. Unfortunately in the future I will have to buy my own saw (and pick up truck and workshop, lol), because literally every single time there has been a problem, even when I check the boards at the store. The problems are generally small--1/4" or so--but of course this makes your project off square.

As a result there were noticeable seams between the 2x2s and the 1x12 boards. Of course caulk and paint hid all of that, but this was the main reason why I couldn't stain the project. I also had trouble with the 2x2s splitting when I used the Kreg jig -- luckily this happened only a couple of times, but in my next built it happened even more often, using Douglas Fir. (if anyone can help me with this, I would love to hear!)

Long story short -- it was a lot of work, it wasn't exactly what I had envisioned, but I love the final product, seams, warts, and all. It fits our space perfectly, it's incredibly sturdy, and the power of making something myself--even imperfect--is amazing. Since then I have built an activity table and a picnic table for my kids, and I even felt confident enough to design and build my own window box. (sure, it's not complicated, but I credit Ana's "training" entirely. of course I haven't yet installed it, but that's a different problem)

Thanks, Ana!!!

I mostly followed the plans except for a few modifications in order to use the wood I got for free. I did use 4x4s instead of 2x2s for the legs because I wanted the chunkier look. I might chop them off and put on some fancy feet, but for now I think they look fine. The most expensive part was the foam cushions. I got the good stuff because I wanted the chairs to be comfortable, and they are!

simple build looks great inside and out

I ask my kids and spouses if they would like me to build something special for Christmas each year . Last year I surprised my daughter with a beautiful coffee table. This year she said Dad can you make us a TV stand that is a similar look to the coffee table. She provided me dimensions and had this piece in time for Christmas. Love your website Ana.

Thad