Community Brag Posts

I saw many different sliding door projects online, so I did my own spin on one. I was able to get several old pallets for free (pine and oak). I went to Lowes and bought a few 2x3s which I used as the frame, and the track hardware which was only $13! Most doors I see are mounted from the wall, but since I have 7' ceilings downstairs I mounted mine from the ceiling. This project only took about 4 hours total and cost about $40 when you figure in costs for screws, stain, etc. The most difficult part was taking apart the pallets. Using a reciprocating saw with a 12'' demolition blade is the best way to take them apart. Thanks for the idea Ana.

With six people in our household, we were in desperate need of easily accessed storage for our off season clothes/gear.  This ended up being a perfect solution.  We customized shelf heights to fit the bins that we use for storage as well as made an area for our cat box (at the bottom right).  It's such a relief to finally have everything tucked away but easy to get at when we need it. 

I'm still getting to know my Compound Miter Saw, so I wanted to get another small project under my belt. Not to mention I had a whole other picket and a half left over from yesterday's project. This just seem to be the perfect project to do. And needed since we actually needed a few more planters.

My son and I made this shelf unit when converting our basement to a dorm for him. While we think it turned out great, it DID take a lot longer than the plans suggest. The video suggests it can be completed in a couple of hours. It took us about 4 days. I found the instructions very clear which was very helpful. We chose a darker stain for our unit. It's very functional, although a little bit wobbly. My husband plans to attach it to the wall for better stability.  Thanks so much for a perfect solution to a room without a closet! He loves it and we've received many compliments. And I liked that we built it together. Cost was spot on for what you estimated. About $200

I used this plan to build this cabinet space around the fridge. Before this was built, we just had a small dinky counter space and the overhead cabinet. I had to make a few minor adjustments in order for it to fit in the space.

This tower plan was perfect for re-using some already stained 1x12’s I had from another project. It fills up that little square of unused space at the top of the stairs, and gives us extra storage for towels and TP for the 3 bathrooms in our house. I substituted 1x2 and ¼” plywood for the door and used some 1x2 and 1x3 to attach and build it in. This project has been up for a couple of months now, and has come in handy. This was my first attempt at doing something as a ‘built-in,’ and it gave me confidence that we could do our next big project (the pantry) as a built-in. Since the side and shelf boards were already stained, once it was assembled the finishing was easy- all I had to do was stain the trim boards to match, and paint the door and the inside.
Thanks for this great plan, Ana! I’m planning to build several more of these, for my sewing room.

This was my first major woodworking project and i couldn't be happier with the result! I also built a miniature version for our dogs' dishes.

This was a big project to tackle. I'm not very good at modifying building plans, so my husband was frustrated during the beginning of this build. But we are very happy with the way it turned out.
The hardest part of the build was the steps. We modified them to look like blocks, so getting the dimensions equal was tough. We also made it a full size bed so that there was more room under the bed.
We used plexiglass for the doors and LED lighting under the bed.

I built this closet system for our basement gym as a Christmas present to my boyfriend.  He loved it!

I stained all of the boards before building as suggested in the plan - it definitely saved a lot of time and stress.  After cutting and staining, and I brought all of the pieces downstairs to build.  

The actual building went relatively quickly, but without perfectly straight boards, the shelves themselves were a little tricky.  I also just nailed the shelf boards down with wood glue rather than screwing them in to save time - it's still sturdy and secure.

The length of the closet is about 8 feet long, so the middle shelf is about 1 foot and the two rod shelves are about 3.5 feet long.

I used the chicken shed plans to create the coop, with a modification to include two nesting boxes, one on each side.

I slightly modified the nesting boxes, using a U shaped frame and added hinges for the front to swing down and the pine shavings to be swept out.

For the siding, we found it easiest to do the tack and trace method. We tacked each full sheet of siding in place and traced the cuts for the window, roof line, doors, and nesting boxes. We then took them down, darkened the lines, cut 'em, and re-hung them. It made it a million times easier, IMHO.

For the inside, I designed several roosting bars with poop platforms. The water is a gravity fed chicken nipple/pvc setup, which I found online.

The food stations, also gravity fed, are (new) sewer pipes with wye connectors.

I used the roof and siding scraps to make shelves for storage inside.

By sourcing reclaimed materials, I built the coop, run, interior, feeding stations (5), and waterer for $550. I only bought 27 pieces of new lumber (15 2x4's and the 12 8 foot long 1x3's)

Even the paint was free! (We have a drop and swap at the haz mat recycling center run by the county. We have gotten 100's of dollars of free paint, stain, and varnish there. I even used a can of free spar varnish to seal the inside of the coop)

There are still a few pieces of trim to be cut and painted, but the girls are inside eating, drinking, and merry!

I did find that at the Home Depot, if you buy chicken wire, it costs way more then 150 feet x 36 inch "stucco netting". The stucco netting was $54 for 150 feet, and chicken wire is $76 for the same amount. It is the exact same wire.

I built the run out of resourced 1x2 furring strips. They were a pain to work with, very prone to breaking when not supported, but with the entire run costing $25 for wood and $54 (with half a roll left over) for chicken wire, I can handle some extra time and effort.

If anyone has any questions for me, feel free to contact me! I'd love to help!

I designed this desk and created a building plan using Google Sketchup. It has 2 file drawers, 2 smaller drawers, 2 large adjustable shelves and a pullout shelf in the bottom, 4 small adjustable shelves on the top and a large space for a computer monitor. The large door drops open for a large work space. When you're done, put the door up and you have a beautiful piece of furniture!

I consider myself an advanced-beginner when it comes to building. I have just enough knowledge to get me by. If you have time, patience and the right tools you can build this too! It took me 10 days to build, working as much as my kids would allow.

It took me countless hours to perfect the building plan - probably just as much work to design it as it was to build it :)

I really scrounged around to build this desk. I used a large beam my friend cut up into 2x2's for the main posts/legs, pine furring strips for the side boards and around the top for moulding (lots of scraps I already had), 3/4" plywood for the inside dividers/panels & desktop, 1/2" plywood for the drawer boxes, drop-down door & top, 1/4" plywood for drawer bottoms & backing-board. I used 3/4" pine boards for the drawer faces and small doors on the bottom. I used drawer slides from an old dresser I found by our dumpster and vintage knobs I bought online. The other black hardware (hinges, pull handle, and clasps for door) I bought from a big box store and is categorized as gate hardware.