Community Brag Posts

I used ideas on your site for inspiration for my current back yard shed.  I did a lot of research before choosing one.  If you've never built a shed before from scratch, it can be a little daunting, especially if its a larger shed.  I also documented my whole process from the laying the foundation to putting the last nail on the shingles.  Here's the link for you to my blog post:

http://www.justmeasuringup.com/blog/the-shed-project-phase-1

It was a lot of fun for me, and a huge wow factor to impress my friends ;)  I store everything in there from my riding mower to all my patio furniture in the wintertime.  It's such a useful thing to have.

I spent around $1500 and it took about 2 months to complete (working on it while having a full time job - otherwise would have finished a lot faster)

Great wood bar stools!

by Dennis

We chose to use 2x4 construction because we simply needed a sturdier build. Enough said. :) I wanted to use cedar, but when we went to the lumberyard, they didn't carry 2x4s in cedar, just 1x4 and said it was hard to find. Being that I had wanted this built by Labor Day and it was already July, we bought the pressure treated wood. I know, I know, chemicals galore. We worked on it a little at a time. We modified it for a higher back, but now I wonder if that was needed, because although the cushions are deep they do go down some when you sit on them. Ah well, we are still happy with it. Because of the higher back, we opted to just use the armless section on the end, however we might build a modified arm later on. We'll see how it goes.

I live in a very old house with very little storage space (only 2 tiny closets!) so i made the bed higher and am going to build the trundle drawers on casters for under the bed. I also liked the version i saw with the higher footboard panel. Though i kept the original height measurements for the headboard posts (because it actually ends up to be the same height as the fireplace mantle, which adds a nice design harmony to the room) the headboard panel is shorter to make up for a bigger space under the bed.
The panels are made from weathered fencing and the 4x4s are discards from a sign company that i pass by on a regular basis. So my only monetary investment was for the long screws and a new drill bit. ! I have not decided on a finish yet, i'm going to sleep on it a while. (grin)
i started out with everything just a little bit bigger because i knew that discrepancies in old wood are better off being trimmed to square rather than assuming everything will fit.
I love how the raised grain of the weathered wood creates such dramatic abstract organic designs; i went over it ever so lightly with a sander. This is the second bed i have built, but the first one that cost me virtually nothing.
There's still plenty of fencing left and i am planning a dresser and a desk. :)
Thanks so much for your inspiration and influence on the world!

My son needed a coffee table to help him with his physical therapy. I didn't want to buy some plastic piece of shit from the store so I made him one. He loves toy cars, and in addition to the custom stain work I added a feature that will hopefully encourage him to stand and play. It can be removed when he grows up and he'll have something hand built to remember my love for him.

I did a step by step and posted to Reddit. Here's the link =)

https://www.reddit.com/r/DIY/comments/4vhbyl/diy_shitty_on_purpose_coff…

The herringbone back was the most time consuming but the wife loves it. Will update after it's finished.

Being my first DIY project - it was a pretty big task not using a saw before or doing any building. Following the plans was easy, just took a lot of time to learn how to do things for the first time.

I modified her plans to have 3 drawers on the one side to match the pb design.

After finishing the table, I knew I needed to create the hutch that is sold along with this desk. After some rough paperwork estimates I went ahead and built the hutch.

Looks pretty amazing and similar to the real deal.

Check out my blog for further pics and details of paint, primer and drawer slides I used. Leave a comment if you'd like me to work on getting a hutch plan organized.

With doing the hutch without real plans, this project took me a while to get those cuts organized and completed.

"Beginner" doesn't begin to describe me! I didn't know the difference between a skill saw & a miter saw before starting this project, but thankfully, my husband is a Mechanical Engineer & knows his way around a few tools. We're very happy with the end result, but they're not perfect. We learned a lot & I'm confident that the next project will be better. A couple of things I learned along the way--no need to buy exactly double the wood for two chairs. Probably obvious for those that are experienced, but I bought exactly double & could've saved a little $$ if I knew what I was doing. Not counting the investment of the saws & other equipment (that will now last my lifetime!), the chairs were less than $50 each for the wood, paint, screws, etc. We used the cheapest wood (whitewood, per the recommendation) available & now that I'm a bit more knowledgeable, I'll upgrade for my next project. The paint is regular Glidden Exterior, & the Home Depot reps were kind enough to mix samples of the two lighter colors so that I didn't have to buy a quart for such a small amount. Colors are Peach Crayon, True Peach, & Tropical Coral. It should be noted that samples aren't available in exterior, but the chairs will be used mostly on a screened porch--out of the direct sun and rain--so I didn't worry too much about it.

Super proud of these! Made them on my own while 7 months pregnant! Wonderful plan! Thank you!!!  

I followed lady goat's instructions but made the seat back taller and the sandbox wider (4'x5'). I have more details here:

http://www.statelykitsch.com/diy-sandbox-with-lid-benches/

I had my dad and father-in-law come help with this project. We are all pretty much beginners, but have done some building in the past.

Because I'm not experienced, I didn't find the plans to be in depth enough. Some parts weren't not fully explained and took some guesswork.

I also didn't know what a Kreg Jig was or how expensive it was! This upped my cost by $100. It was well worth buying however, and will be used again in future projects.

We added a railing to the platform since the bed is up against a window with a screen. If the kids were to fall off the platform and hit the screen, they could fall 2 stories. The railing is just screwed into the side of the platform and can be removed at any time.

Overall, I love how it turned out and so do my kids! It fits the toddler-sized DIY bed that my husband and I built right underneath so my 4 year old and 2 year old can now share a room.

More details and pictures are on my blog: http://themombot.com/crafting/2014/05/09/details-our-diy-bunk-bed

Very straightforward build. Lowes didn't have many 2x4's that didn't have some sort of warp or bend in them so the bottom shelf had to be trimmed slightly to fit. 

There is a sweet spot with the vinegar/steel wool that takes some mixing and testing to find. To strong a solution and the wood turns nice and brown to weak and it's a hardly noticeable light grey. My advice is get a strong 3-4 day old solution and mix 50/50 with vinegar and test on scrap, wait and hour or so to dry and adjust the mix from there until you love it. 

I finished with minwax polishing wax.

My chicken coop!

I made this for my Mom for Mother's Day. She has been wanting a little table to put next to her recliner (where she knits, reads and watches TV). For the top and drawer, I used Douglas Fir from Lowes. The rest is whitewood and redwood (legs). Overall the wood cost me about $50. I painted the body with high-gloss white paint and the stain on the wood is a mixture of min-wax Golden Pecan and English Chestnut. The finishing took the longest, but the build went very quickly.
I did notice that the cut list is a little off. You need 4 of the 1x2 pieces for the sides, not just two.

I may put a layer of varnish on it, but as of now it is not varnished.

Made a set in Kansas, moved em to Texas with us and couldn't move them to Kentucky, so I had to build another set! I know, such a shame right! Lol. These ones turned out better than the first! The first set was just stained, I got a little more crafty with these!!