Community Brag Posts

I liked the look of the spacers on the bottom shelf, but decided to leave them out since I just wanted to be done with this project :) I modified the plans to only have one shelf, as well as feet on the bottom (instead of having the piece go completely to the floor). As a result of adding the feet, the bottom is framed with 1x2s instead of 1x4s. I needed to purchase 6 1x2s to do that (but only needed 3 1x4s). I attempted to miter the cuts on those pieces...wood filler came to the rescue in the end. This was a lot of fun to make!

I am in process of making these for my new twin nephews. By reducing the width of the toy box by 1/2", I was able to fit two of the open top toy boxes on one sheet of cabinet grade plywood ($30).

For Two Toy Boxes cut plywood to the following dimensions (see photo for layout):

2 - 32 x 15 1/2 pieces (bottoms)
4 - 33 1/2 x 15 1/2 (front and back)
4 - 15 1/2 x 15 1/2 (sides)

My local Home Depot does not charge for cutting the plywood and the person that was assisting me made absolutely perfect cuts and helped direct me to the cabinet grade plywood (which was located away from the plywood aisle), thus saving me an extra $15.

Boxes took approximately 2-3 hours each to build, another hour to sand and fill screw holes, and several hours to paint.

Photo is of Dexter's toy box. Dante's looks very similar. My 2 year old niece enjoyed taking a nap inside of the boxes as well.

Make sure to purchase non-toxic paint.... I believe one of my nephews may be part beaver!

I've made several of Ana's pieces, but this is my first brag post.

I actually made this for one of my husband's co-workers, but now I want to make one for myself.

I don't know the actual amount of hours it took, but like any project, the sanding was the most tedious part!

This one was built with 4 2x6, and 2 2x4 boards on top, as the friend wanted it a little wider than the original plan. I modified the other dimensions accordingly.

The wheels used in the Shanty2Chic build post were too large for my 4x4 posts. The wheel plates were too wide. They measured about 3.75" and my 4x4's were only 3.5". Also, speaking of the 4x4's, I used untreated Douglas Fir, purchased from my local Lowes. I typically shop at Home Depot, but they did not carry any untreated 4x4's.

The wheels I used were the same style by Everbilt, but the next size down, the 2" wheels. However, their overall height was 3", and so the height of the table ended up being perfect anyhow!

I finished the table in Minwax English Chestnut and used the Minwax rub on satin polyurethane.

I put the time as a week long, primarily because of sanding and finishing. But, I think that if you devoted your time to it, you could do it in a weekend.

OH! Also, Ana doesn't mention it in the plans, but the Shanty Chics do... put the plywood shelf in BEFORE adding the second side. I had to remove pieces which were already glued, and it made that step a bit annoying!

Otherwise, all was well. Enjoy!

I built this coat rack a couple of years ago for our house when our little girl ripped the one we had out of the wall trying to get her coat off the hook lol. I was actually able to reuse the hooks from the cheap little coat rack that we had bought from the home store. It attached into the wall using drywall anchors so it wasn’t all that secure to begin with. I set out to make one that would look a lot nicer and have some room for storage. The design I came up with works great for  storing all our coats and hats, but also the cubby storage at the top is great for storing keys and gloves and whatever else you may need to store.

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.

I built these modern storage benches for some friends of ours. They needed some space to store their little girls toys. They planned to use some wicker baskets they had. I took the measurements for the baskets and built the storage spaces around it. 

I turned some old oak shelves that I got from an estate sale into a 3' wide Scandinavian slat bench.

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.

This was my first venture in building furniture. My granddaughter needed a new table and chair and insisted I could make it myself since I built her a playhouse (from a kit.) That's when I googled and found Ana White's amazing site and all the easy to follow plans.

I chose the Clara Table and Childrens Storage Chair. They reminded me of school - and my granddaughter who was 3 at the time loved playing school. Plus, since her parents plan to homeschool, I thought this would be a great starter setup.

I started with the chair. I did struggle with screwing it together, so it's not perfect. But it is sturdy; the storage box helped with stability too. After struggling with the chair, I decided to buy a kreg jig like Ana suggests - and boy did that make a difference! The table went together so fast and easily, I was literally in shock. And it's so strong I can sit on it. I'm sure if I had tried building it with just screwing the regular way, it would have been wobbly.

I bought a 24"x36" tabletop instead of using the 3 boards joined together and so had to adjust the measurements of the apron pieces accordingly. I thought it would make a smoother writing surface. I originally intended to paint it all white, but the grain on the top was so gorgeous, I decided to stain it - and I stained the chair seat to match.

This project was so much fun and came out so nice, I decided to build a toddler bed from Ana's plans. You can see that project here: Toddler Bed

A fleet of 3 wooden boat planters built in the traditional style of a clinker creel boat (Orkney Longliner).

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.

Can't believe I forgot to share this.  Fixing to make two more!

I liked the design of the barnyard dinner table and needed a table on the patio for family get togethers. I modified the table plans to seat 10 and made it bar height. I also finished the top vs planks. Came out great.

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.