Community Brag Posts

Loved building this one.

2X4 Simple Potting Bench.

My Dad just recently retired and since he is very handy, I had him make this desk for me. He did an amazing job! He used very nice wood and took his time. This could have been a quick weekend project for anyone who isn't retired and has time on their hands :) He did need a little more wood than was called for so you may have to make a second trip to the hardware store, which wasn't a problem. Another note he would give you is to NOT pre-cut the trim pieces before you build the desk. Cut the trim pieces after it is made so you won't be off. (It was only off by 1/8 of a inch, but for a perfectionist that was 1/8 inch too much!)

After it was made we did two coats of paint on the desk followed by several coats of poly on the top. The final project looks amazing and all of my friends now want my Dad to make one for them :)

This is the second project I attempted and it was a huge undertaking for me, but it was fun and went well! I had planned to sew a cushion for it, but by the time I completed the project, I was DONE! So I bought some for now.

The only modifications I made were larger arm rests so I could put cup holders in them. The cup holders I made out of PVC 3" Male end and a 3" drain, which I glued together. I then scuffed the entire thing and painted them with acrylic paint (trying to get them to match the blue and green in the cushions) before spraying them with gloss sealant.

My family LOVES the new "swing bed". It weighs ALOT so I had to make sure to get proper hanging gear. It's obviously not hung yet when I took the pics tho.

Thank you for another beautiful project!

Double wide trash can unit, Fall of 2015. 

Built this planter bench and added a removable shoe storage rack!!

A.S.

My wife was going to buy a resin bench from Lowes. I told her I would build a REAL bench out of wood myself. I found the One Board Bench plan and thought it was a classic looking bench that was not too busy and perfect for the spot under the pine tree she was wanting to fill.

I went with Cape Cod Grey Olympic Maximum Semi-Transparent Exterior Stain instead of the natural wood look using the Tung Oil originally in the plans.

This was my first venture into woodworking since middle school shop class. I've always wanted to get back into it and I thought this was a perfect project to get my feet wet and shake off the rust.

Thanks, Ana, for your amazing plans and the inspiration I needed to get back to a hobby I love after over 20yrs.

Thank you Ana!  the directions were right up my alley!  We have never built anything and now we cant wait to build our next piece!  we used your insturctions and made minor modications to accomodate our cushions.  We got brave and designed our own ottoman and put it on casters :-) We also added a few back support and legs.

We used one coat of deck over paint

Cushions were on sale at ballard http://www.ballarddesigns.com/ballard-basic-seat-and-back-cushion-set-w…

Quality of cushions is amazing!  they were the most expensive part.  We spent $600.00 on cushions.

Wood, putty, paint and screws about 350.

So proud of our first build! We used Ana’s potting bench design and leftover wood from our deck rebuild! Turned out great and has been so useful this spring!

This coffee table was our first DIY project! We found the plan from Ana's website, and it was pretty easy to follow. We are so happy with the result and now we are itching to build everything for our house!

My wife and I got the idea of the two tone from one of the other brag posts and thought it looked great. The end table plans called for it to be 27 by 27.5, we thought this was a little to big for our home so I changed the plans to 22 x 22. Everything worked out great with the exception of some tool spacing issues. When screwing in the PHS my drill did not fit in the smaller space that was left after I shortened the length. Over all I am thankful for this website and all of the people who give back. We saved a lot of money doing these two projects and they turned out exactly how we wanted.

I love this bed in my son's room. They were wonderful plans that were easy to follow. The only change I made was to make the feet slightly taller so he could slide underbed storage containers underneath. My only mistake was not planning ahead for how I would attach the headboard to the frame. It ended up not being necessary because the weight of the bed pins it against the wall, but If I ever wanted to make this for someone else I would want to solve that piece first. 

Built this bedside table to go along with the Farmhouse Storage Bed I built for my daughter. I added molding to the front of the drawer to match the molding on the drawers in her bed. I used a ratio based of the size of the drawers which left me using 1/4" plywood strips cut to 1" wide to frame out the box.

I didn't have a jig-saw since I am still pretty new at this, so I searched for alternatives. I found these plastic ashtrays at the dollar store, flipped them upside down and spray-painted them! Now my bin even says 'made in china' ;)

My husband and I did this together. It took him about 4 days to get the dresser built and then I did the finish. It is SOLID and we absolutely love it. It's in our 10-year old daughter's "horse" room and goes really well with the barn wood on her back wall and her barn door (closet).

Swiss coffee Entertainment Center... Distressed. All Trim work made by me.

I built this makeup vanity to fit a 40" wall. I was inspired by the design of the DIY breakfast bar. The hutch sits on the top and has plenty of storage. The front drawer fronts are hinged at the bottom, this storage space holds a hairdryer and iron or makeup with a cord pass through at the back. The stain is a mixture of three colours.