Community Brag Posts

Burned wood finish with stain and lots of coats of poly for protection and shine

This was a father's day present. My husband was quite impressed!

SImple and easy to make. I had leftover wood so all I had to buy was 1x2"s. I'd say the total cost was $15. It's sturdy and holds a lot of books.

This is the second farmhouse bed that i've built from these plans.  I made a slight modification to shorten the headboard for this bed. Overall, it was a fun and enjoyable project. 

I needed a bed frame to go around my adjustable mattress and cheapest I found for pre-fabricated was greater than $200 and I thought why not go on Ana’s site and see if I could build one cheaper and I found this design.  I did everything in the instructions but build the platform as I was only getting it as a frame around the base that I already had.   I ended up using carsiding as it was cheaper than 1x6’s I also did not use pocket holes I just used regular screws that I countersunk and it gives it a bit of a more rustic look   I did have to adjust a few things as the side rails the 2x4 toppers went over too much on the adjustable portion of the bed and I didn’t allot for additional width on the head and footboard so I had to remove them -  to me it presents a little bit of a cleaner line I figure I can always go back with a 2 x 2 if I want a capped look.  The weathered recommended product turned it to a grayish purple hue no matter how much I sanded it -  it grew on me but definitely not the same color probably different tannins in the wood I was able to find not sure.  

The build took about two days total I built it all on my own the bed hardware was tricky though after failing to find anything local I ordered bed rail hardware off of Amazon for 12 bucks it’s a lot easier and your able to connect the side rails to the head and footboard on your own.

Total cost with the bed hardware probably about $130 if I took off the stuff I wasted it may be closer to $115.

We remodeled our basement and added a master bathroom. The vanity space we had needed a custom vanity. We saw the Balin Console Table here and thought it would work nicely. It does! The four 12x12 drawers hold everything we need to use and keep discrete and the storage space underneath works nicely for extras that need to be away but quickly accessed.

These were the inspiration pieces for the 1-Board cedar desk accessory set plan. These were made entirely of scrap wood. These sets are all painted, they will be gifts for the girls at work.

The wood for these is some 3/8" plywood (crate and pencil cup sides), 1x2 (bottom of business card holder and ends of pencil cup), some 1/2" x 1 1/2" craft board (sides of paper clip trays, business card holder), 3/4" plywood (bottoms of paper clip trays), some small squares of Wainscoat paneling (sides of gray pencil cup), some 1/4" plywood (bottom of pencil cup), some 1" strips of some old painted lauan (old project, pulled apart and the wood is being repurposed) and a couple of little pieces of 1/2" x 3/4" S4S (fronts of business card holders).

You can see the mishmash of different materials in the shot of an unfinished set, and also the stack of them waiting in the wings on my work table (it's starting to look like a Jackson Pollock painting :) heehee)

All the paints and materials were left overs from other projects. I hadn't decided on the finishes yet while I was building. These would be even easier to make if I had finished all the pieces first!

It was fun building these, it's great to be able to take something that may have gone in the bin, and make it into something lovely. I'm hoping the girls like these!

I've got a cube drawer plan in the works (a 1-board cedar with 2 drawers, and also have measurements for a 3-drawer from 3/8" thick craft board and 1/4" plywood, like the one on the table). I'll get to those soon.

Followed the original plan but substituted branches from an oak tree for the X brace to give it a more "Adirondack" look.  Geneously sprayed the branches with a clear polyurethane coating to seal the bark.

Enjoyed building this with my son.  Thank you Ana.

Built this a little smaller - only 15" deep and 42" wide for use behind the couch with multiple functions - laptop desk, dining room buffet table, and behind-the-couch-set-things-on table. Love it!

Tricky parts - the drawers. Because I changed the dimensions, I built the drawer box to fit my new dimensions and installed it. Then, I cut the sides of my drawers 10" deep (the smallest drawer slides I could find and a perfect fit). I laid the Hettich ball bearing drawer slides (from my local lumber and cabinet supplier, not big box) in the drawer box and trimmed down my drawer front/back until they fit nicely. If you're interested, it was 15 1/8" wide.

Nail gun is a must on this project!!! And remember to glue and use 2" nails.

I used the Kreg jig to build my drawers because I'm familiar with building drawers that way and feel comfortable getting them squared. I highly recommend the Kreg jig!

Then, I attacked it with my orbital sander until it was nice and smooth.

Love Ana's great patterns!

After living in the basement with our young children for the first few years after moving into our new home, we were ready to claim the master bedroom on the main level. We made it a winter project and re-did the whole room (good-bye lavender walls). We made the headboard from Ana's "Reclaimed Headboard" plans and one of the night stands from the "Kentwood Nightstand" plans! We love the final look and saved ourselves a TON of cash in the process.

This Adirondack chair was done in pine. I followed Ana's plan, with only one modification ... went with a wider armrest. I thought the wider armrest would be handy for resting a drink.

Our kitchen table buggered out so I decided to give making one a try. This was my first project. With seriously low funds available- I asked around to family for scrap lumber. Turns out the old lumber in the barn was black walnut! I had to plane and join it by hand so it took quite a bit longer to make.
I made the table one foot shorter and one foot wider. It seats 6 comfortably on the sides. Thank you so much for the plans!

My husband and I bought our California king Sleep Number bed several years after we bought our solid wood bedroom furniture and it was too big to use with the bed that came with our dressers. After our most recent move, I decided I would have to finally part with the dressers in order to have a bedroom set that matches, which was hard because I love the simple, classic style of the dressers. Then I found this site and the plans for the Cassidy bed.

To make the Cassidy bed work for us, I extended height of the side rails and footboard to the floor so that our little dog could not hide under the bed when it was time for her to go into her kennel. That means I had to buy two sheets of plywood, one for the headboard to be cut from and one for the footboard to be cut from, and I bought 1x16s instead of 1x12s for the side rails. I also adapted the entire dimensions of the bed so that it fits around the plastic platform of our Sleep number bed, so we did not need to use the 2x4 slats. In fact, we did not use any of the 2x4s in the plan. The side rails are hung on the scrap lengths of the plywood. Finally, we did not decorate the headboard with door shims.

In the end, the bed is incredibly solid and beautiful. Afterword, I finished it to match our dressers, which I had stripped, as well.

I built this saw several years ago using plans i got on the internet. At the time I needed a way to easily breakdown full sheets by myself. It is extremely accurate and easy to use. With the removeable wings attached it opens up to over 12'. It easily collapses for storage. I would reccommend this to anyone who does not have the room for a professional quality cabinet saw. It took me about a weekend to build. All parts were readily available at my local homecenter and hardware store. I since have gotten a cabinet saw and a tracksaw so sadly this saw now sits in a corner of my shop.

I needed an entry table and when I saw this plan for a bedside table I knew with just a couple of size modifications it would be perfect for me. It is a little taller and wider that Ana's plans, but other than that is true to her design. Couldn't be happier with the new table!