Community Brag Posts
Chelsea Loft
Wanted to make a loft bed for my 4-year-old son's room that could accommodate a toddler bed beneath it for when my 1-year-old daughter eventually starts sleeping on her own. I was torn between the Chelsea and Cabin bed plans, but eventually settled on the Chelsea because I liked the look of the headboard better.
I looked through all the brag posts to get modification ideas. I ended up mostly stealing ideas from "chadwickstafin", and like him took the great idea from "groovymom2000" to use chalkboard paint (though I only used it to paint the side of the desk end, since I knew the bookshelf end would be mostly blocked by a ladder). I decided to skip the decorative feet and just extend my 2x2s to the floor for extra strength, a mod that most people appear to be doing with this plan. I saw some people using 2x3s in place of 2x2s for added strength, but I can confirm that 2x2s are plenty strong enough on their own (2x2s are stronger than people give them credit for, and there's 8 of them here to distribute the load).
Like chadwickstafin, I cut my headboard a little differently, and I used short lengths of scrap 2x2s cut at 45-degrees to brace the top and bottom corners of both end units. There is no wiggle to the bed at all, it's stabilized so well. I also added a middle support to the short rail, just for a little extra safety, and secured the inside ends of the railings to the headboard/footer with pocket screws. I skipped the filler pieces for the railing, and just did a little extra sanding to make sure all exposed corners were smooth and splinter-free. I made the opening to the bed a bit wider than the plans, 15" instead of 13". I used 2x3s for the ladder, which gave me the sturdiness I wanted without the full bulk of using 2x4s, which looked especially chunky next to a loft unit made with mostly 1x boards. I played with some different angles, but eventually went with a 15-degree ladder. There were some leftover plastic handles sitting in my garage (originally from an outdoor playset ladder before I replaced it with a climbing wall), so I added those near the top of the ladder for some extra safety. I put some color-changing strip lighting under the bed, so there would be plenty of light for the desk and bookshelves (my little guy loves to just plop down on the ground beneath his bed and read).
I spaced the 1x3 slats about 3.5" apart (used scrap 2x4 blocks as spacers). Because my wife or I will lay in bed and read to our son at night, I easily added a couple 2x2 support rails under the 1x3 slats for extra mattress support. I'm a big dude at 6'3 and 250 lbs, and the slats alone WERE strong enough to hold me when I did a test, but they bowed just enough in the center (unnoticeable to me up on the mattress, but I had my wife watching the slats for me below) that I felt I should add a bit more support. Now there's no bowing at all.
I also used Ana's Top Bunk Organizer plans to give my son a little extra storage up top (and a place to set a glass of water during the night), and painted it to match the bed's color scheme. Everything was sanded, painted, sanded again, repainted, and then given a couple coats of polycrylic (the painting process took longer than the cutting & assembly!).
Cost-wise I was extraordinarily lucky. We have a Habitat For Humanity ReStore near us, so I was able to get my paints and a 3x6 sheet of MDF for $15 total. I also had some rebate cards from Menards (regional hardware store, similar to Lowes or Home Depot), plus happened to go there on a week when pine wood was on sale, so I got all my lumber for less than $60.
I could not be happier with the end results, and my son absolutely loves his new bed.
Garden Shed
This was my first big Build! Thank you Ana for the free and easy to read plans.
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Doll Bed
This is the doll bed from Ana's plans! My 6 year old wanted to make one for her friend's birthday. She helped with nailing, sanding, painting, sanding, painting oh and painting!
We did it! Our first every project!
We are in desperate need of toy storage in our playroom. We are planning to build several more of these bulk bins.
Comments
Mon, 05/04/2015 - 10:59
Awesome First Project!
You did great! Thanks for sharing, now fill those things up:)
Sun, 11/20/2016 - 10:39
type of wood
It was just standard pine. We painted afterwards with grey paint leftover from a kitchen project.
Cedar planters
My wife wanted some planters for the front porch. Thanks to Ana whites page for these plans. Also loved the top modification that I think is a must.
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Childs table & chairs
Built this set for our 2 year old for christmas!!! He loves it and it is sturdy enough for me and my hubby to sit at to.. Of course the brothers fit around the table as well and they all color or play with playdough.
Rustic X end table
My first attempt at making something this caliber!
Extended and Customized Sausha's Laundry Pedestal
This was my first ever project. I would have done a good amount differently if I had to reconstruct it now, but it came out pretty good and definitely serves its purpose.
These are the changes I made compared to the original design:
- Increased the length to 69" to fit our room
- Added center posts to support the extended length
- Doubled the top thickness
- Routed an ogee on the underside of the top
- Extended the top and bottom deck by 1' all around
- Increased the post height to 12"
- Chamfered the corners of the vertical posts
- Enclosed the sides with inset panels
- Painted to match our baseboard trim
- Added furniture slider feet to make it easy to move on the tile
It definitely took longer than I would have liked, but I could do it much faster if I had to do it again.
Simple Kitchen Island Poplar Top
First project in a quite a while for me so wanted to go with something simple. Was able to complete on a Saturday. Only thing I wanted to do different was 2" thickness on the top.
Simple Farmhouse Bed Single
This was my first project and I’m beyond proud. Thank you for the instructions!!!
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Our new Ladder Shelf!
This is our first piece of
One of my first projects!
This was one of my first projects. I had some challenges with the cuts... I rushed through (since I had my 1 & 3 year old assisting) and didn't make exact cuts... as a result, there was a lot of trimming to do on the legs. Also, the pressure treated wood that we purchased was very weak and even with drilling pilot holes, I experienced quite a few splits when putting together the legs of the benches. (This is why I only have one bench, actually... I still need to buy more wood...) Otherwise, I love the table!!! I think I attached the legs of the table differently than instructed, though I can't recall what I did.. and we ended up cutting a 2x2 to tie in the legs (from mid-X to mid-X) for extra support. (My 3 year old son was leaping from the table and we wanted to make sure it could meet his demands.) We LOVE it overall!
Little Bear's Loft Bed
My daughter had talked about wanting a loft bed for a long time so after of plenty of research, we went for it. The shelves of the bookcase, except the top and bottom, are made from 3/4 plywood I had laying around. I did my best to utilize as much lumber that I already had in the basement to reduce costs.
Underneath the bed is LED Rope Lighting and the gaps under the rails were stenciled with the bear paws since my daughters nickname is Little Bear.
People have loved it enough I think there's a couple people that are going to buy the supplies so I can build it for them. The one thing I wish I had during the construction was an oscillating multi-tool to trim off the Kreg plugs. I now have one and plan on using it a fair amount.
On to the next project!!
Ben
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Sliding Door Media Console
Built this to replace a shorter, store-bought media table that was just a dust collector. I really enjoyed building this, especially making the hardware by hand. Thanks to one of the other builders for the plans to build the iron door hangers.
My first build I Love this closet
When I wanted to unpack I found this amazing design by Ana White. I transformed my living room into my workshop. And voila my first build was accomplished
Thanks for all your amazing designs
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Toddler Picnic Table
I was dying to try this little picnic table out for my boys. It was such a quick and easy build, though without clamps, I had to enlist my husband's help to hold things for me while I drilled!
Triple Pedestal Farmhouse Table
This table was actually our very first project! It took us longer because of that, but really, this table isn't very complicated at all! Cutting the arches were probably the most difficult part of the whole thing (hence why we left them off of the matching bench).
We modified this table down to 7.5 feet, but still kept the three arches because we loved the look of it. This table can still easily seat 8 people.
We modified the bench by not framing the top and leaving the arches off, but kept the same look of the legs so it would still match and keep the time/difficulty low.
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Bookcase wall unit
This is the project that inspired me to start woodworking. I'm a bookaholic and have always used cheap, particle board bookcases from Walmart for storage. They're fine for the price, but over time the shelves bow and they NEVER survive a move. When I outgrew the three units I had, I balked at buying a fourth, which I didn't really have room for anyway. Enter Ana White! This is actually based off a brag project under the IKEA Lack Inspired Bookcase. What I love best about building my own is that I can customize to suit my needs. I was able to put almost twice as much shelving into about the same area. And if I outgrow these, I can just build another!
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Simple Adirondack Chairs
Built by Chuck Hughes
"I've made 10 of these chairs so far."
Comments
spiceylg
Fri, 05/01/2015 - 06:39
Nice
Looks so inviting and love the colors!
Ana White Admin
Fri, 05/01/2015 - 10:20
I'll take the carrot cake!
Looks relaxing and wonderful! Thanks for sharing!
bobaina
Mon, 05/11/2015 - 03:24
Thanks for the inspiration
Ok, I was thinking of just how great these chairs would look around a fire pit.... and then I seen this. I may have to talk my husband into this for a summer project! Great build. Love the bright colours! And the poochies are cute too :)