Community Brag Posts

I was scared to try this project because it is listed as "intermediate" and I don't have that much furniture building experience. I originally wanted to do this with live edge, but when I saw how much it was gonna cost, I thought I would just do planks. Lucky me, I found 5 8ft live edge pieces (1 ft wide, 3 inches thick) for CAN $100. Some 2x4 and 1x4 and I was ready to rock and roll. I decided to make the table 6 ft long, so the legs are 5 ft apart. I made the connection a bit different than in the plans, just because I want to be able to stretch our legs underneath. It is as stable as can be. I love Ana White's plans. Great instructions, great cut list and almost no left overs.

I used the basic design for this bed but altered it quite a lot to make the joins stronger, the edges smoother and the whole thing generally easier to take apart and put back together.
I used beech wood and completed the project at a woodworking club, so it's quite hard to estimate the time taken, as I only did it one evening a week and spent most of the time bringing the wood out, putting it away and clearing up each time I was there!
I am still undecided whether to give it an oil finish or to paint it white with chestnut wood stain on the headboard and footboard tops.

I used all scrap wood that I had laying around. even the 2X4s were old painted wood and looked beautiful when sanded down.

I built the sofa and loveseat from 2X4's and used 1X4's for the top of the coffee table. I used standard patio cushions for the sofa and cut the tops off to use at the side for arm rests.

This was my first project and I am so pleased! The stain is beautiful and once I got the hang of it, so easy to complete. I am excited to try a new plan and keep going!!

Laura

I modified the laundry basket dresser that you made. Here's the end result :) I allowed the baskets to hang out farther that the side due to limited space for the built in "cabinet." You can not see it in the photo, but we then wrote "dirty" in red on one end of each basket so that I know easily which baskets contain clean unfolded clothes and how much laundry I still need to do. Each person has their own "hamper" basket in their room that gets put into here when it's full and they replace it with an empty one from the rack. It's been working like a charm!

This project was one that I've been planning for about 18 months- I had to wait until we moved back into our home to start the build, so I had plenty of time to think about how to maximize my storage space in this small room with a slanted ceiling. My husband had some time off from work and offered to watch our toddler during the day time- so that was all the motivation I needed to start this big build!

Overall, it took about a week from beginning to end. The cost was between $400-$500 for everything- including hardware, paint, supplies etc. Still a huge savings over what it would have cost us to purchase desk and storage units to work in this room (I priced them out at about $2000-$2500 - WAAAAY out of our price range).

For the main desk unit I used the plans for the reclaimed look wood bedside table. I modified the height of the legs to 28" tall so that the sewing desk height was correct for when I'm sitting at my machine for hours on end. I also modified one of the units to be an open shelving unit, so that I could store my patterns and misc. sewing notions in baskets on the shelves.

The desk top was created by using six 1 x 4 whitewood boards joined with pocket holes. The corner joint is "woven" in a sense to give a unique look to the unit. I used 4 brackets in the corner (secured to the studs) to support the weight of the corner of the desk. I used Dark Walnut stain and then followed up with 3 coats of Poly (sanding in between each coat).

The two fabric/machine storage bins were made using the cubby bookcase plans as a base. Both plans were modified to maximize fabric storage with the small space- hence no face frame on each unit. The middle storage unit is one that was my first build a few years back, before I'd even heard of knock off wood- oh how it would have been so much easier if I'd known about this site back then. I added a plywood top with a piano hinge to fold out for a stand up cutting unit. For the legs, I simply went to the table/baluster aisle at my local hardware store and purchase some hardware to secure two balusters to the plywood top. Screwed them in on the outside of the window frame so I don't have to unscrew the legs every time I fold it up and away, cut the balusters down to the proper height and that was done!

The ribbon/wrapping paper storage was super easy- just used some of my left over 2 x 2 furring strips, along with 14 dowel rods and 1 /14 screw in hooks. I pre-drilled the holes for the screw in hooks as well as the 3" screws I used to mount it to the wall.

The thread holder was a previous build of mine as well- just cut out LOTS of dowels that fit into the peg board and glued them in place. Added a little decorative trim to finish it, and painted it white.

Overall I could not be more excited about how this build turned out...aside from wood working, sewing is my next favorite thing (I have a small Etsy shop and do local craft fairs for fun). Having the stand up cutting station is a HUGE relief, as after 10 or so years in the Army, my knees and back are shot (who would have ever thought that jumping out of airplanes wasn't good for you!) The fabric storage is great and allows me to see all of my different fabrics so I eliminate over-buying (which I obviously have a problem with) and purchasing doubles.

I can't thank Ana enough for her website- I grew up with a dad that builds everything, but was always a bit intimidated when it came to building stuff for myself. Her plans really break everything down to the simplest level of instruction and make the building process stress free. This was my first time building a cabinet unit and I was very worried about the drawers not working, but I just followed along on the instructions and they came out perfect.

I built this for my son using the fire truck loft and playhouse loft plans combined. I put tread on the stairs to add safety and enhance the realism. I was pleased with the instructions. The hardest part was painting it red. I hate painting anything red. Make sure you get a primer tinted to gray that works with the red you choose.

First timer here..your plans were great. Added some framing to the front of the bench. Will hide the gap with a cushion. Turns out are floors are rather sloped haha. Thanks!

Fannmann

Unfortunately, I just finished building this console table two weeks before Ana and Jim's plans went up on the web site! What I wouldn't have given for the plans! Without the plans, my dad helped me modify the Tryde Console Table to look more like Pottery Barn's Benchwright Console Table, but it was definitely a labor of love (and took me three months to complete, primarily due to lack of motivation and bad weather in Chicago). But I am so pleased with the final result! Because my console table is based off the Tryde project plan, I used 4x4s for the legs, and 2x2s/2x4s for the top. Some of the wood came from other projects, including the loft bed my dad built for me nearly 15 years ago! The bottom shelf is a 1x12 that has been cut with a jigsaw to "perfectly" fit around the posts. I say "perfectly" because I definitely had to use some wood filler around three of the posts! The drawers were the hardest part, and where I really could have used a plan! They are much smaller than they appear from the outside - I used 1x2s for the sides, then attached a 1x6 face to match the sides and back of the console table. Both drawers are firmly held in place by metal drawer slides, which means I don't have to worry about the drawer falling out because it's been overloaded with glassware (as you can see, the console was a late holiday present for my partner, who is using it as his bar). I should have used a thicker piece of plywood on the bottom, because as you can see, the screws attached to the drawer slides protrude. It's nothing we can't live with though! We really wanted the piece to look older than it is (hence why we purposely chose knotty boards), and with some many reclaimed boards, I knew the stain would have to be dark. We chose a Red Oak Minwax stain and applied it once to the legs (pine) and twice to everything else (mostly whitewood). Two coats of Deft later, and we love the result. It looks exactly the way we hoped it would and we love the mix of dark and light shades.

I came across the Shanty Sideboard plan while looking around the site. I decided to make this my first build from the site. I modified it slightly by making overlay doors instead of inset. I found that this allowed me more room for adjustments to the doors to get the best look. I used Pure-Bond Birch Hardwood Plywood from Home Depot for the main build with Select Pine from Lowes as the trim. This was all put together using Kreg Pocket Holes and 1 1/4 inch screws.

I used Luane Plywood as the backing for the doors. I then finished it by painting it with an off-white from Olympic (at Lowes). I left the Luane plywood in its natural state. The doors were mounted with Blum style Face-Frame cabinet hinges. I then applied several coats of Water Based Ultimate Polyurethane from Rustoleum.

I have included a picture of the sideboard in the unfinished and finished state.

I will soon be building a Hutch to go one top. I will use the Shanty Hutch Plan as the basis and modify it from there.

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I recently completed the hutch for the sideboard. I used the Shanty Hutch plan as the beginning point and then modified it quite a bit. I made three sections and added drawers at the bottom of each section.

I then used the same Luane Plywood to make the backing. This brings it all together.

The total cost was around $550.00 and worth every penny. Much better than spending $3,000.00 at store.

My office faux mantle came out awesome thanks to Ana White. The only changes we made was that we used dental crown molding and we added the base. Other than that everything else was exactly according to the plans.

Kentwood Nightstand

We have been slowly updating our sunroom and making it a play area for our kids. I built this trestle play table and a couple of rolling cubes to go with it. I still need seating for two more (for playdates and when the grown-ups want to sit) so I'm trying to decide what to do on the other side.

I wanted to use all wood that we already had in the garage, so the top is made from 1x12s connected with pocket holes, and the legs are 2x6s.

In the background you can see the board & batten my husband and I installed a few weeks ago. We also ripped out some moldy carpeting, sanded the concrete and laid vinyl plank flooring. It's coming along!

Plan for the rolling storage cubes: http://www.shanty-2-chic.com/2012/07/rolling-storage-cube-stools.html

We just love your work and detailed plans!

Hubby and I built the Console Unit and plan to add on the base units and hutches. We built the unit only 30" tall vs. the 34-1/2" height from the plans. We used oak plywood and oak trim and finished it with a Fruitwood Stain and Polyurethane Seal. We shortened the height of the upper shelf, adding two shallow drawers and a pull-out tray for setting our cable modem on and hooking up our laptop to view movies and You Tube videos on our television, when desired. My hubby loves to make You Tube videos and made one of our work and posted it at:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6JuQ4N-jUq4

Keep up the great work and we plan to posted more pics!