Community Brag Posts

I drove to my dads house to get the wood. He has had rough cut 1X12's sitting in the back yard for several years. They are warped, dirty, cracked..... I think my husband thought I was crazy for wanting to do this. 6 months after getting the wood I finally started. I first took the boards and sanded the caked on red dirt off. Then my 8 year old helped me rip them on the table saw into an 8 inch piece and a 4 inch piece. Then sanded again. The boards turned from red or grey to a yellow color. My husband told me to do it right I needed to use a jointer and he showed me how and I needed to use biscuts to join the planks together, we borrowed one and he showed me how to use the tool. It is so cool, I want to buy one. Then I called my neighbor over to help me, he brought a power planner over and showed me how to use it. It made all the boards the same heighth and REALLY sanded them good (remember these are rough cut boards). Then we used a belt sander to make them really smooth. Then we used a router with a Vgrove bit down the planks where the 1x8's meet. He had two fluted, tapered columns in his garage he has been trying to get rid of so we cut them down and used them as the posts for the headboard and footboard. I cut the arch with a jig saw. Looks pretty darn great! I surprised people with the wood I used! Thank goodness for biscuts, jointers, planners and belt sanders! Best part......cost me a whole $15 to get to this point. I had to buy wood glue, biscuts, and sand paper.

I want to use a laquer finish and try to use a glaze in the grooves. I will try to attach a finished picture when it is done.

We needed some storage by the back door for shoes and dog accessories so it would be easier for us to take our dogs out for walks. I saw the plan for the shoe dresser and thought it would be great since we would be storing shoes in it. I made it narrower to fit our space and also made it deeper. The cost was mostly in the hardware.

Great plans! Easy to follow and well written. The final project was bigger than I thought it was going to be but very happy with it. Built exactly as the plans stated and the finish project is very heavy duty. My skill level is average and I am only a weekend wood worker and I found it looked very professional.  

Our old firebox had rusted out through improper installation. So, we took it out and built a 7” bump out directly in front of it. The best part was, the new electric fireplace fit the old firebox location perfectly. Since my wife wanted a stone appearance, we purchased two ¼” 4’x8’ decorative panels that she then “schmeared.” For the mantle, we used pin oak milled from our property. I used three boards to create a faux beam to provide the look we are very happy with. The hearth consists of four walkway pavers.

This cost me $55 for wood (pine), nails, and bolts. Additional $7 in paint. It's very sturdy and very comfy with a lounge chair cushion (Walmart had a great price--cheaper than I would have spent to make one myself). This will also serve as bench seating for my deck (I love multi-use furniture). Thanks Brook and Ana for this great plan!

Very fun! And easy and now all my friends want one.

First bird house..! 

Finished building my son's shop by enclosing an existing carport and adding these hand built carriage doors to the front of the shop. Sorry, not built from any plans here but used the techniques learned here from many of the other plans.

Gary

This is the rocket bookshelf plan with a color scheme for buzz lightyear

This is my first EVER project, but I have already made several more!! I love this site and the new found confidence I have to make things for my home! Keep the plans coming!!!

This was my first attempt at making furniture...but it turned out GREAT!  My fiance was about to buy a VERY similar dining room set for $1300 before I stopped her and insisted that I could build it myself, finish it to match our kitchen/dining room, and save a TON of money!

Quick and easy phone holders

Fireman Joe

My wife and I needed bar stools for the kitchen and could not find ones we liked. Also, finding ones that were the height we wanted was a challenge. So, after seeing the plans for the Simplest Stool we decided to make them. It was really quite simple with the plans given. Even the angle cuts were not that bad. Thanks for the plans for this awesome stool.

My patriotic pie safe

This bed is even more beautiful in person. I'm so pleased with it and the clear plans that Ana writes up. See my blog for a few more pictures.

I wanted something special for my Daughter’s room. I made her bed and bedside table and then I experimented with your book case plan. I was pleasantly surprised with the finished product.

I combined my favorite elements from three of Ana's dollhouse plans to make this dollhouse for my kids. My favorite part is the stairs, which I cut from a 2x4 with a miter saw. I made this project from start to finish in one day while the grandparents took the kids, and it was ready for Christmas morning! I made simple furniture for it, too, which you can see in the second picture.