Community Brag Posts

I started this project and wasn't sure what I was doing. This is the first project I've ever built and I look forward to the bigger and better projects I will be doing. As a spent several weeks online looking for the perfect bed to build for my son, I found this web page and truly found it to be easy to follow and easy to customize.

I built the bed and bought the fabric storage boxes at a local store and decided that the lights would be a great addition. I found some LED lights on Amazon.com which were extremely easy to install. The lights added only an additional $28, total, which added a cool new look to my sons room. He uses the lights as his nightlight and I love the way it turned out.

My next project will be the king farmhouse frame.

I needed a way to get my shoes off of the floor, but wanted to store my shoes in a way that was easy to see and easier to retrive.  As you can see I have VERY limited space.  I found Ana's plans for floating shelves and ran with it, adapting it to fit my need.  After this picture was taken, I have added a piece of lauan to each shelf to complete project.  Hopefully someone can take this idea and adapt it to your needs as well!

So I wanted a coffee table for my new apartment and couldn't find one I liked so I decided to build one. I wanted a zen theme for my new place so I took this plan and put a twist on it. I built it basically to plan and then carved out some Asian symbols and filled them with Woods metal. I sanded down the inlays, stained the table, distressed it, carefully cleaned up the symbols and then added a couple coats of poly. Came out pretty cool!

I've finished my swing but my porch don't have enough clearance so I built A frame stand for it.

This was my first furniture project and I simply wanted to hide all of the cords for my TV. My husband and I opted out of the drawers since we wanted a big area to store all of the other items (DVDs, playstation, etc.). We also did not put a back on the table so the electronics stored inside could properly ventilate without overheating.

I followed the directions to a "T" from the originial post, but some of the cut list specifications were off. I purchased an already finished sheet of wood for the top and ended up making a full shelf for the bottom.

Super excited to start on my list of projects now that I have a work bench.

I know there are a hundred brag posts of the $10 ledges, and I have used them before (and posted them) but I am so happy with how these turned out!

Its too bad I don't have a good before picture, because the things I love most about these are the colors and the interchangability and it would be easier to explain with the before picture!

I have had pictures in cute matching frames on the one wall for years, but the frames were too light for the wall color, and the floor and furniture, so I needed to darken them up. Additionally, we got a black tv stand even though the floor and couches are dark brown. (TV is black, so it works) So I made the shelves black to pull that in. Then on the shelves closer to the tv, I used black and silver frames, and on the ones above the brown couch I painted all my light wood frames darker.

As for the interchangability, its a lot easier to pull the frames down and change the picture when you don't have to worry about how they look together - I can just move them around on the shelf. I've always had a hard time getting a "gallery" look just right - something will always hang lower than I want or whatever. So I finally got it perfect with one 10x13 of the kids together in the middle of 4 8x10s (one of each) and a few little ones to mix in. Then we had to go and have #5 and mess my whole system up! :)

So he's 16 months now and his picture is finally on the wall, and was taken last May - so sad..

But my other set of shelves has pictures of everybody - even me, yikes! I decided they look better full so I used all the frames I had, and got some cheap ones and thrift store frames and put them all together. "controlled chaos" just like the rest of the house/life!

Thanks Ana for giving me the confidence to know that I can make it myself, I never would have gone out and spent the money to buy matching frames, but knowing I could just do it myself I was able to get it done for cheap!

For the paint and stain:
The Wife and I really wanted a rich red color, but didn't want it to be so bright that it stood out funny against the rest of our furniture and settings in the living room. So, I went and picked up some Espresso Water Based Stain from Woodcraft, from the brand "General Finishes" for the base coat and the for the 1/4 board back. As you can see in several of the photos, I didn't cover the entire thing and in some areas I purposefully was SLOPPY (Yes my Wife's name is Amy). Afterwards... for the red coat with the finish.... my wife loves using this Annie Sloan paint that she uses to refinish other projects... Basically follow any tutorials on youtube or on her webage. It can be a hard to find paint, but I think a milk paint and clear wax and a brown wax will do the trick also.

For the build:
I took the planked wood sideboard plans and pretty much threw out the middle doors and drawers. I have a pretty serious entertainment center in our living room and the center channel speaker is by no means small.. It's so large that at the box stores, I could never find a media console that it would fit. I chose 3 shelves because I wanted it to look fairly even. For reference... the center shelving area is approximately 25 inches wide.
Nothing really special here, if you need some hints or tricks that I used message me and I'll help the best I can. I'm by no means an expert at this, Just take your time and anything you do will come out looking great. Plus. YOU MADE IT!

This was my first prject of this scale. First time making doors and drawers. Took about 3 months of working after work and weekends to finish. I'm pretty happy for how it trurned out as new wood worker. Time for a drink.

Mud kitchen made from scraps for my coworker’s kids. (Mud kitchen is a little kitchen to make mud pies and let the little imagination play.) They love it!

We enlisted help from my brother-in-law to build the dollhouse for our daughter last Christmas. He also painted the floors, stairs, and roof. I spent many nights after the kids were in bed "wallpapering" the walls with various scrapbook paper.

I love this house and it's something that will last for many years. Even better, both of our daughters love it and so do their friends.

I took plans from the Rhyan console table and just added a couple extra cabinets. This was a tough project but it came out great. I bought the wood at a local mill and all the hardware is from Home Depot

Thank you Ana for the excellent plans. We have been talking about this for months and are excited finally have a greenhouse. We live in the mountains and this will help extend our growing season. Please tell Ram thank you from the Wranglerlerstar family.

My first build.using these plans I had to convert to u.k. Sizes and alter slightly but it turned out really well
Built for upcoming event.

This was my FIRST DIY piece of furniture and I am thrilled with the outcome!

Since I am not really one to go for the rustic cottage look I wanted this DIY coffee table to have a bit more of a modern feel. I chose a grey gel stain to do the job. It gave the table a thicker stain but I am still able to see some of the wood grain beneath it.

I also have two young boys that play on this table so I gave it three coats of Poly on it for some protection. But the best part of this table is that it can get all dinged up and it just makes it look better!

Ana White has the best tutorials & free plans to get a crafter to switch to the dark side and become a DIYer! 

I did a full blog post on my progress throughout with a lot more pictures.

When I recently moved into a space with a kitchen and living room attached, I quickly realized that I wouldn't have room for a full size dinner table. I had seen extendable kitchen tables but none fit the bill, I was looking for something more compact. I also liked the idea of a bar / island with storage underneath, and I had noticed some had a drop leaf on 1 side which would be useful – but why not have 2 leafs for more dining space? When I decided to build my own table to fit these requirements it was difficult to find any plans out there, especially with drop leafs. Through lots of experimenting and research I finally built what I had envisioned: a kitchen island / bar with cart storage and two folding table leafs which expand to about 3^1/2 feet squared of eating / drinking area. I went through this trial and error process so you don’t have to, find more pictures and instructions here: http://bacheloronabudget.com/diy-drop-leaf-kitchen-island-cart/