Community Brag Posts

I wanted to make this project for my son-in-law for Christmas and use up wood I already had in the garage.  I also thought using 2x4's was a bit chuncky for the size of the coolbox, so while I used the idea, I did not really use the plans and made up my own.  I only used screws to attach the wood for the two shelves, all the other joints were cut and glue joints and at one point I felt I was making a jigsaw puzzle! 

Other changes I made were:

No water drain tap - The drain in the cool box is set slightly above the base of the coolbox.  I loved the idea of a tap for the external look of the finished project but for a practical purpose, it is very fiddly to install and you would still have to emply the bottom of the coolbox with a cloth as the water would not completely drain from the box.  I did not remove the handles and made the wooden box slightly bigger, just big enough to raise the handle and remove the coolbox for emptying and cleaning.

Decorative Bottle Caps -  Instead of putting these on the front, I designed the lid so that it could be covered with a layer of bottlecaps and grout (having first glued the caps on).  The provided a surface for putting hot food on should you want to use it as a 'hotpad' (although you would not be able to open it if you did) - but mostly, I thought they would be less likely to fall off, it povides a rain/weather barrier, and futher insulates the box. So the lid in my version is framed with wood, then has a layer of insulation, a layer of 3/4" wood, then the bottle caps/grout.

Bottle Cap Catcher -  I added a bottle opener to the side opposite the shelf and attached below it a 1/2 circle terricotta planter which comes with a hole in the bottom to catch bottle caps.

The whole thing was painted in 3 different layers of Anne Sloan chalk paint, waxed and sanded to give it the distressed look.

I have a list of the wood used (with sizes) if anyone wants it.  I plan to write the plans up better, but for now this is what I have.   

I purchased reclaimed 1x4s from a deconstruction warehouse called Re-Use Hawai'i for 20 cents a foot! I cut the lumber to make an un-ordered stagger pattern, experimented with dowel joints to join the cut pieces into 4 ft. planks and used pocket hole screws (hidden by the table legs and supports) to join the planks. I used old salvaged 1x2 window framing for the legs using pocket hole joinery.

I used the plan more as inspiration. Most of the boards are from an old barn and had to be planed down. The cabinet holds 30 bottles. I also found some old hardware on a couple of drawers that were in the barn. 

Quick and easy to follow plans.  Only issue I ran into was that my miter saw only cuts up to a 50° angle.  I set up a jig to hold the 2x2 perpendicular to the saw and set the miter to 30°.  Viola, easy 60° angles!  Pic attached for reference.

I built this lovely lego/coffee table for my son, 7 and my sanity at night! This is my 3rd plan I tried from Ana's wonderful plans. (I made airplane shelf and $10 wall ledge before).

Loved the extra long buffet cabinet but did not need it, however I did need a television stand.  Here is my inspired project.

Removed the center drawers and added a glass door, adjusted the dimensions to 60x16x20... and this is what I've created.

Thank you for the inspiration!

I'll be honest I didn't use these plans to build this cooler chest but this was the first place I saw the concept of building a box around a cooler to make a cooler chest so I give anna props for inspiring me I already had an old cooler to use so it helped keep the cost down I also used 1x4 blue pine and cedar fence picketts and repurposed the bottle opener from a growler carrier (in hindsight the bottle opener on a growler carrier doesnt make sense) all told this cost me about $45

Our bedrooms are 9' x 9' so when our girls needed to move in together, we needed a bunk bed that would be short enough to fit under the fan, have a place for drinks, books, an alarm, and tissues, and also have a place where our youngest could have a dark sleeping space while older sister stays up later.

We're not going to be in this setup for long, so I used common board to keep the cost down as much as possible. The whole bed cost about $200, but I would suggest staying away from common board. It was really warped and couldn't be sanded smooth. We ended up going with a dark, thick paint to cover the wood imperfections. To deal with the warped wood, I made an outline of each end of the bed with painter's tape on the garage floor and used weights to hold the wood where it was suppose to be. I also modified the plans to make the bottom bunk a bit shorter and made the whole thing only 3 inches off the ground. All put together the bed is very sturdy and everything lined up well.

I used some scrap wood to make the holders for drinks and tissues and a holder for the iPod and speakers. These just rest over the railing, so we can move them around if need be. The book racks are Ikea hacks....they're just spice racks painted to match the bed. The curtains are just hung on a 1" dowel set into the same cups that closet rods are put up with. I also added some flower knobs from Target so that the girls can hang a robe when it's cooler outside.

Thanks for the plans Ana! My girls LOVE this bed!

I fell in love with this table as soon as I saw it! I made another farhouse table last year (first table I'd ever built) and liked it okay but I had made a lot of mistakes. The old table is now my work table in the garage- which is great because I needed a bigger work surface anyway! I tried to make my table just like Ana's version but I used regular latex flat paint over the stain instead of milk paint (couldn't find the type she used). I was impatient and didn't want to order it and wait for it to be shipped. I was kinda hoping it would flake/crack a little but it didn't. Oh well, I still really like how the legs turned out. I stained them (and the top) with a 50/50 mixture of Minwax stain in dark walnut and classic gray. I used three coats of Minwax fast drying poly on the table top and just rubbed the legs/base with a furniture wax to give them a little bit of a smooth sheen. I also distressed them a little bit. I like how the dark stain kinda bled through the paint. It really helped to add to the antique effect. I wish I had taken more pictures throughout the building process but I was so focused on the job that I just didn't think about it! Anyway, I just love this table! It was really fun to build and the turned legs take it to the next level! 

I've built several things from the page but this is the first that I have posted about.  I love this site.  Everything I have built has been so easy because of the way the plans are laid out.  I added my own little touches to the buffet but for the most part I followed the plans as they were.

I found the table here, but ended up using the modified plans for the 72" table from this site - http://tommyandellie.com/index.php/2012/01/13/new-and-improved-farmhous…

I haven't built anything out of wood for 20 years and I had no problems building this table. I also built the bench and two 15" extensions.

Tried to replicate the Double Pedestal table that has no plans provided. I had to modify a bit to the specifications i wanted. Table top bowed up a bit at the ends after i glued it up and when i tried to attach it to the base, it pulled one side of the base up. To fix this, i added a couple of cross beams at the top of the base, to stablilize the base a bit.

I finished with a minwax gel stain, i forget the color. It was a bit too dark for my liking, so when it dried, i took a cabinet scraper (or card scraper) and scraped off some of the finish. Pretty pleased with how it turned out. then i added 3 coats of lacquer. 

My 2 grand girls wanted a cottage bunk bed.  Not wanting to disappoint, I took the plans from the cottage loft bed and modified them, adding a lower bunk.  I also added the steps, with storage on the side instead of the ladder, and made a drawer for the front step for the little one.

I made the wreath from Pom-Poms purchased from Jo-Ann's and battery operated string lights.  

I opted for a cedar shake roof, which was purchased from Home Depot, then painted.

Needless to say, they love it!

I have a small booth at a local Outdoor Market & a client asked if I had any outdoor tables - she needed some for an upcoming party. I tried convincing her that a potting bench would be perfect (since Ana already had plans for that), but she wanted something a little different. She shared a picture of a "Faraday" console table by Pottery Barn, so I used that as my inspiration. I opted for a counter-height table vs. a table height, but both can be easily achieved using the same size balusters, just cut accordingly. I did have a hard time finding "chunky" balusters with a "flat" section on both the top and bottom. I didn't want to use pre-made legs because they are too pricey. At both Orange and Blue they had "skinny" balusters, but at the Orange near my home I found 1 thicker baluster. I had to go to another store to find more in stock, so supplies may vary in your area. The balusters were less than $3 each. Ana was so kind to create plans and I hope you enjoy your table as much as my client enjoyed hers!

This End Table matches the shelf from a few weeks ago which is my attempt of matching the $55 Fancy Desk from Ana White.  As with the shelf, the design is simple, easy to make and is relatively low cost (under $25).   

Built by my son and I. Followed the awesome plans for that most part.