Community Brag Posts

Wanting to replace our white laminate counters, but not having the funds made us think outside of the box.  We used these aspen boards to make the most beautiful and durable countertops.  Check out my blog post to see step by step instructions and hilarity.

A twist for a smaller space, the stained wood is old heart pine reclaimed from a 1875 house in Savannah, GA. 

Very easy to put together... Only hard cuts were the X's. we ended up doing it like the pictures, not the plan. Stain is tricky, make sure to practice! We ended up having to resand and restain the tabletop.

I built this outdoor play area for my kids this past summer.  The area under that portion of the deck was always messy and muddy and so I wanted to make use of it.  I built the deck and anchored it with lag bolts to the deck supports.  On the one side I used rubber mulch and on the other there is play sand.  I dug holes in various locations and filled with gravel to allow for drainage under the sand and mulch.  For the awning I used plain cedar shingles.  I added a shower that is just regular 1/2" metal pipe with a hose adaptor.  The shower wall and fence are just old pallets that I had for a while, cut to size, which was pretty much random but they came out great.  I added a misting system under the awning that works great, the kids love the cool mist on the hot days. Overall, a heavy job ripping up the grass, moving the wood, gravel, stones, sand and mulch, but a fun deck build and even better experience doing this with my kids by my side!  

Check it out on iamhardware.com ! Thanks Ana for the plans!

My wife came to me a couple of months ago and asked me to build a corner cabinet for our family room. She had found inspiration through a picture on pinterest that she "had to have." I found a couple of old doors through a resale shop near our house and this is what I was able to make with them.

This was a little tougher than I thought it would have been. I have done crown molding before, however, I have never done a floating crown (no support on the top). I was able to use my nail gun and get a solid fit on the bottom of the crown and then glued a support strip behind the crown.

The shelves are made out of 3/4" ply with a birch veneer facing. Surprisingly easy to use with just a little measuring and a hot iron set to the cotton setting.

Again, another project that would have been made infinitely harder without my kreg jig.

Let me know what you guys think!

Bryan

This is a piece from Ana's book.  I used the plans from the book and followed Shabby-2-chic's recommendation for the finish.  I used 120 grit sandpaper to knock the edges off then applied a dark minwax stain.  Soft scrub was used to remove the extra finish from my white paint.  The kreg shelf pin jig was invaluable in getting the holes just right.   

4' x 4' x 32" planter boxes perfect for square footage gardening. Added pre-made trellis to back for tomatoes and melons/cucumbers. Had to use pressure- treated 4x4 for legs but wrapped them in plastic so not near the soil. 4" lag screws holding just fine with 5 horizontal strapping bars on bottom and 1 vertical 2x4. 

I added legs to mine so it would lean up against the wall above the molding. I liked the look of it without plywood backing. I'm really happy with it and it was pretty simple to make.

This is one of the coolest things I've ever built! My husband was so proud of me. :) I recently completed built-in bookcases in our 3rd bedroom/office and those were neat and much more complicated, but I think he likes this better because he sleeps next to it every night. This only took about 2 hours to build, but the staining made for a weekend project by the time it was completed and dry. We've gotten a TON of compliments on this and even had friends ask for me to make them one! Thanks, Ana!

This was my first time using a plan from this site, it was my first time using a kreg jig, and pretty much my first time using a circular saw on anything that mattered.  Also my first time staining.  I'm real happy with how it turned out except for the staining! I used a stain + polyurethane in one and found it very difficult to get the color even without streaks.  Next time I think I am going to stain all my cut wood BEFORE I assemble.  I think that will let me have a nice even stain.  Any thoughts on that?

I enlarged the plan by adding 12 inches to the top and 6 inches to the width. So I added a shelf 12 inches above the top one.  It feels big and I love that.  

Another thing that worked out nicely for me,  I noticed when I was buying lumber from HD, the 2x2's were all a little bit warped or crooked, So for the four legs I opted for the premium perfectly strait and smooth pine.  It was 8 bucks a piece instead of two but worked out I think.  For the back I used mahogany pickets - not smooth, hard to sand down, but looks nice.  

Took me about 20-25 hours over two weekends.  Sanding and staining were the only laborious parts.

Nice and easy work bench to complete my garage setup.

I spent a lot of time looking at photos that my wife tagged on pinterest, most from builders who frequent Ana's site.  I learned a lot just from looking.

I stole particular ideas from Ana, Tommie and Ellie, and another site that I can't find right now, but they really did the trestle / farmhouse hybrid idea first and I just modified their idea a bit.  If anyone has seen their site, please remind me so I can give credit where it is due!

I didn't really use a plan other than having a general idea of what I wanted the size of the table to be.  I believe it came out to about 102" x 44"

I built 6 chairs and the bench.

All is built out of construction grade lumber, and gets lots of compliments.

The table came together in a solid weekend, the bench took a couple of evenings, and the chairs...those chairs took forever to cut out, shape, assemble, and finish.

Took us 4 months cause we have kids so we have to work during naps and after bedtime and then we were hesitant to work on it for a while after a little stressful episode building the drawer. We had to lower our expectations for perfection when working with pine and no clamps. We're happy with how it turned out though! Reminds me of Van Gogh's "The Bedroom" for some reason.