Community Brag Posts

Farmhouse Nightstand

Submitted by RenoRustic on Tue, 05/12/2015 - 10:17

I built this nightstand when my wife and I purchased a new bed. We had to rearrange the bedroom and as such, I no longer had a desk or table on my side of the bed. I wanted something "country" style and after searching through several different plans I found a brag post that fit exactly what I was looking for. Well, technically, I found the original Farmhouse Bedside Table plans and modified them to fit what I needed. It wasn't until after I completed the project that I realized there was a "Mini" version as well. What can I say, I'm not that great as using search. I actually built this over a year ago at this point, and it was the second project I ever built. I learned quite a bit on this project, including the fact your project will only come out as good as your lumber selection! This build actually created my addiction for DIY and woodworking. Thank you Ana!

Estimated Cost
$40
Estimated Time Investment
Day Project (6-9 Hours)
Finish Used
I used Minwax Special Walnut for the entire project, then painted the base and drawer Behr white (their basic white off the shelf, I didn't have the paint mixed) in semi-gloss. I antiqued everything for a more rustic look.
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Comments

Potting bench

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Fri, 11/05/2021 - 13:24

Decided to spent the lock down on my back deck.
Always wanted to try a little gardening but I don’t actually have a back yard only a common area. This was a perfect fit and awesome to build. I have never built anything before!

Comments

Craft Table Build

Submitted by cathytn2 on Thu, 03/31/2011 - 05:28

I emailed my husband the plans for this desk on a Friday night and said we HAVE to make this desk this weekend.  I can't believe he actually went for it!  Well it turned into about 3 weekends and some nights of painting.  We also had some issues getting straight and square plywood and boards with knots in them.  He also added some extra holes in the sides for me to adjust the shelves.  We used an oil based white paint to finish the desk and looks nice and clean and shiny.  I can't wait to get started on our next project!  Please check out my blog for more details and photos and information on materials used, etc. (kitcats-studio.blogspot.com/2011/craft-table-made-from-plans.html
PS - {I had one more coat of paint on the drawers to finish so ignore the bare fronts of the drawers.}

Estimated Cost
$150
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
We primed everything using Zissner and then used an oil based white paint (about $15/gallon) from Lowe's for the finish. The trick to doing this is a WELL ventilated area, and a good brush. Although we're kind of lazy about cleaning up from oil based paint (it's a chore) so we got a medium cost brush (about $5) and threw it away when we were done with it. I used general handles from Lowes and the color on the inside of the drawers is Valspar Turquoise Tint 5006-10B.
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Farmhouse Table and benches

This is the first furniture building project that my husband and I have completed. It took us about 5 weekends to complete it- including finishing.

We started with the benches as recommended in some of the comments and ended up buying a pocket hole jig and redoing the tops of the benches before completing the table.

The stain is Minwax Red Chestnut and there are three coats of Minwax Fast Drying Polyurethane on it. We're so happy with it and can't wait to start the next project!

Estimated Cost
about $200
Estimated Time Investment
Week Long Project (20 Hours or More)
Finish Used
Minwax Red Chestnut stain- one coat
Minway Fast Drying Polyurethane in Semi Gloss
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Above Toilet Storage Ladder

I was inspired by Ana's Over the Toilet - Leaning Storage Ladder to create my own!  This build is about as easy as it can get!  Just 3 easy steps. More pictures and details can be found HERE.

Let's chat wood!

Lumber:

(2) 8' - 2x4

(1) 8' - 2x6

(1) 8' - 2x8

Step 1:

Drill pocket holes into ladder legs.

Step 2:

Attach shelves with 2" wood screws.

You will attach your smaller 2x6 shelf at 17" from the top of each ladder leg and your larger 2x8 shelf at 34" from the top of each ladder leg as well.

I plugged each hole with 3/4" pine wood plugs.

Step 3:

Sand and paint

Happy building!

Miranda

Estimated Cost
$25
Estimated Time Investment
Afternoon Project (3-6 Hours)
Finish Used
I used stain first, then painted over it with Rustoleum's Painters Touch Paint in white.
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

The Littlest Helper Tower

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Wed, 11/10/2021 - 08:30

Built from supplied plan. Slight modifications made to curved rails and larger dimensional lumber used for corner rails.
This tower was built for my granddaughter Amara

Paul S.

Built from Plan(s)

Comments

Hutch

I built this hutch from Ana's book. I made a few modifications to the plans. The stained top and stained back planks are from reclaimed wood. If you build this hutch be sure to choose white knobs. I my opinion, its what makes those hutch pop. If anyone has any questions I would be happy to answer them. - Brad

Estimated Time Investment
Week Long Project (20 Hours or More)
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Comments

mrsjones23

Tue, 10/28/2014 - 07:25

Hello! I am currently building this console table and hutch. At the moment, I am stuck on attaching the console legs to the side aprons. The legs are not sitting flush with the side aprons. Did you have this issue with your 2x2's when attaching them to the side aprons? If so, how did you fix this issue? The directions say to attach flush to the aprons but mine won't be flush on both sides, only one.

jwoelk

Sat, 07/25/2015 - 07:59

Where are the plans for this hutch? My wife wants this exact hutch for her birthday.

Great Book Caddy / Wine Rack / Side Table..fun project!

Submitted by Don Ellery on Sat, 05/16/2015 - 17:12

Great project plans from Ana and of course, LadyGoats. Thank You!

Wood: Pine (similar cut list to what was in the plans)

Time to complete: Approx 4 hours.

Joints: 3/4 inch pocket holes with 1 1/4 inch pocket hole screws and glue. Love my Kreg Jig.

Stain: Varathane Espresso color, two applications.

Fun morning project! This table/shelf can be used for so many things. Once the two pieces are secured together it is very solid. The bottom was made from Ana's x book caddy plan and the shelf was modified from LadyGoats booksellers plan.

Hope you all like it!

Don

Estimated Cost
$80, approx. Depends on what type of wood you use.
Estimated Time Investment
Afternoon Project (3-6 Hours)
Finish Used
Espresso color varathane, single application, foam brush and rubbed with rag to finish.
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Comments

Kitchen Island with Butcher Block and Reclaimed Wood

Custom Kitchen Island with a butcher block top and reclaimed pallet wood on the sides and back. Sliding barndoors cover the lower cabinets and hammered black gate knobs finish out the upper drawer. 

Estimated Cost
1500.00
Estimated Time Investment
Week Long Project (20 Hours or More)
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Doll House Bookshelf

Submitted by alhskier on Mon, 04/04/2011 - 19:43

My first project from this website.  Made it for my daughter's first birthday! Had a fun time with it. Caulked the joints for a cleaner look, it came out great.

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
$100
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
Caulk, and semi gloss paint!
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Princess Castle bed with storage

Submitted by bbcarey on Tue, 06/25/2013 - 12:36

Our daughter has a very small room. She also LOVES disney princesses. So I wanted to build her a princess castle bed.... but how do you fit a castle bed in a 9x11 bedroom?

There were some plans on Ana's site (good plans), and others on-line. But many of these plans had the bed on the TOP of the castle, and we were concerned with her trying to make her way down if she needed to in the middle of the night.

She also loves her Disney princess canopy bed that she has now... so if I could somehow build the castle around that bed, we'd be set. Which is exactly what we did.

I reviewed several pictures online, and then designed this bed with Sketchup (I LOVE that tool).

There is storage in the stairs, in the towers on the front down below, and in the back up on top. I also put rope lights inside around the ceiling over her bed for that 'Night light Princess glow."

There is also enough room on top for her bed if she wants to put it up there at some point in the future.

The idea for the decoration came from another poster who simply used the Vinyl Disney princess wall decals.

She loves it. Plus its big enough for daddy to read stories to her up in the loft at bedtime!

I've posted the plans on the sketchup warehouse... here is the link...

http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse/details?mid=65f7fb029052c660cb6c…

If you can't find it with that search the sketchup warehouse for 'castle bed.'

Estimated Cost
$150
Estimated Time Investment
Week Long Project (20 Hours or More)
Finish Used
Latex interior paint. Castle top and trim were painted with spray paint.
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Comments

ThaddeusSwarfburnIII

Sat, 07/27/2013 - 16:17

Nice work. We worried about the height for our three year old, and if I were to build another (hah!) I would definitely make it lower. Carpeting the stairs is a good idea, I think I'm going to do the same. You've done well to cram everything into a small footprint. We're house-shopping now, and the tape measure comes with us. Gotta have 2.8m in the kid's room! Decals are great. My daughter went off hers for a while - nothing breaks your heart like a kid saying they want to give away something you worked really hard to build, even if you know they don't mean it. My wife put on some big wall stickers of a tree with squirrels and birds and suddenly she's in love with it again. Princess indeed (eyeroll).

bbcarey

Sat, 07/27/2013 - 20:53

Interesting your commented today :-) I am doing a similar project for my son for his 3rd birthday (this weekend) making a Lightning McQueen garage for his Ligthning McQueen bed...

Thanks for your comments... the castle project was fun. Its been fun to be able to even do these things now that I've visited Ana's site. And yes- I know its going to be a bummer when they no longer want the castle, or the garage (I had my son's bed in his garage tonight and not knowing better he hopped on the bed and jumped and bumped his head bad... now he's scared to have the bed in the garage- AND ITS NOT EVEN DONE YET!)

Thanks again..

Miter Saw Cart

Submitted by DrOcean51 on Tue, 05/19/2015 - 18:03

As a beginner I found this very easy to build. I took my time to make sure everything was measured and cut just right. I substituted longer screws for the brackets. The ones that came with the brackets seemed a little short. There's a trick to getting the screws in the brackets. The angled bar swings back to make it easy to attach the screws. Very happy with the finished product.

Estimated Cost
$50-$60
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
I used a Pecan Poly stain.
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Comments

RenoRustic

Wed, 05/20/2015 - 08:43

I went over a year without a miter saw stand/cart. Looking back it now that I have one, I kick myself for not getting one sooner. I have limited space for storage so I went with a store bought so that I can fold it up when not in use, but I really wish I had something that's always set up like yours. I also like the extensions that can fold down when not in use. Good job!

Wooden Marble Roller Machine

Submitted by mtairymd on Thu, 12/14/2017 - 13:57

I saw a picture of marble machine years ago and I finally got around to trying to make my own. I seriously had doubts about getting it working; so I didn’t want to invest money in nice wood. Therefore, besides the dowels, everything you see was made from a scrap 2×4.

As expected, it was a challenge to get mechanism worked out. I had to remake the cup and adjust the pivot point but I eventually got it working as shown in video.

Build Instructions: https://www.instructables.com/id/Wooden-Marble-Roller-Machine/

In Action: https://youtu.be/sel0w0gXGQk

Estimated Cost
$5%
Estimated Time Investment
Afternoon Project (3-6 Hours)
Finish Used
Dark Cherry
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Favorite Bookshelf

Submitted by ke263565 on Sun, 04/10/2011 - 05:06

Favorite Bookshelf - 2nd project  - slowly replacing all of my furniture - took about a day - all day - sprayed about 3 coats of spray paint on there - came out pretty good - hardest thing is to screw in shelves level -  but overall not too bad

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
40 - 50 bucks
Estimated Time Investment
Day Project (6-9 Hours)
Finish Used
moss green spraypaint - saw another user that used color so i stole it - sorry
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Modern outdoor chairs and tables

Submitted by mcneece on Mon, 12/18/2017 - 14:10

Project is still in progress but so far this has consisted of a firepit, 20x20 slab, 4 cypress columns, bistro lighting, 2 modern outdoor chairs, 1 modern outdoor bench, 4 matching tables, and a project screen.  To come: flower bed, projector storage stand with casters and hinged top, outdoor speakers, and possibly a green egg stand, and extending power to the back of the slab.

Estimated Cost
$75 per chair, $100 per bench, $40 per table
Estimated Time Investment
Week Long Project (20 Hours or More)
Finish Used
Thompson waterseal (transparent)
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Caden Leather Ottoman (Pottery Barn knock-off)

Submitted by c11burke on Mon, 12/13/2021 - 14:51

This is a knockoff of the Pottery Barn "Caden Leather Ottoman". Made from Ash and American Walnut.

Comments

Dollhouse Bookcase

Submitted by mnewton on Mon, 04/11/2011 - 12:52

This was my first build. I was conviced to do this once I saw the Pottery Barn price tag. The plans were so easy to follow.

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Time Investment
Afternoon Project (3-6 Hours)
Recommended Skill Level
Starter Project