Community Brag Posts

My dining room has no storage and I've been trying to find a place to store all of my bowls, serving dishes, etc; for some time now. I saw a leaning ladder shelf system at Crate and Barrel that I fell in love with but it was $500 which was out of the question. Last summer I built Ana's outdoor couches with absolutely zero experience and they came out great, so I decided to take a chance and try something else. This was my first time using a circular saw, and also my first time using a Kreg Jig! Honestly, halfway through this project I was concerned I bit of more than I could chew but I stayed calm and just kept following the plans. I'm so thrilled with how they came out! I ened up using a scrap piece of the 1 X 12 board for the "desk" piece to make the center a little bigger since I wanted it to serve as a serving board of sorts. I reenforced it with a support board since it was a little longer than the original plan called for.  I am beyond thrilled with how this came out, I honestly like it better than the one I saw at C&B since it's custom to my space! This was so easy if I could do it, anyone can. My total cost came to about $130. Not too shabby for a knock off! I'm already on to my next project. I don't think I can buy "factory" furniture again now how much better cost and quality I can get doing it myself! Thanks Ana!

I'm done building my first ever bed. It was a little expensive (Around 350$).
I had a lot of fun; I made some changing in the connection between the bed frame and the footboard.
I also had to convert the measurement to centimeter and to the European mattress measurement.

This was my first major project to build. I modified it to resemble Macy's Captiva bedroom set. I finished it with General finishes lamp black paint with some slight distressing.

I built the preschool picnic table for my first table, then used my own measurements to make a bigger table that seats 6.

Finally I drummed up enough courage to try a project ... the leaning wall shelf. My husband and I had a great time working on it together.

Both footboards were cut in half attached with Kreg jig frames built for the seats out of leftover 1x2 and the seats were from leftover 1x6 fence boards cut to fit. Both headboards were oak the first was stained using 3 coats of pittsburgh exterior stain . The second was originally painted white so I left as is and added the seat as the other and left it rustic looking.

The most difficult part of this design are the beveled pieces that creae the truss. The angles have to be exact

Made two of these and I made them a bit thinner as I wanted these to be on the end of the sofa where there was not a lot of space. Matched the hardware with my rustic X console table I made a few years back.

Our guest room had to be ready for some friends coming in town for the week. Before this room had no shelves and worse yet; no head board. Turned this boring room into...well a less boring room. In the picture are my first two projects; the Ten Dollar Ledges and the Reclaimed-wood headboard.

I took the basic plans for the Sweet Pea Bunk Bed and modified them to make a loft bed for my daughter. She dreams of opening her own restaurant when she gets older. The bed is on top and her restaurant is below. I made a chalkboard on the back wall of the bottom section. Curtains will be added sometime in the near future in her restaurant as well. Now she wants a cafe table and chairs as well.

The first picture is of our oldest daughters bed (purple/black). We took the original design and increased measurements to fit a full size mattress and adjusted platform to fit room size. The remaining pictures are of our youngest daughters be (purple/white), which is only a twin. 

Some of the tweaks we made were:

* building for a full size bed

* adjusting platform and stair width so the entire bed went from wall to wall

*adding brackets in all 4 corners for extra support (not shown in purple/black bed - weren't added at time picture was taken, just used triangle pieces of extra wood for brackets)

* Used plywood as bunkie board for both beds. Twin - 1 sheet just layed on top of cleats, fit perfect; Full - 1 1/2 sheets, used 'H' clips to hold the two pieces together when on frame and screwed down onto the cleats.

* shortened platform on purple/white bed  bringing the stairs back a little to go under window

* added design element at end of purple/white bed to ensure entry on and off the bed would be safe and always on platform since it was shortned

One thing we did that wasn't mentioned in original plans, unless I either overlooked them or is a standard procedure when working with wood (seeing as I am a complete novice) all the wood we purchased need to be checked for quality - needed straight boards with minimal cracks and all the wood needed to be sanded down. Overall the project wasn't difficult, but I was guided by an expert. It took us about 20hrs over a period of three weekends to finish both beds from purchasing material to setting up in room. But that was due to emergencies, work schedules and traveling to the workshop we were using.

Simple two-toned take on this classic plan! Thanks Ana.

This was my second project. I wanted to get practice working with corners so I could do a media cabinet eventually and this was a great starting point. This cabinet is a great addition to our dining area too! My little helpers were never far away :)

My husband asked me to make a small and inexpensive table for our new TV. I decided to make a desk so it would be able to be used later when we move the TV. Very easy plans. Easy assembly. Great beginner project. I used 1X6 for the top instead of 2X6. It was less expensive and seems to work just fine. I also threw together a small TV stand so the DVD player can go under the TV and not clutter up the table. It's 3 1X4's @ 20 inches. And I made the sides by ripping the leftover 1X4 in half the same width as the top. I spent $30 in wood and have some scraps left over for another project.

After unsuccessfully searching for the perfect sideboard for my office space, I got up enough courage to make one myself.  I am so thrilled with the finished project!! 

Used this plan and tried to Gary a rustic look.