Community Brag Posts

I modified the plans for the Classic Bunk beds by making them 74" tall instead of 63" and added a fourth slat all the way around to add more protection from potential falls.  I created one opening in the front for my youngest to get into the bottom bunk, and built slats about 2/3's across the front to act as a gaurd rail. I created another opening on the side for my oldest to get into the top bunk with stairs instead of ladders to again prevent falls.  I had to modify the Sweet Pea stairs to accomodate for the extra height in the bunk beds, simplified the railings, and I created each cubby to be big enough to use cloth storage totes that were 11x11x11.  Sanded the whole bed and stairs so the corners and edges were all rounded and smooth, and put two coats of white Deck and Porch paint to stand up to the the boys running up and down.  I used brackets to secure the stairs to the bed, and sixteen 3" bolts to bind the bed together.  Precut and drilled 17 slats for each bed seperated them 2" apart.  Spent a few hours every night during the week measuring, cutting, glueing, drilling and assembling the bed and stairs.  Spent an entire weekend sanding and painting.  Very happy with the way these beds turned out.  Overall cost of the project including the paint was around $400.  

This was just a standard BBQ with an attached folding table. I used a combo of Ana's plans to add a little character and style to the BBQ and it made a huge difference in not only the BBQ, but also the backyard. 

Modified the design a bit to be lift up lids instead of tilt out.

Click the blog link for a full description of this project.  Thanks for looking! - Clint

This was our second project (though I'm proud to say that I was able to put the bulk of it together all by myself...and that's because of the miracle of the Kreg Jig pocket hole kit!)

First I had to modify the plans so that the sideboard wasn't as deep (about 16" deep...so just a couple/few inches off the original plans). Then we bought the wood. My husband helped me cut most of the pieces, and then I started drilling pocket holes. It felt like it took forever! But once that was done, I was able to put it together so quick...like an IKEA furniture! BUT! I really should have checked for SQUARE better than I did, b/c once it REALLY started coming together, things were a little off kilter... Thank goodness my husband had the patience to SAND THE HECK out of the bottom of the poor thing to level it back out. :P

The door fronts took forever...and the drawers took a while to fit in correctly (all of which my hubs did). We had left our lumber on the patio, and the second day it got rained on. It might have helped if our lumber didn't get wet (to help keep things straight and square).

The things that took the longest: squaring, leveling, doors and drawers, and the base molding (I ended up using a 2x4 and 1x2 to build my own base along the bottom...we wanted to stain the wood instead of paint it, and didn't want to pay the $$$ for paintable molding).

I used the same Rustoleum Dark Walnut stain that I had used on our Farmhouse Table...but I didn't shake it enough before using it, then left it on longer than I should have, so it is much darker than our table. Eventually may want to paint over it since it was so hard to get stain in all the nooks and crannies.

I didn't think to stain the inside of the doors. I will have to go back and paint it someday. We used particle board for the bottom and inside shelf (much cheaper than plywood). I tried staining the bottom piece, but it just soaked in the stain. So I used some dark brown spray paint instead. Worked like a charm. Planning on painting/covering the shelves one day, too.

OH! AND, I couldn't find the wider "bead board" (or whatever it is that everyone else used on their sideboards), so we used plywood as a backing, then attached some thin Poplar boards on the front for the appearance of planked boards. VERY painstaking. Would recommend a different method for that part.

(Timing: We started building this around the beginning of November, brought it in and used it before it was finished...then finished it a couple days before Christmas. Just the other day I added some drawer liners).

I decided to build my patio furniture and built a couch, with cushions, coffee table, 2 Adirondack adult chairs and one child’s Adirondack chair. It was so much fun to plan and build all of the furniture and so enjoy going out there on cool days! Thanks to Ana White for all of the plans! This is my 20th Ana White project! On to my next project! Plans were outdoor modern sofa, modern Adirondack chair, kids Adirondack chair, 2x4 outdoor coffee table.

JoAnne