Community Brag Posts

My son needed more room in his bedroom...and to be rid of the very girly furniture he inherited when he moved into his "big boy-ish" bedroom. At 10 yrs old, it was high time he got a bed that wasn't pink-tinged, white washed pine with 4 posters and enough curlicues to choke a forest. He also needed a desk which I couldn't really fit in his room with the armoire and chest of drawers that came with the Queen sized bed.

So off to Ikea we went and I saw a black loft bed for $300, but it was really, really high which meant I would have to cut it down and it was not sturdy at all. I looked at PB and saw the $1800 bed. Um, no - that wasn't happening. So, off to Ana-White I went and I'm so happy I did!

I built the full sized version of these plans and, to keep costs down, used wood I had on hand. This meant I had to work a bit at the cuts, but it all worked out.

Mods:
1) I modified the railings to have the ladder at the end of the bed to keep away from the ceiling fan.

2) Because I put the ladder at the end of the bed, I got very nervous about having a soon-to-be teen climbing on to a ladder secured to a 1x10 that was only connected to the side railings with glue and screws. So I sandwiched extra 1x3s over the bottom rails and attached them to the top railing.

3) I was very nervous about making sure that the bed was adequately supported so I put a 2x4 down the center instead of the 1x2.

4) I went a wee-bit overboard screwing things together to the point where it's a bit embarrassing and now I have to paint over the screw heads.

5) I made the ladder treads with 2x4's, modifying the inside spacer board cut lengths.

Because I had quite a bit of lumber on hand, the bed only ended up costing me about $90.

For the bookcase, I did end up buying the 1x12s and the adjustable shelf railings. I made the book shelf the entire width of of the bed and split the two sections based on width of the 1x24 board I bought for the desk. I only put the backer board up half way so that the daylight could get underneath the bed and make it not so cave-like.

The book case cost me about $70.

The desk was the easiest...but most costly item. A 1x6x24, 4 table legs and the table leg mounts ran me about $80. The plexiglass top that I had cut for the top cost me about $80.

Time wise, this would have taken me a lot less time than the 4 months it took - but I worked on it as I could and when I could, by myself. I got some friends to help me bring it upstairs and put it back together, but it was mostly done when I could fit in some time.

My son LOVES this and it really does give him so much room!!! Thanks Ana - I really appreciate it!

This took me and my father a few weekends to complete simply because that is all the time I had to work on it (was the weekends). We put a lot of effort into it and made sure everything was neat and safe. We modified the original plan a bit to give some more boy feel to this bed, and we added window bars to keep my children from climbing out of them. You know boys! We also added a window on the far side of the top bunk. We should have added one to the bottom too since it is so dark, but he likes it anyway! If you want to see some step by step photos, you can go to http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151477424866465.1073741825.5…

P.S. The estimated cost was for the bed only, not the mattresses or stain

This was my first EVER wood working project.

With that being said, it took me more than just an afternoon.
I used cedar, and all the materials on the cut list had to be sanded , since I didn't like the roughness of the cedar.
I also made the box 4x8. I didn't take into account that that would require a minimum of 48 inches for the top planks. So, some of my top planks are shorter.

I also wished I had a little more instruction from which side to screw the screws in. May sound a little needy for some of you, but I never did anything with wood before. The instructions simply read attach top planks to arm rests (or something int that manner) and I wish it would have told me from which side to screw in (or give me a picture). Looking at some of the brag posts helped a lot.

Because its larger size, I decided to make the seats 3 top planks wide (and also the back rest) and made another middle cover piece to bridge the additional gap when both seats are folded down.

Also, the cedar was VERY expensive, and all the screws, hinges, and handles almost cost me as much as the wood.

The sand to fill the box ran us another $80 (for good plays and), but that was because we made it so big.

All in all, a rather pricey sandbox, but worth it because of the large custom sizes, and the cute little seats.

Pictures show the sandbox without sand, and with some of the handles still missing. I also still need to fill the holes.

Will add a picture of finished box filled with sand when it is available.

Building a storage shed was quite a jump for me but because of the confidence and experience I gained from Ana's  site I decided to give it a shot.  I acquired the plans online. It has 8 foot high walls and 3 feet of "attic space".  The shed is 8'x12'.  I used cement board lap siding.  It took about seven weeks to finish working a few hours here and there.  I really like it.  Even has a little window flower box.

When my wife and I moved we sold our old table and was in need of a new one. We've shopped around and didn't like anything we were seeing. She insisted that I build one but I never had any time due to my job. In the past it would've been easy because that's what I did was woodworking. So she researched and came across ana's plan and she loved it. Keeping the wife happy I made time. I made my material list & cutlist but was concerned with using construction grade lumber for the tabletop due to over time it likes to cup and warp in the right conditions. Instead I went with 8/4 Poplar which will make a solid tabletop and last forever. I was only able to work weekends on the project so it was finished in a month which I added the total hours & it equaled 1 week.  She loves her new table and is now shopping for 5 canvas chairs to go with it. With her posting on social media I now have requests to build more. Where will I find the time?

A great weekend project...the "love swing"! I used the plan from Ana for the swing seat and added two arm rests from left over 1x6, rounded them off and sanded.

I cobbled together an A-frame to hang everything, made from five 8 foot 4x4s and two 8 foot 2x6s laminated together for the stretcher. Assembled with 1/2" galvanized carriage bolts and hung with 1/4" chain.

Definitely going to want a good miter saw for the A-Frame angles (the top ones are a bit tricky to get everything lined up)

Love it! Thanks for another great plan Ana..and of course..Shanty2Chic!

This is a Murphy Bed that I made for my daughter Alicia for their getaway home at Canadian Lakes, MI. Due to limited space i had to make it horizontal instead of the normal way of being vertical. It really comes in handy and takes up very little space.

This is our 2nd project - we liked building the bookshelf so much, we decided we're gonna keep going and need a good workbench. Got these plans from the Family Handyman Website (http://www.familyhandyman.com/DIY-Projects/Woodworking/Workbenches/how-…). They claim the cost to be $50, but it was closer to $80 for us - still a GREAT project and easy to put together with the nail gun.

The cover is a tonneau cover for a pickup truck. It's for a 6.5' truck bed so if you notice, I had to ad a 2x4 and one more picket on top to accommodate the extra length. 

The cover would add a ridiculous amount of money to the project but it was repurposed.  I found it on a truck that was in an accident and going to the scrap yard. I think it it came out great and my grandson loves it.

John

Just finished up my Murphy Bed project. Hope you like.

I took the plans for ana white's benchwright coffee table and created this end table.  This is an exact replica of the Pottery Barn benchwright end table.  The wood was distressed by hand and finished with dye, dark walnut gel stain and three coats of satin poly. 

- Brad