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On this project we modified a few things like the arm rests which we cut at an angle to keep kids from pinching fingers in there if someone decided to move the bench back on them. We also modified the size which we made 6'x4' to maximize play sand space and kid space. Therefore this made our benches bigger so that big kids (my husband) could sit on the benches and play in the sandbox. Yes there was talk about putting cup holders but I won the conversation by mentioning sand in his drink and we would have to do a sippy cup. We notched out the handles instead of installing handles which made it look sleek. We used the template from the hinge so it matched the shape....clever huh? We decided to primer and paint this one sandstone in the brick and mortar sample book by Behr and had them put it in an exterior paint color for us. We used a wagner paint sprayer which made the project fast at the end. Overall still an easy project for anyone. I do suggest pre drilling all holes first before screwing in screws so the wood doesn't split when doing the slats on the top.

We loved the idea of the Jr. Loft Bed, but made some modifications to fit our needs.

Modifications:
-I didn't really feel the 2x6 railing was needed, so to cut costs, we used all 2x4s. On the end, I put two 2x4s one on top of the other to keep the mattress from sliding off the ladder side.

-Height was a concern for me as my kids are 4 & 2. So I lowered the overall height by about a foot. 54in is the height. Since we are putting my youngest on the bottom (on the floor) we made sure she had enough head room.

-We wanted this to be STURDY and reversible. So we added bottom supports on both long sides to ensure that the frame wasn't going to move. We also added six 2x4 supports under the mattress on the top. I can climb up there to tuck in sheets with no problem.

-We skipped the stairs & landing. I didn't want my kids to be playing on the bed. So we skipped the stairs and just built a ladder into the frame instead.

This was a fairly easy build. We previously built a HUGE Ana White Table. And I felt like I was kreg jigging for DAYS. This was only a few hours of cutting, sanding, kreg jigging, and a simple put together. Staining took the longest! It's a great bed and we're so excited it's finished!

This was my first attempt at making furniture...but it turned out GREAT!  My fiance was about to buy a VERY similar dining room set for $1300 before I stopped her and insisted that I could build it myself, finish it to match our kitchen/dining room, and save a TON of money!

It was a straight forward project and the plans were excellent and easy to follow. We did purchase the Kreg Jig and that takes a little practice to get it right but it does make an extremely strong joint. We applied three coats of paint and one coat of stain on the top. This is for our German Shepherd and he loves it. It took us three or four days just because we worked on it a little bit each evening.

We have a laundry problem in our house. It piles up in un-organized piles and takes days to sort through and actually get in the washer. Honestly, we could do laundry every single day of the week and still fall behind. I guess that comes with the territory when you have 3 small boys in the house.

This organinzer is going to be great. We currently use it for whites, colors and "grown-up clothes". This keeps us from accidentally washing some of Mommy's more delicate items in the general colors wash which saves me money when we don't ruin her clothes.

The plans call for the 1 x 16's, but I had extra 2 x 4's laying around so I just built a frame using my kreg jig. The most expensive part was the beadboard for the sides and I used some S4S 1 x 4's for the top. Overall the project tooks me months, but that was more a product of my "shop" time coming after 8 pm and general apathy.

I definitely have the bug and have already starting a new project!

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!  

Pretty straight forward plans.

This is the nightly sleeper for our 6yo (queen) and 4yo (twin) boys, but we have in-laws who visit from out of town frequently and we also wanted a place to allow them to be comfortable as couples.

To accomodate adult headroom on the queen, I raised the entire loft 7" (72" high) and to fit the queen beneath, I had to lengthen the loft rails by 9" (84" long). To fill the resulting gap, I just used some 39" scraps of 2x4 and 2x6 overlapped to create a 4x10 landing which actually ended up a cool addition since it gives the kids a spot lower than the mattress to make the transition from the ladder to the mattress. It also has given us adults a spot to sit off the mattress while comforting them to sleep when needed, so we don't end up waking them when we leave.

I based the height of the queen legs (made four of them) off the size of a standard storage tote, which was ~13". We can fit 12-16 totes of clothes or other random storage under the bed as a result. The queen frame was just a simple 64"x84" rectangle out of 2x6s with 7 2x4s used as crossbeams to hold the mattress.

Note on the mattresses - these 8" memory foam mattresses are just as comfortable as our expensive name brand king mattress, but MUCH cheaper!

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Mainstays-8-inch-Memory-Foam-Mattress-Multiple-Sizes/47826185

Despite raising the loft, I kept the height of the stair platform the same, but just added a second 'ladder' rung to get up to the loft (refer back to the 4x10 landing spot on the loft). To keep with the using available storage space theme, instead of attaching the stairs permanently, I used 1"x4" hinges to that we could swing the stairs up and put 4 more storage totes under there. (However, we quickly found that the kids liked that area as a 'fort', so we've left it open for their use.)

In the picture, you'll note there are four treads/steps on the stairs because I thought to myself "little feet, little steps" would be better. I soon learned that the littles are more than capable of using adult sized steps while adults nearly killed themselves coming down the little feet, little steps. As such, I ended up removing one of the middle steps and moving the new singular middle to a spot between the other two. Much better, stay with 3 steps.

While the queen can stand alone, I still attached it to the 'legs' of the loft so that our rambunctious boys didn't 'sweep the leg' and bring the whole thing down on themselves while under it.

This "island" was inspired by the plans for the Easy Kitchen Island, with a bit of a twist. My roommate is really into cooking, and had a little butcher block that he wanted to upgrade. Our kitchen is fairly narrow, but there was a huge bare spot underneath some cabinets that was begging to be used. Our cabinets were overflowing and we needed more storage space. The kitchen island-butcher block combo solved both problems and fit nicely under our cabinet.

After a little research, we decided to go with an end-grain board made with maple. We looked around and ended up getting a bunch of wood off of eBay for about 65 bucks. The butcher block turned out to be a bear of a project. Without access to a table saw (not going to happen in this apartment) it took some sanding, then more sanding, then a trip to my dad's to use a table saw after all, then more sanding, then more...well, you get the picture. Once all the pieces were assembled, we glued a 1"x4" poplar border onto the sides to give it a more uniform appearance from the sides, as well as to hide the connection to the structure.

Finally the block was complete and it was time to build the structure of the island. The cuts and the assembly of the main pieces took a grand total of an hour and a half - a great relief after spending weeks on the butcher block. We decided to glue the slats onto the supports to make life easier. Once we got done with that it was time to finish the structure.

We decided to follow Ana's directions on crackled milk paint. We tried to follow them exactly, but weren't able to get the same amount of crackling on ours. No worries, though, we just sanded down some edges and gave the whole thing a good coat of Polycrylic.

Once all that was done, we screwed the block on and construction was complete! We gave the block and the poplar several coats of Boos Block Mystery Oil as the conditioner and we were done. The oil really brought out the color and the body of the wood, and we couldn't be happier with the results. Can't wait to chop a turkey on it!

We followed the plans for the A-frame chicken coop very closely, and then modified it a bit at the end.

1. Trim was added to two doors on each side, as suggested. They are secured with latches at the top, more to keep them from falling open than to keep critters from getting in. We used 2x4x10's instead of 2x4x8's on the middle horizontal rail, giving us foot-long handles on each side. My husband and I are able to move the coop about 15 feet at a time, which is pretty good considering it is STURDY!

2. We used 1/2" galvanized hardware cloth instead of chicken wire, as suggested by one commenter (and lots of others in blogland).

3. I cut 1/4" plywood to fit the loft space and coated it with vinyl stick-on tile. This should make it easier to clean. We didn't screw down the plywood, so if we have to, we can remove it to hose it off/scrub it.

4. I cut a triangle of plywood to make an egg door at the end of the roost. It hinges at the bottom (with a 2x4 ripped into a 1x4 to cover the hardware cloth and provide a mounting spot for hinges) and latches at the top. I plan to use cotter pins or something to secure the latch. There is also a piece of untreated 1x4 held in place with tabs at the egg door to prevent bedding from falling out once it's converted to the nesting box (I'm planning to get pullets, not ready to lay yet, so they won't even have a tempting nest box)

5. There was no bottom door in the plans (to allow free-ranging), so I cut a piece of 2x4 to make a triangle against the bottom (same size as the egg door). It folds out (just like the egg door) and will allow the chickens easy access to the yard. We do have hawks in our neighborhood so free time will always be supervised. We also have a dog (who I coaxed into the coop for the main picture, haha!) who will need supervising. She's been around chickens before but you never know what will make her turn on them!

6. There was also no roost in the plans (although if you look at Ana's coop, there is a 2x4 across the middle of the side walls). I had a leftover closet rod, so I mounted that in the covered section parallel to the ladder. The ladder was shifted to the side. For the ladder, I just used a piece of cedar fencing and cut 2 48" dowels into 4 pieces each, and secured those with screws from the underside. I hope my chickens will be able to get up the ladder!

7. I also made a tube feeder from PVC and a dog bowl, and am working on a nipple waterer. Will update post when those are finished!

Now I just have to get some hens! I've been searching craigslist and can't wait!

I modified the origianl plans by making the cabinet taller.  I also built 2 cabinets and trimmed them both together to make it appear as if it is 1 giant cabient.  It measure over 7 feet tall and just over 6 feet wide.  I did add an additional 1x2 brace in the center of the cabinet to help support.  I also cut an additional 1x4 to use a brace when anchoring it to the wall.  I also chose to add an additional 2 trim pieces to each door because they are much taller than the original plan doors.