Community Brag Posts

Yes, my husband and I share our bedroom with 6 dogs and an occasional cat (or 4). Our older dog (Petra) has slept on our bed for over 10 years, and she's getting too old to jump anymore. We didn't want her to feel like she was getting kicked off the bed, so I made Petra her very own bed at the end of ours so that she wouldn't feel left out. I was inspired by MurdaRae's dog bed (http://ana-white.com/2012/06/doggie-daybed), and thought it was genius to use a toddler/crib bed. So I went looking for plans on Ana-White, and came up with a mixture between a couple of twin bed plans. I love that the plans are easy enough to modify my sizes, and come up with exactly the custom solution that I need. This was my first big project using Bri-Wax. The last one was kind of a disaster when the wax changed the stain color to something not-so-great. With this project, I learned to wait at least 2 weeks before attempting to wax it. I was blown away with the results. It is a beautiful subtle satin finish that feels great to the touch. Plus, I can easily touch up all the dog fingernail scratches that will inevitably occur. When I re-assembled the bed in my bedroom, I actually nicked it in a few places. No problem -- slap on some more Bri-Wax! My Bri-Wax was 11 years old, and pure liquid. I tossed it in the fridge (per Bri-Wax's recommendation), and it was as good as new. The only real problem I had with this project was leaking sap from one of the 4x4s. I'm still fighting this today. In talking with Rustoleum/Zinsser reps, they said that no sap could penetrate their "Seal Coat" shellac product. After 5 coats, the sap is still penetrating, but only if I turn it on it's side or upside down. I'm still baffled. I made the mattress cover out of a dog blanket, and made the cushions from some remnant fabric (suitable for dogs and weekly washing), so this was a fairly inexpensive project. It was a success because Petra slept in her bed from the fist night and loved that she had all the room to herself, and no boston terrorists (I mean terriers) attempted to bother her.

Modifications to the simple outdoor table plan thanks to Finn’s dad. 

Easy to build, easy to customize, perfect for totes

I installed a half door to isolate our dog from the laminate flooring when he sleeps at night.

It was only $25 for the hollow core 6 panel door from HD, which got cut in half.
$25 for the passage knob.
$10 for top plate and trim
Less than $5 for the hinges.

Not having to replace the laminate flooring priceless!

Some Tips:

The $25 door is not prehung. Buy the $14 dollar irwin door jig to install the door "http://www.homedepot.ca/product/door-lock-installation-kit-carbon/904157" It will come in handy if you are remodeling and installing new doors to replace those old flat panel doors. You will also have to chisel out the hinges.

When installing and marking the hinge locations in the door frame shim the door a 1/4" off the floor.

I built this for my daughter after building a ladder shelf for my kids bathroom. It took more time to install and adjust the drawer slides and paint the project.  

We have considered buying a cedar-lined chest to store blankets, towels, etc. for many years.  However, we couldn’t find one that came close to matching the Knotty Pine bedroom set that we had in our master suite. 

Hence, our design criteria was quite simple; match the bedroom set and have a chest sturdy enough to support our Beagles as they peer at the squirrels outside the window.

We used plans / ideas from several different chest designs which were readily available on the internet.  Most of those plans were using hard woods such as oak.  Those plans called for a hard wood framing with ¼” oak plywood for the panels.  Since we needed to use Knotty Pine to match the bedroom set, we used 1” Knotty Pine for framing and Knotty Pine ¾ ply w/ Kreg Screws and copious glue to strengthen the construct.  We finished it off with locally available 3/8” cedar T.G. planks.  It is very heavy and very strong!  This project was done entirely w/ Kreg Screws and no router rabbeting for the panels.

We learned the following while doing this project:

·      When using soft woods, always put the power sander on the wood before you start the sander.  Otherwise, you can get scratching / sander burns that don’t present themselves until staining begins.

·      While very strong, ¾” plywood is very heavy!

·      When using plywood, it is recommended that you stain both the visible and non-visible sides of each piece where glue is not to be applied.  Otherwise the chance for delaminating increases dramatically.

60 hours work and $350 to build.