Community Brag Posts

Time to get organized in 2017....and what better way than with some custom shelving. This was not too bad of a project to complete. It only took about 6-8 hours to cut, frame, and assemble everything together (thanks to an interruption or two). 'Twas nice to have a project for once that I didn't have to care about finishing the project with wood filler, sanding, painting. I am sure my wife thanks me more as I would have been another week getting things just right​​​​​! 

A few changes that I made from the original plans:

- used 2x8 for the shelving runs as I only was dealing with a 10ft run and was a few bucks cheaper to buy 8 boards vs 16 boards. Plus less cuts!!! 

-installed adjustable furniture feet in the supports to deal with sloping basement floor. Unexpected side effect was it was easier to slide the unit around in the basement as I assembled it. 

Outside of those changes I remained faithful to the original design. I didn't bother filling the screw holes as we will be hiding the shelving unit with a curtain once  we turn the room into a TV/Office area. 

Also as it wasn't 100% clear from the original plans, but the height measurements for the shelf supports are to center... not sure why it didn't register with me right away... but just in case anyone else didn't realize that as well. 

Since we don't have a garage or any really good place to keep our tools, they end up all over the house while we're working on a project. So, we decided to build a cabinet that would look nice in our house, and also house our tools. We chose the armoire plan because it has plenty of space.

This project took us forever, so it's hard to really estimate the actual working time. We began working on it back in June, then we were evacuated because of a forest fire.... By the time we got back into our house and we were organized again it was the end of July.... and now finally the end of August it's finished. It took us a while, but it's a great addition to our house!

We modified this cabinet by using 1/4 inch beadboard backed with 1/4 plywood for the doors. We also modified the size of the armoire to make it deeper.

I made the table and then added a box with a top to it for a sandbox sand table. 

We built this corner cabinet shelf in three days (only because it is over 100 degrees here, so we had to wait until 9:00 at night to work on it) for our office space. We love, love, love it and can't believe how nice my corner cabinet turned out. Only our second building project ever. :)

Love these night stands! I spent $40 on lumber for two night stands and $30 on the hardware! You can see more pics of my finished night stands at www.shanty-2-chic.com

My second building project... this one took quite a while, building in the evenings after the kids went to bed.

The playhouse is based off of Ana's Playhouse Building series, with some modifications to fit the space in my backyard and accommodate climbing wall, monkey bars, and slide.

To put the main deck structure into the ground for sturdiness while protecting from moisture, I dug out 5 holes to fit single hole cinder blocks (4 corners plus an extra 4x4 for the monkey bars; you can see an leftover block on the ground in one of the pictures). I placed some brick in the holes, then the cinder blocks on top. I then partially filled the cinder blocks with sand, put the pre-built deck in the cinder block holes (with help - it's heavy!), and then filled the rest of the cinder block holes with sand. It's worked remarkably well - the deck has been up for about a year now. I also sprayed some clear waterproof sealant on the bottom part of each beam near the ground for extra protection (deck, monkey bars, climbing walls, and swingset A-frame). This has allowed me to still run sprinklers near/around the playset and even grow grass underneath the swings!

Materials used:
* Playhouse: pine, plywood, Suntuf solar grey polycarbonate corrugated roofing panels (I live in Arizona, so little rain to worry about but lots of heat - the sheeting lets light in but blocks most of the UV rays, corrugated shape also provides venting at top when placed sideways)

* Deck/Swingset/Monkey bars: treated lumber, composite decking, pine for railings, monkey bars purchased from Amazon

* Climbing wall: pine, treated lumber, handholds/railing bought off ebay/Amazon

* Swings/slide/bongos/wheel, telescope: purchased from Amazon

Modifications:
* Turned playhouse 90 degrees to be in back of the deck, with swingset coming off the side. This meant the support beam for the swingset had to pass through the playhouse - modified the frame for that wall slightly and created a notch for the beam to pass through.

* Slide comes out one end of playhouse - made the "window" on that end larger than the plans called for in order to give room for the slide.

* Monkey bars come off one side of the deck - used extra 4x4 here to create support for the bars, and used extra bars to make a ladder on this side

* Climbing wall instead of ladder for main entrance

* Put large window in back wall of the playhouse

* Added cross bracing to side of decking on swingset end to make it more solid/cut down on sway when swinging

I cannot be happier with the final look of my new bed. I decided to take on this task with intentions to make small changes in the plans based on my needs and preferences. The process was easy and original plans were definitely easy to follow. I had the head or foot boards completed in about 3 hours (without the herringbone pattern). I saw where someone else decided to add a herringbone design and I liked it so I did the same. It was a little tedious but overall not hard at all. Building the frame was easy as well and didn't take long at all. I started running into problems when transporting the footboard. I dropped it from about 2 ft and the leg post snapped off. I thought the pocket holes were not that strong from the beginning. This was not a problem though because I just followed the special note in the instructions and added a 2x2 to the back of each side and attached them with 3 inch wood screws. I did this for the head and foot board and it made me feel more comfortable with the stability overall. I was going for longevity for the bed so I wanted to make it easier to disassemble and move around (screwing the frame in would wear out with a few moves). I went to a woodworking shop and picked up some 5/8 inch insert nuts and bolts to match. I added one to each corner and tightened accordingly. This was by far the biggest headache for me. If I could do it over again there are a few things I would change.
1. I would have sanded my cedar post before attaching them
2. I would have attached my cedar post with the 2x2 and not used pocket holes (I l like pocket holes but not for such a heavy load)
3. I would have drilled and placed my insert nuts on the post before attaching anything to them (this would have helped to ensure a level hole).
My wife and I love the natural look of the wood but it doesn't really go well with the modern contemporary look in our home so we are having a hard time deciding on paint or stain. We are leaning toward stain because we love the grains throughout the bed.

This is by far the biggest project I've completed yet. It actually surprised me how easy it was to complete. It did take me about 4 days to build the project and an additional week to sand and paint the project.

I followed the playhouse loft plans and the storage stairs plans, adjusting only the back to allow for the additional length of the slide. I didn't add the windows to the sides (I didn't see any point in having them there). I also used the castle loft plans for the slide. When I first started this project I was planning on making the slide completely separate. I changed my mind mid project after I had the side wall cut to length at Lowe's, so I just added that small piece to the left of the slide to make up for the gap. I also made this project in 4 separate pieces (stairs, slide, front wall, back) so I could put it together in her room in one evening and not have to kick her out. Once we moved it to her room all I had to do was screw the four corners in and attach the back wall and bed slats.

I definitely recommend not using particle board. I had no idea what the difference was between particle board, mdf and plywood when I started this project. Particle board was less then half the cost of plywood, but looking back I would pay the extra for the plywood. I don't feel like the screws hold well in the particle board and it also chipped on the bottom some. I actually had a chunk come off in the corner where I must of screwed to closely to the edge. I'm sure this is basic knowledge for most, but for those newbies (like me) just a little tip.

I had a lot of fun building this bed (not so much sanding and painting) and learned a lot. Now off to browse for my next project :)