Community Brag Posts

rustic coffee table

Submitted by VelvetSky on Sun, 08/28/2011 - 19:55

my first build

Built from Plan(s)
Finish Used
cherry stain
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Comments

VelvetSky

Sun, 08/28/2011 - 19:59

I have not finished the staining since it needs another coat. But I love love love my new coffee table. Thanks so much to Ana for her blog. I always wanted to build furniture but everyone would just laugh at me for even suggesting it. When I saw your site you really motivated me and made me believe I could do this. I am so happy. Still afraid to use power saws though. I make my husband cut the wood....lol

Pirate Treasure Trunk

Happy International Talk Like a Pirate Day!

Thank you, Joanne, for designing this fun to build trunk. It enabled me to use pieces of odd scrap wood and a weathered old belt and make something fun and functional of them!

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Time Investment
Day Project (6-9 Hours)
Finish Used
Gray paint wash (5 parts water : 1 part gray paint) + Golden Oak mixed with Red Oak stain layered on.
Recommended Skill Level
Starter Project

Comments

JoanneS

Thu, 09/19/2013 - 18:11

As the pirates would say: Ye did a fabulous ship on 'tis trunk, it looks full 'o awe!

You did a great job on this, looks awesome! Love the details and finishes you used! :)

Classic Bunk Beds for our boys!

Submitted by TheLufkins on Wed, 11/25/2015 - 13:13

We found the plans for the Classic Bunk Bed look and we loved it.  Since our boys share a room this bunk bed design was the perfect match for us.  We used Red Mahogany stain with a polyurethane clear coat to give it a good shine.  I made a little revision to the slats but adding a 1X6 crossbea, across the bottom and top bunk to give added support for the boys as they get older but other than that the beds are directly from the plans.  Now onto the same design for our girls!

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Time Investment
Week Long Project (20 Hours or More)
Finish Used
Red Mahogany and Polyurethane Clear Coat
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Black and White Beam Table

Submitted by Landers15 on Tue, 01/15/2019 - 12:38

I have to shorten the design up a bit to fit my dinning room. I also did Epoxy Resin on top to give it the glass like appearance.

 

So ebony stain on white pedistole with an Epoxy Resin finish.

 

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
Lumber $80
Stain/paint/aprasives $30
1 gal Epoxy Resin $80
Estimated Time Investment
Week Long Project (20 Hours or More)
Finish Used
White paint, ebony stain,and an Epoxy Resin Finish, which took 5 days alone.
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

My version of the Mom's Lego Table

Submitted by dspguy on Thu, 09/01/2011 - 06:09

This is my second woodworking project. I picked up this hobby with some spare time and with my tools that were collecting dust after I completed most of my home renovations. Cost: $80 wood ($35 just on plywood) $35 hardware (2 recessed handles and 2 drawer pulls) $20 finishing products $40 lego baseplates On the lego baseplate side, I stained but only poly'd just enough so that the border around the plates would be covered. Baseplates had to be cut in order to get the custom size I wanted. The "play area" on one side of the table is 20 inches x 13.75 inches. Each side of the table is made with three 10x10 inch plates. Two 10x10s are side by side. The other 10x10 was cut with a razor to make it into two 10 x 3.75 inch pieces. I cut the plates so that I always had a "smooth edge" on three sides. I affixed the baseplates with epoxy. Simply butting up the baseplates does not work as the gap between plates is too small. To get the proper size, hold the baseplates together with lego pieces. Wipe any excess epoxy with mineral spirits. (Note: I tried liquid nails first on a test piece. The glue heats up after application and slightly warped the lego baseplate. Not recommended). The "mom side" of the coffee table has two recessed handles. The handles on the "lego side" are made with lego bricks. I drilled a tiny hole in the lego bricks. I threaded 50 lb fishing line through the lego brick to the hidden recessed area of the "mom's side handle" and tied off the line in there. Project took me over a month of time (probably 20-25 hours of labor). It could have and should have taken less, but I'm a newbie and am very cautious with my work.

Estimated Cost
$175
Estimated Time Investment
Week Long Project (20 Hours or More)
Finish Used
Brushed on Minwax wood pre-stain (1 application) Minwax Kona (3 applications) followed by 2 applications of Minwax Clear Gloss Poly (400 grit sanding and wiping down with a damp cloth to pick up leftovers), followed by 3 applications of Minwax Satin Gloss Poly (600 grit sanding, and wiping up any dust).
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Comments

connorsmom24 (not verified)

Thu, 09/01/2011 - 08:26

I am in LOVE with the area rug in this photo. Where can I get one???

FurnitureDreamer

Sun, 08/20/2017 - 07:16

Thanks for the detail on how to cut and glue the lego plates.  I like the recessed handles you used.  Do you remember where you got them.  Looks great!  

Chevron kids table

Chevron kids table

Estimated Time Investment
Afternoon Project (3-6 Hours)
Finish Used
Cabot red oak and golden
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Comments

spiceylg

Mon, 09/23/2013 - 08:25

This came out really nice: it's unique! However, you should put the picture in the beginning of the post instead of under additional pictures so it's nice and big.

Hall tree

We had a great time building this
We did the bottom half one weekday, and the top piece another day. Primer, painting, and sanding in all took us 6 days.
It look fantastic

Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Comments

Farm House Bed w/Drawers

Used the farm house bed plans from here with a few modifications.  Instead of plywood for the headboard and footboard, I used tongue and grove 1x6 planks.  I used edge glued spruce planks from Lowes for the drawer fronts and I invested a bit more on the drawer slides and opted for the full opening type.  Also, rather than 3 large drawers on either side, I opted to put 2 smaller drawers in the center.  I felt the shallower drawers would be more useful for smaller items (socks and underwear).  I also used a 3/4" molding to hid the ends of the plywood drawer boxes.  The weathered finish was created using a video I found on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7Via9Lz4Pw).  My upgrades increased the overall price, but it was still under $600 and should last a lifetime.

Estimated Cost
$600
Estimated Time Investment
Week Long Project (20 Hours or More)
Finish Used
Multiple products - follow YouTube tutorial. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7Via9Lz4Pw
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Christmas tree box

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sat, 11/26/2022 - 15:29

I made this plan at my wifes’s request. I added a platform on the inside for our artificial tree and stencils on the outside of each side. Plan was relatively easy. We love the look. Bonus, made the tree taller. George from Arizona.

Built from Plan(s)

Comments

Chair

I built this chair for about $12. I used 6 four foot landscaping timbers. The legs are 12''
and i used 1/4'' cedar or you could use pallets. The ends are Dog Cut . The chair is sealed and finished with Helsmans Clear. E mail me if you have any questions

Estimated Time Investment
Afternoon Project (3-6 Hours)
Finish Used
Semi clear Spar.
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Comments

Craft Table

Submitted by Jenga on Sun, 12/06/2015 - 13:08

Project was rather simple. Just wanted to create a space that my wife could work her projects rather than always working on our dinning room table. Took the concept of the plans and made the table work for the space we had available.

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
$150
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
White Paint and Dark Maple Finish
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Coffee table

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sat, 01/26/2019 - 15:39

Sister asked me to make her a table. Since I am out or work right now I said yes and got this thing done in about 3 days! 

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
130.00
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
White chalk paint for the bottom and a combo high gloss poly/stain for the top
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Christmas Stocking stand

Submitted by Egle01 on Fri, 12/09/2022 - 15:30

I enjoyed making this. The kids love it and it goes great in front of the fireplace.
#Todays_Spare_Time

Built from Plan(s)

Comments

School papers organized

Now that we've got two kids in school, the previous system of storing school papers just wasn't going to work (see pic below). I used the plans on Ana's site as a guideline and made the letter bin to fit my space. I decided to also make it a holder for the mail and all our keys.

This was made used all leftover wood hanging out in the garage. Luan was used for the letter bin, and strapping (1/2" pine) was used for the mail holder. I spray painted black and then painted it a creamy white, the color of our house trim. I distressed a little bit and then added the hooks. I hope it can stand the test of time.

Estimated Cost
$16 (mainly in the hooks)
Estimated Time Investment
Afternoon Project (3-6 Hours)
Finish Used
Chose not to prime; black spray paint; creamy white; distress
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Comments

StacieM

Fri, 09/09/2011 - 16:42

I just made the PB letter bin and now I wish I would have added the key hanger to the bottom since with 6 cars, we have tons of keys all over the place. Maybe I will make a separate one..

This looks awesome and I live the distressed finish.

Tree Shelf

Submitted by Stasia on Fri, 12/11/2015 - 17:56

We loved making this project, I even learned how to work with angles.

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Time Investment
An Hour or Two (0-2 Hours)
Finish Used
Minwax Dark Walnut
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Modern Outdoor 2x Chairs

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Fri, 02/01/2019 - 20:48

What a fast, fun, and FUNCTIONAL project!  I did lower the seat height, as I think it allows you to sink into them a bit more -- especially with the cushions I had for them (which BTW, were on sale at Lowe's for $14.99/each.. normally like $60, I think).  Thanks ANA, for making yet another project such a breeze!

Estimated Cost
IDK.. I had all the wood laying around already.
Estimated Time Investment
Afternoon Project (3-6 Hours)
Finish Used
semi transparent deck stain in chocolate
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Harvest Table Love

Submitted by ksmith311 on Sun, 09/29/2013 - 12:50

This Harvest table is the heart of our home. It was one of the first furniture projects we ever completed and my favorite finish to date. The night we spontaneously decided to buy lumber and build this table we had a lot of unexected visitors. We were out in the driveway working and a bunch of friends dropped by randomly so we all took a hand in building this table. It was so much fun. Spontaneous building party.

When I finished it it was my first time using a belt sander which wound up gouging some of the wood. The table top is super smooth but very rustic and I LOVE IT. I started with pre-stain conditioner, then cherry stain which I hated, then early american mixed with dark walnut. At this point it looked pretty lovely but I wanted it to look aged and gray so I lime waxed, dark waxed and buffed the whole surface of this piece. It turned out so special and you can see some red notes from the cherry stain and those are my favorite moments on this table.
Thanks again Ana.

** updated with a few better photos on 11/21

Estimated Time Investment
Afternoon Project (3-6 Hours)
Finish Used
See summary.
Recommended Skill Level
Starter Project

Toddler SIzed Easel

We opted to make this a regular easel (no chalkboard) and just used a sheet of paneling as the background. It's perfect, our toddler loves it. Thanks Ana!

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
$10
Estimated Time Investment
Afternoon Project (3-6 Hours)
Finish Used
unfinished
tray painted with milk paint
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner