Community Brag Posts

I made this out of discout lumber. Each board was only .51 so that made it pretty cheap but a bit challenging (I had to cut the boards to fit and also cut off the twisted ends without cutting too much off). There is still a bit of uneveness in some of the boards, I think it adds to the character of the table. I changed up the plan a bit and made this from 2x6's and the ends with 2x8's. final size is 49 1/2 x 49 1/2.
A friend wanted this so I'm not sure what she is going to finish it with but will post pics as soon as I get them. I may make another one for myself :)

I found this plan while looking for a entertainment center, I had never built such a large piece of furniture. After reading thru plans I decided to build my first. Plans were simple, yet effective. I did make some modifications on the fly. I didn't want to go with the panel look so I replaced side panels with 1/4 plywood routered into outer legs (cleaner look than nailing to inside). Also went with glass doors(partially frosted to hid junk stored inside). I deleted the drawers and placed shelfs instead for tv components.

My advice to anyone making this is to be really careful when building main frame of cabinet and check square-ness several times and when applying wood strips around door jams careful measuring openings for consistency top to bottom and side to side. This will make hanging doors much easier. I learned the hard way, had to make some adjustments when hanging door. Also have hinges you plan on using on hand so as to measure thinkness of desired hinge to check clearance of door.

This was for a boys room so we wanted something sturdy, and oh man does this plan fit the bill.

Was easy to assemble, most of the project time went to sanding and staining to get the dark wood finish.

Finished in a poly gloss.

I have boys that share a room and we needed some sturdy twin beds. My wife looked online and found some on potterybarn.com or crateandbarrel.com for $425 each and that's before shipping. I told her I could make them for half that. The plans were pretty straight forward. The finishing (sanding, sanding and more sanding - then painting) was the hardest and longest part. I would recommend an electric palm or disc sander. It will be your best friend. I used 100 grit and then moved to 120 to sand all of the wood. I did this after I made all of the cuts and before I assembled. Seemed to make it easier. We decided to paint them to go with the colors in the room. The bed is very heavy and sturdy. I made both beds at the same time, which cost me right at $300. Clock hours was about 20-22 from beginning to end and it took me a little longer than a weekend since I was working around weekend soccer games and birthday parties.

This project was inspired by the featured Diamond Tufted Ottoman plan. I combined the top with a customized plan inspired by the Cameron Coffee Table from World Market and Ana White's tutorial on how to create a weathered stain look like Restoration Hardware. 

This was such a fun build and a wonderful addition to my Christmas collection.

Children's picnic table

My wife loved the x-pattern of the eatherly sofa and also wants an L couch for our deck. Still have to sand and paint but that is her job :)

I made it wider than the plan and use it in my bathroom for storage. Its pine and cedar.

We decided to adjust this plan by removing the stretchers on the bottom. We knew we wanted to use the ends of the table for seating fairly regularly without adding a leaf on the end. The lack of support doesn't seem to have any effect on the sturdiness of the table. This was a super fun (and first woodworking) project! Can't wait to knock out the bench!

A friend of mine was looking for extra counter space, and asked me to build a kitchen island, but with a few modifications. He wanted space on the end to slide two stools, so I used fewer slats. After I finished the build and the first coat of paint, he decided it was 3" too short. So, I got creative and used some stair spindles to create decorative feet! I'm actually really glad for the mix-up, because the feet give it so much character. I layered on the paint by starting with a coat of plum, then a coat of cherry, and followed it up with a glaze mix with oak stain. Then three coats of spray on poly and it was done.

This was my first building project, made possible by finding this wonderful website. The beds were made from the Classic Bunk Beds plan. Several months later I added a slide made out of melamine board and 2x3s - very sturdy and somewhat overbuilt to compensate for not using any plans for the slide).

I used Minwax polyshades for the finish - my first time finishing wood, and let's just charitably say that I learned a few lessons in doing so.

The steps are a repurposed solid pine Ikea Trofast unit - it worked very well for the kids (4 and 2 when the bed was built). However, it wasn't a great choice for getting my wife and I up to the top bunk - one of the top panels eventually broke... leading to a big bruise for my wife and strict instructions that I quickly build a new, more solid staircase option - to be shown in a future brag post.

All in all, I am very thankful for this website and its plentiful plans - more brag posts to come!

Modified plans for a king. 

Made of pine and cedar. 

Took about a week of evenings.