Community Brag Posts

I used 1 x 10s to make the bookcase a little shallower, and left the back open. Thanks for the great plan.

Gas pump cabinet with bookshelves.

Not quite big enough for Pizza Oven, but love the plans!

We made the grilling station to keep at our seasonal campsite and it's absolutely fantastic! We have since added some L brackets and 2 shelves, and this is where we store our extra cases of water, soft drinks, outdoor cooking utensils plus an air fryer! Super easy plans, with well written instructions for even the novice (me and hubs) diy builders!

Ali W.

My daughter watched me do another build project and wanted something for herself. We built the Toy Barn from Ana White's plans using only scraps around the garage!

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!

Basically I took Ana's plan and tweaked it to create a diy sofa, a love seat, and a corner piece to make a sectional. All 3 pieces have the same basic design and function (they all have a storage compartment), although the corner piece, because of its placement and the thickness of the seating cushions, doesn't open unless the couch is opened first. We purchased custom cut, 6" thick foam cushions for the seats (we bought the XL-38 foam from https://www.buyfoam.com/, but if we had to do it again, we'd go with the XL-28 as the 38 is VERY firm). We also used upholstery fabric instead of a paint drop-cloth to cover the couches. The foam and upholstery fabric upped the overall cost significantly. Other changes from Ana's plan, I used 15/32" OSB because the 1/4" plywood just felt too flimsy (I'm a large guy). I also added I bolts to the underside of the seat before the foam and upholstery so I could add a stress relief rope to prevent the kids from opening the top and dropping it and ripping out the hinges. I used piano hinges as they seemed to me to provide the most support. Finally, I ended up using 1x2s for the base trim since I couldn't find any 2x2s that were straight and finish-ready, then I added router detailing to provide some visual interest. I used 3" pieces of 4x6 for the feet and added matching router detail. Additionally, I used T-Nuts and bolts to make the feet and base trim completely removable.

I did not have any plans for this.  I had the dimensions from the West Elm Website so I did my best to match that.  My sister asked me if I could build this for her and I saw it as an awesome challange.  I used euro style hinges for the doors and the left side shelf is sitting on wood strips nailed in the sides.  There is also a shelf inside the cabinet.  I built the stand and she stained it.  

This was my second time welding.  I used a Mig Welder that my buddy had.  It was a little intimidating at the very beginning but Mig welding is super easy.  You can grind the welds down fairly easy too.  I sray painted it all with a flat black spray paint.  I think it turned out really well.  I had a steel shop her in town cut all the steel to the sizes I needed.  All I had to do was weld and paint.

My husband made this for my daughter and her friend to have stables at each house for their horses.  We painted the roof with blackboard paint to making decorating fun and creative.

This is my first solo and most ambitious project. I only had some help with getting the doors hung. I combined my long-time love of machine embroidery and my new found love of woodworking to create the doors on this project and really make it something special. I'm going to be using this piece in place of a chest of drawers in my bedroom.

I had a wonderful time making this toy box and learning new techniques. Having access to a table saw really made this project turn out awesome. I was able to get 1/4" shims made that allowed for easy, precise offsets. The family just loved it!

This was my first EVER wood working project.

With that being said, it took me more than just an afternoon.
I used cedar, and all the materials on the cut list had to be sanded , since I didn't like the roughness of the cedar.
I also made the box 4x8. I didn't take into account that that would require a minimum of 48 inches for the top planks. So, some of my top planks are shorter.

I also wished I had a little more instruction from which side to screw the screws in. May sound a little needy for some of you, but I never did anything with wood before. The instructions simply read attach top planks to arm rests (or something int that manner) and I wish it would have told me from which side to screw in (or give me a picture). Looking at some of the brag posts helped a lot.

Because its larger size, I decided to make the seats 3 top planks wide (and also the back rest) and made another middle cover piece to bridge the additional gap when both seats are folded down.

Also, the cedar was VERY expensive, and all the screws, hinges, and handles almost cost me as much as the wood.

The sand to fill the box ran us another $80 (for good plays and), but that was because we made it so big.

All in all, a rather pricey sandbox, but worth it because of the large custom sizes, and the cute little seats.

Pictures show the sandbox without sand, and with some of the handles still missing. I also still need to fill the holes.

Will add a picture of finished box filled with sand when it is available.

Farmhouse bed with storage sized up to a King