Community Brag Posts

These plans where so easy for my hubby to follow and put together. My son's room is small and even though it's a big bulky bed he has all that floor space to play now!! 

Thanks for being there, love your designs

My 6 year old son and I made this doll bed for my daughter. It's the cutest little bed. Right now she puts her "Bitty Baby" doll in it but it will be great for when she's older and has an American Girl doll, too. And, it gave me a chance to make a little quilt. That was fun.
It was a quick and easy project! Thanks, Ana!!

I altered the plans a bit so this would fit along the wall where we wanted it. I basically shortened the width of the steps. I left the storage under the hinged 1st and second steps but I put in a shelf style cubby under the top step. This worked out to more useable space for us. I used cheap wood and just plained them down. I think I spent around 300 dollars including paint. But I also used a full sheet of plywood on the back as well.

I wanted to replace the awful cart we keep our coffee maker and toaster oven on, and have always wanted to see a butcher-block top in our kitchen. We are renters, so doing anything like countertop remodeling is out of the question. I decided to build this little console and present it to my husband, the coffee-drinker of our house, for Valentines Day. The actual construction of the console was very easy, it was the sanding, plugging of pocket-holes, and staining that took a week! My husband loves it, though, and immediately rid of the old cart and set up his coffee-maker on the new one. We are both very proud of it.

My niece, who visits often needed a place of her own, for drawing, painting, playdohing, and of course the token lemonade stand. This is is, she loves it. When she's here, one weekend a month, it comes out, into the sunshine, so she can do her little girl activities. I left the top so I can resand if there are any accidents, and now it has a coat of poly sprayed on. I did make this project intermediate, due to the very tricky screwing that needs to be done not to go thru the top. I did use my Kreg Jig

I didn't use one of your plans for these shelves but wanted to share it here since I learned how to build because of you! These were really easy to put together and only cost $100!!! I have the step by step plans on my blog.

Stephanie

My wife wanted a farmhouse, rustic, restoration hardware type table but I wasn't about to spend the crazy money on one.  So I told her let me see if I can build one she would like and she loves it.  

This cabinet was inspired by an Ana White project. My wife wanted more storage in our new home, and we had a sofa table at this location. But it was just a top, no shelves. I custom fit it to be flush with the window sills at the top and ends so it takes on a bit of a built in appearance. The top and bottom are oak faced plywood, all edges covered with iron on oak facing. As I was short of the expensive plywood, the ends, shelves and kick are doug fir plywood with a light oak stain; while not a perfect match gave a pleasing result that guests have not caught. The doors are 1/2" MDF, with a 2" solid oak end glued on where I routed the slots to open them. Slots are 1/4" +, 3/8" apart, and the top and bottoms of the doors routed to leave a 1/4" rail. The bottoms of the bottom slide slots have a slick poly tape in them, which really helps the doors to slide easily.

Sides and interior are brush finished with 3 coats of semi-gloss polyurethane, while the top has 5 coats. The MDF on the doors has one sprayed coat of white primer (oil based to avoid bringing up the MDF) with a final sprayed coat of mat finish enamel. I need to do one more step, light sand with 320 grit and paste wax the top to get that really fine finish.

While not as easy as Ana makes it look, it turned out pretty well. That hard part on a piece this size is getting all the pieces cut precisely, and I mean with less than 1/32nd difference, to provide a good fit. As it was I had to custom cut the oak opening ends on the doors to account for the small differences in widths at the top and bottom to obtain a nice fit against the sides. Next time I'll triple check all finish dimensions to make those small adjustments in parts before assembly, then triple check again for placement during assembly.

While I'll always see the small "errors", my wife is very pleased with the finished cabinet.

This is a television stand/bookcase I built at the request of my wife. I used red oak plywood, red oak lumber, and the backing is 1/4" birch sheeting. It is put together with trim nails, wood glue, and countersunk wood screws. I used wood plugs to fill the screw holes. I marked it as intermediate due to the miter cuts on the trim.

I built this and then ordered storage baskets that fit to the size. I built it exactly to the plan except I did not make the top flush to a back wall and I added decorative trim. I think adding trim really adds a nice look to this project.

The tower was super easy to build and took hardly any time. The most time was spent on the finishing work (sanding and painting).

Built from Ana plans in a weekend. Finished last week. Chickens arrive this week.

Built this over a couple of week nights. I used the basic bookshelf plans available on this site.

It was fun!

I do have a couple of observations though:
1- Sand all pieces of wood BEFORE you cut them, to the desired lengths! Make sure the wood is nice an smooth. So much easier to do with big pieces, that can be balanced on a good support! Especially important when using the cheapest pine available!

2- Take your time, double check measurements, and follow the assembly directions. (Yes.. I made a mistake on the assembly part... at least it's on the back, and no one can see it)

I did change the width to fit my wall space, and I did add adjustable shelves (1 fixed shelf, to help hold the whole thing square). (I used a piece of peg board to place the holes for the shelf supports). Pretty neat! I also added a couple of extra shelves. (I still needs some paint) I needed the extra storage for organizing the stuff we need in the family eating area.

I also changed up the top finishing details. I mitered the corners, and layed the 1x2's flat, offset by .75 of an inch. It gives a nice look.

Modification of Ana White's Farmhouse Table adjusted to bar height.

This is a first time project that my husband and 11 yr old on made.