Community Brag Posts

This was a labor of love for my son’s Christmas gift. He wants to be a chef and all he has wanted was an island in our kitchen. Thanks Ana for such an amazing and simple (enough) plan.

My wife and I were looking for a larger table for our deck and after searching and seeing that everything out there was 300 dollars and up for something decent I decided I would try building something. This table was perfect for our needs and looked easy enough for me to put together. The most time consuming part was staining all of the boards as I went but it was totally worth it in the end. I also deviated from using screws and used my nail gun along with some glue to put the top frame together and the slats on but I did use some 2inch deckmate screws to attach the legs. One problem I did run into was I was about half a board short on the slats which wasn't a big deal just ripped one on the table saw, not sure if I miss measured or what but either way. We love our table and will entertain around it for years to come.

Loved these plans. Top unit was built exactly to specs. Bottom unit was built to accommodate one column of cans. I have also built one for my sis-in-law and will be building one more for this pantry. Love this project!

Inspired by Ana's Flip down wall art desk. It has different dimentions since wall space was limited. I used a magnet as a lock, added upholstered back, dowel for storage and extended the bottom part to add some strength. It is very handy!

I essentially stuck to the main plan - except to support the wings I used 2X2 boards and standard hinges.

I was worried that there may not be enough space for my Ryobi 10" sliding miter saw because of the slide however, it fits nicely and there is plenty of space.

Thank you for the wonderful plan. This was my first project of this size and I am very happy with the results!

When I first saw the outdoor sectional plans from Ana I had to build this! The sectionals at potterybarn cost at least $1500 and that is without the cushions. I chose cedar for the lumber because I wanted a high end stained wood look that would stand up to the pacific northwest weather. I purchased most of the lumber from Orange and some of the smaller boards from a local lumber yard. Every board was cut first then sanded and stained before assembly. This made it look a lot more professional and no drips! There are just too many tight areas to do this after it is assembled. I made 2 Weatherly outdoor sofas and used the plans from the Weatherly loveseat to leave the end off of one of the sofas to make an L-shaped sectional. This fit perfectly for my narrow deck which is the beauty of DIY and Ana's easy to modify plans. I  followed the suggestion of another brag post to attach the 2 sofas together with carriage bolts and nuts. It is important to be very accurate with all of the cuts because they have to fit together perfectly for the final product to look straight and measure correctly. Because there a about a million repetitive cuts in these plans I took the idea of another brag post and youtube and created a stop out of leftover lumber which really helped me keep my cuts accurate and saved me a lot of time. I really enjoyed using my new Kreg K5 pocket hole jig on this project which saved me time and my new Ryobi brad nailer that I convinced my husband I needed. I plan on using it on several projects which "require" a brad nailer! I bought six 25" cushions in turquoise from Pier 1 in mid-July which were on major sale and several pillows to match the color. I am somewhat of a beginner so I didn't adjust te plans to fit six 25" cushions so I had to have one cut down to 22" by a local upholstery shop (I could have purchased a 22" cushion but of course they were all sold out). I suggest at least a 3-4" depth cushion that is fairly firm, which Pier 1 cushion were.

I love the outdoor coffee table with built in beer cooler idea that another brag post had suggested.It uses a planter box as the cooler.  I used the same stain which worked well and adequately waterproofed the table. It also has a cover for the cooler when it is not in use. I thought it was a nice addition.

I loved this project and how it turned out! Thanks for the plans and inspiration!!!

In need of outfitting the spare bedroom for overnight guests I came upon this site and found the storage bed plan we liked.  After building the bed of course a dresser was in order.  My sawyer has some northern white pine that came from the Wisconsin Northern State Fair grounds in Chippewa Falls.  Having never worked with white pine before I found it rewarng and was happy with the finished product.  Hope our guest enjoy it as much I had building it

We love this little desk for my 3-year-old's room.  She chose the light blue color and helped me paint it.  We used Valspar chalk paint and wax and love the look.  We didn't have room for the double-sided storage so we used pre-made table legs for the other side.  Thanks again, Ana!

p.s. Sorry about the photos rotation.  I have no idea why they are all sideways.  

On this project we modified a few things like the arm rests which we cut at an angle to keep kids from pinching fingers in there if someone decided to move the bench back on them. We also modified the size which we made 6'x4' to maximize play sand space and kid space. Therefore this made our benches bigger so that big kids (my husband) could sit on the benches and play in the sandbox. Yes there was talk about putting cup holders but I won the conversation by mentioning sand in his drink and we would have to do a sippy cup. We notched out the handles instead of installing handles which made it look sleek. We used the template from the hinge so it matched the shape....clever huh? We decided to primer and paint this one sandstone in the brick and mortar sample book by Behr and had them put it in an exterior paint color for us. We used a wagner paint sprayer which made the project fast at the end. Overall still an easy project for anyone. I do suggest pre drilling all holes first before screwing in screws so the wood doesn't split when doing the slats on the top.

Using this plan I built my lounger with some changes, mainly adding lawn mower wheels to one end. The cushions I made have a mesh bottom to let the cushions dry faster, and zippers so they can be removed and machine washed. More details on what I used and many more photos on my blog.