Shoe Dresser
We used the shoe dresser instructions with some modifications to make it longer
We used the shoe dresser instructions with some modifications to make it longer
We wanted to make a large sandbox for lots of kids. We love that it has an easy cover and two large benches to sit.
Supplies and Steps are shared at http://myhomedonemyway.blogspot.com/2013/07/building-6-x-8-sandbox.html
Wed, 02/26/2014 - 13:37
I hope sharing this will inspire others of things that they can make. Check out my blog for other DIY projects: http://myhomedonemyway.blogspot.com
My dog loves to people watch all day while I'm at work and she needed a new bed so I took the plans for the lower platform and modified them so it would stand alone. Took the platform and put it on the bottom so that her bed would sit inside instead of on top where she could more easily fall off.
I tried building without PH screws at first and all I ended up with was a lot of cracked and wasted lumber. Got the PH jig and finished the whole build myself in 2 hours. Sanding, staining, and sealing tomorrow but I'm just so excited about it I had to post now!
Great for a small flock of 5 or less.
Not quite finished but love the table already. Trying to decide how to stain/paint it. The Kreg jig was a must for this project. It was my first of hopefully many! I used cedar for the 4x4s and 2x6 top pieces. The 2x4s are treated lumber (only because there were no more cedar ones....apparently lumber is getting hard to get lately!!!). Anyway....thanks for the great plans and motivation for this project.
We chose this project because we have a small garage and space is at a premium. The dimensions of this build fit well in our limited space and allowed us to organize items such as paint, stain, screws and nails into one central location. I chose 2x4's on the sides to give it a more stable feel. Our garage and parking lot are all sloped and with the 2x4's this prevented the twisting. It feels solid and the wheels are smooth. We picked everything up at Home Depot. The screws that came with the hinges are to long and my husband used the Dremel to grind them down. You could just buy shorter screws. This is one of my firsts builds and I've definitely learned a lot of lessons along the way. Measure, measure, then measure again before you cut a piece and use a level surface to make level pieces. Overall, everyone in my family played a part in helping me build this piece and so I love it and will cherish this piece and the memories always. Thanks Ana for all your fun videos, sharing your life with your family, and providing resources like this plan to us for free. I'm thankful for my son who bought me a compound miter saw for Mother's Day and other family for buying me a Ryobi circular saw. I'm truly blessed and loved. Thanks
Mon, 08/31/2020 - 11:19
I love how you used the 2x4 on the sides. great idea
This project was quite easy and did not require many tools. The plan allowed me to adjust the measurements easily so it could fit in that space. I used regular 2x4’s and treated the wood with Mountain Ash colour in a semi-transparent stain from Sherwin Williams, I just love the colour! I build 2 - 2 seaters exactly the same. The one side has no arm, as I wanted it to look like a lounge chair. I love to sit in the corner and stretch my legs 😊. I bought the cushion covers from IKEA, and got good quality foam.
I love how this bed frame turned out! Everywhere that has stain is cedar and the rest is all scrap spruce. Thanks for another great plan Ana!
I wanted to build an L shaped outdoor bar with a 2 post pergola over the grill. I couldn't find any plans online that would fit the space I had, so I decided to build it myself with custom dimensions. The top bar is approx. 7'3" across, and 15" wide, while the distance from the right edge (next to the house) to the end of the bar is approx. 9'1".
I framed it with PT lumber and the 2 pergola posts are sitting on top of the pavers and supported internally within some of the framing studs. Since the pavers sit on top of concrete, I didn't feel the need to dig up the existing pavers and achor them in the ground.
I used hardiboard for the exterior and tiled the lower section of the bar.
For the actual high bar top, I wanted to do something unique, and found a 900 year old scrap slab of Cypress at a local lumber yard. One side was smooth, but underneath was gouged out from different saw cuts and very uneven. I screwed a piece of 3/4" PT plywood underneath and trimmed it with 1-1/2" Cypress. I stained the whole thing with a dark honey colored stain and put a generous amount of poly on it once it was dry. There are a few cracks and nicks on it, but once it was stained, it looked awesome.
Wed, 06/19/2019 - 13:23
Looks awesome. I have been wanting something like this for a while now. Where can we can plans for this?
Thanks to Ana White we learned how to make these cubbies. The wood for the stained bench is from trees milled from my husband’s family farm.
Our nephew Nathan really wanted a captain's bed like his friend. We built him one even better for Christmas this year. I couldn't find one plan with everything we wanted to I used the plans for the Storage Daybed for the base, and used the plans for the Cozy Corner twin bed collection wide bookcase unit. We combined both the headboard and sideboard into one unit (by extending the top to the short end) giving him an L shaped headboard for all his hockey stuff :) The only thing we messed up on was the height of the bookcase. He wanted it higher so it's on blocks for now to raise it. My sister did all the final painting to match his room and it looks AWESOME!!!
Steve had everything cut at work and we put it together in one 12 hour day! Nathan LOVES his new bed. Thank you Ana!
Fri, 01/06/2012 - 16:52
That is one nice, cool looking bed. Interesting colors, is it his school colors? I've never thought of painting plywood, you've given me some ideas.
Fri, 01/06/2012 - 21:24
The colors are the official Montreal Canadiens hockey team's colors, My son is a HUGE fan! Nathan LOVES his bed. and it is very solid.
Fri, 01/06/2012 - 20:29
Ummm... The bookcases were too short because you didn't take the mattress height into account. Looks really good though.
Outdoor Couches made from the plans on the website. Added 2 2x4's on back top to add support when leaning back. Also added vertical supports on the back to help with added weight.
Stained and Sealed with Natural Cedar Stain and Sealer
My father-in-law and I knocked this project out in about 5 hours including the trip to the lumber yard. You've got a great basic design here! A few modifications we made:
1. I thought the depth of the shelves in the original plan was a little too shallow so I used 3 2"X6"s instead of the 4 2"x4"s. That made the shelves 1 1/2" deeper. Although 2"x6"s are obviously more expensive, the overall cost for the project didn't change much because we only had to use 3 boards per shelf instead of 4. This also reduced the amount of screwing and made it easier to position the shelf boards without taking measurements since we only had one middle board to deal with (instead of 2 with the 2"x4"s). We just eyeballed the spacing of the middle shelf board as we worked.
2. Since our garage has a 10' ceiling, I decided to go 8' tall with the unit. This allowed us to add a 5th shelf.
3. Some oversized tubs can be 18-20" high or more so I varied the height of each shelf -- 24" at the bottom, then 20", 18" and 16". There's approx. 24" available between the top shelf and the ceiling.
4. Due to the position of the garage door track, I had to notch out a couple feet at one side. The end support piece is only 6' high.
5. Since many storage tubs can be 16-18" wide, I made sure that there was at least 54" between 3 of the vertical support structures. This will allow us to store 3 tubs side-by-side and maximize storage. You might notice that I have two vertical supports that appear to be very close together near the back wall. I did this so I would have something on that side to attach more shelving to on that short wall where the garage door opener is.
The only cuts we had to make for this entire project were for the 18 1/2" 'braces' or support pieces on the vertical ladder structures. The shelves are either 14' or 12' (top shelf only) and the vertical 2"x4"s are either 8' or 6'. Most lumber yards will carry these lengths in either 2"x4"s or 2"x6"s.
We didn't use any wood glue, and I admit this may come back to haunt me. However, to get a good fit and eliminate gaps, I used clamps I already owned to squeeze the boards together before adding the screws. Everything feels very solid and sturdy to me.
Because of the extra height compared with the original plan, I was worried about it possibly tipping over (we have a 10-year-old who likes to climb ) so I made sure that 3 of the supports are lined up with the wall studs. After leveling the entire unit, I plan to anchor it to the wall using 3 1/2" screws.
So for about $187 in lumber and maybe $20 in construction screws, I've got 76 feet of STURDY shelving that should accommodate hundreds of pounds! Not a bad investment at all...
I built this outdoor daybed to add a cozy and inviting space to my backyard. It was a fairly easy build, which I managed to tackle by myself. Head over to the blog for more details.
I modified the origianl plans by making the cabinet taller. I also built 2 cabinets and trimmed them both together to make it appear as if it is 1 giant cabient. It measure over 7 feet tall and just over 6 feet wide. I did add an additional 1x2 brace in the center of the cabinet to help support. I also cut an additional 1x4 to use a brace when anchoring it to the wall. I also chose to add an additional 2 trim pieces to each door because they are much taller than the original plan doors.
Used square laundry baskets instead of regular rectangular baskets. The square ones aren't as deep but are a bit taller so I had to modify the plans. I added a backsplash and some wooden tags to the baskets to designate them for certain colors. I also added some decorative trim and finished the bottom in a gray stain and used white chalk paint for the top.
This was a quick and easy build. My friend needed a changing table and I had several scraps left from a toy box build. I will mention that using 2x2 firring strips is always my worst nightmare. They're rounded, never straight, and full of knots. They just don't give that professional feel. I had to use 1/2"x3" preferred pine on the ends in order for them to sit flush inside the 2x2's. Used the kreg pocket holes and assembly was easy. The changing pad frame on top attaches to the back with an L bracket so they can remove it and still use the table down the road. I hope they enjoy it for many years.
This was the second piece of furniture that my husband and I ever made. We had built a coffee table that had a lift up top so that we could eat dinner on the couch and store all of our board games. Once we tackled that, I thought we could conquer the world (even though the table was pretty basic). So when my now-husband was about to move into his first apartment without a roommate and I saw it as an opportunity to decorate my own place (even though I wasn’t living there). Luckily,he agreed it was time to get rid of his tiny Ikea TV stand that was probably 2ft off the ground and not a great height for a TV, and agreed to build this awesome TV console with me. To this day, it’s still my favorite piece of furniture in our house.
Sat, 11/09/2019 - 14:12
Love this, needing one in my front entry way. How long did it take?
Inspired by Shara of Woodshop Diaries, created this 3 tier tray for displaying cookies for Santa. Added a 3 dimensional star as the topper and simply followed the excellent photos and schematics on Shara's website.
Weekend swing project
Tue, 05/07/2019 - 10:42
We don't currently have this plan available, although I'd be happy to draw it with the author's permission.
I have linked a few plans above that could be used to create this plan. Just make sure you bury the arbor uprights underground on concrete pier posts or similar (like building a fence)
I modified the Small Old English Style Farmhouse Dining Table plan to build a writing desk. I used five 1x6 boards for the top for a width of 27.5 inches. I made my desk 56 inches in length. I put the drawer on the long side like a pencil drawer. I did use the legs that Ana recommended in the plan. I love how it turned out. I used dark walnut danish oil and dark wax for the finish.
Sat, 08/31/2019 - 05:18
Beautiful! What are the brands of oil and wax that you used?
Fri, 10/04/2019 - 21:46
Thank you! I used Watco Danish oil and I used Minwax dark wax. I've tried alot of different wax brands and I always come back to Minwax. It dries the hardest in my opinion.