Community Brag Posts

In our new home there was a 46" wide coat closet at the entrance. My wife wanted a place to sit down, take off shoes and put our coats and backpacks when we were home. I found Ana White's plans for this shoe bench and modified it to fit our space. The project took 3 days to complete due to the painting, staining and polyurethane, construction of the bench itself was quick. Previously I added a light switch and two 3" LED recessed lights in the ceiling. The project came out wonderful and I am very pleased. Thank you for the inspiration!

-Mike

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.  

Camp Loft Bed modified to fit two twin loft beds in the bedroom with a shared platform step.
Age of boys in bed: 6 and 4

The boys have yet to agree on a stain color...awaiting their decision.

"Thank you Ana White for your plans I'm in love!"

Tarryn Leigh Curlee

I used this plan to build this cabinet space around the fridge. Before this was built, we just had a small dinky counter space and the overhead cabinet. I had to make a few minor adjustments in order for it to fit in the space.

I used some leftover boards from our composite deck for the surface part of this picnic table. I used a lot of Kreg joints to screw up into the boards from underneath, so I didn't have many exposed screw heads. I did have to redesign this plan slightly for me because of my composite board width. Ended up costing $5 for the 1x3 spruce, and I finished it with primer and exterior latex paint leftover from painting our garage doors.

First time wood working project!

Finished it in about two weeks, but that was during my sons daily two hour nap window and two days of staining. Had to make a few adjustments so the pillow from West Elm would fit, because the plan calls for 11 slats on the deck when it should be 12. I added some wheels to the back and will add pull out drink tables soon. It was a fun project and my wife is thrilled.

This was a great / simple plan that mostly fitted my needs. i made a few modifications;

1.  wider 'human' well - extended the width by 6"

2.  Deeper desktop - Extended to 24"

3.  2.5x.75" trim piece around table top - simple MDF 

4.  plywood on top of 2x2 frames - for all shelves and table top.

(the dimensional modifications required 2 additional 2x2 @8')

I like a larger leg well to shift around in on those long days, so i extended the width by 6" all applied to the foot well.  I was still able to use only 1 8x4 piece of .75" sanded plywood.   I use 2 computers and a second monitor on one, so I deepened the desktop from 18 to 24" to accomidate my technology.  This then required an adjustment to all 15" 2x2s used on the sides, and the shelve stretchers. I prefered to use a Plywood on top of frame method for all shelves and tabletop, for stregnth and asthetics. This required me to make a notch into all 4 corners of each shelf. To accomplish, be sure to start with a squared piece of plywood cut to dimensions, and measure the from the insides of the cutouts for precise fit.  The under shelf frames were still affixed with pocket hole screws, the tops of each were screwed to the frame with 2" wood screws (pre drilled) and smoothed over with wood filler.  the top received the same, 2x2 frame around the perimiter, along with two additional 21" supports (at the same location as the inner legs from the towers). The top was the affixed with 2" wood screws, and smoothed with wood filler.  

For asthetic purposes, I put in a 2.5x.75" trim piece around the top (to hide the frame/plywood seam) This actually worked out great!!  It is mounted flush with the plywood top , 2" wood screws about every 12 inches and a healthy amount of wood glue. (be careful, these come pre-faced with a layer of white.. something.. this does not make a good glueing surface.  Sand down before glueing to the tabletop.).  Screws were countersunk, add wood filler to smooth.  the best part of the trim is that it extendes .25" below the wood frame (1.5" frame, with   .75" plywood on top = 2.25" total thickness). this allows allowed me to not screw the towers into the top.  The legs fit in underneath the top, butted to the top's frame, and the recess created by the trim holds them in place! This will make for super simple moving should I need to relocate my desk; just lift off the top, and it's in 3 pieces!!   this step adds a bit of work and $ (really not too much, 3 2.5"x.75" MDF trim pieces adds an additionan $12, and mounting only took an additional 20 minutes.)

I finished with a two tone top quality paint job, two coats of primer, 2 coats of paint, 2 coats of Polyurathane (3 on the tabletop).

All in all, it worked fantastically!!! it is incredibally sturdy.  The plans are simple to follow, and easy to modify, just do the math, and draw it out..

Thank You Ana!

-MikeG.

(ps. the white one is Winnie, the Brown is Henry).

Did them for a friend that owns a bakery.
I don't have access to new lumber unfortunately.
The bulk of what I make is pallet. That's why there are four instead of 3 slats.
Same plan though. Pretty easy to follow.
I did add some handles to make it easier to move
since they will be brought in and out daily.

Using the counter height planter plans from Janettx. Thanks!

Living in a cottage on a lake during the summers, I needed a picnic table that would take care of a big family so I built the Octagonal picnic table on Ana's site, however with a twist.

Since we are under a bunch of trees, I wanted to be able to scrub the table easily and not have to do any maintenance on it over the long term. So I built the top and the benches using Trex. Yes, it was more expensive but the result (if I do say so myself) was incredible.

Since Trex isn't as structural as 2 x 6's, I reinforced the seats using 2x4s laid horizontally underneath the seam of each of the two bench pieces. I also drove a few extra screws through the Trex benches along the 2 x 4's to further strengthen seating area.

Aesthetically, I didn't care for the 1/2 inch spacing for the table top and benches so I reduced it to 1/4 inch and cut the length of the Trex accordingly. I used decking screws that exactly matched the color of the Trex.

I did take the advice of one of the former builder's of this table and staggered the legs to make it easier to get in and out. That was a worth while suggestion.

The only 'warning' I was given about using Trex was that it could get 'hot' if in the sun for long periods during the day during the summer. This table is in the shade almost all the time, but having said that I have read that the Trex as decking gets no hotter than treated lumber stained the same color.

This is a great design at it was lots of fun to build.