Community Brag Posts

This was my first project from Ana's site. I wanted something simple and cheap to make, so all in all, this project was very simple.
I think I will paint instead of stain next time though as the quality of the wood I purchased from Home Depot wasn't the best.
Very happy with it though, and I'm planning on making more.

When I recently moved into a space with a kitchen and living room attached, I quickly realized that I wouldn't have room for a full size dinner table. I had seen extendable kitchen tables but none fit the bill, I was looking for something more compact. I also liked the idea of a bar / island with storage underneath, and I had noticed some had a drop leaf on 1 side which would be useful – but why not have 2 leafs for more dining space? When I decided to build my own table to fit these requirements it was difficult to find any plans out there, especially with drop leafs. Through lots of experimenting and research I finally built what I had envisioned: a kitchen island / bar with cart storage and two folding table leafs which expand to about 3^1/2 feet squared of eating / drinking area. I went through this trial and error process so you don’t have to, find more pictures and instructions here: http://bacheloronabudget.com/diy-drop-leaf-kitchen-island-cart/

Douglas Fir 4x4 truss beam table, made from the listed plans (modified for a 72" table top and concrete used for the top).  Also, added steal gusset plates with lag bolts to replicate appearance of exposed truss beams.  Used pocket screws in conjunction with lag bolts.  Benches were altered with half-lap joints for strength (very time consuming).  Concrete table top made with Quikrete countertop mix (charcoal powder pigment added), an aluminum "M" inlay, and slurry coated with a lighter gray grout to fill in bugholes/ voids.

Table was fairly easy- hard part was finding straight wood (mostly green DF is sold near me, so some beams would warp beyond suitability as they dried).  I had to purchase a few extras to get the pieces correct.  If KD is available, go with that.  I was able to find KD DF at another hardware store for the benches.

Concrete was a PITA.  I never worked with concrete before. Watched a million youtube videos, read countless blogs, etc.  So much good info out there and I probably over-researched it.  I despise concrete, now (the mixing/ pouring/ screeding/ and weight) but I LOVE the result.

The project was my secret excuse to buy tools Ive always wanted.

If I wouldve been able to work straight through, I think I couldve completed this in a month.  The table and benches were a couple of weekends worth.  The concrete took most of my time with making melamine molds, special ordering the bags, renting the mixer, waiting it to cure, polishing and filling the top, etc.  A wood top wouldve cut down on the overall time considerably.

If you do a wood top (as I did for my benches), either use some type of joiner to get the board edges perfectly squared against one another with no gaps, OR leave gaps big enough between boards to let crumbs fall through, OR (this is what I did for my benches) I used a super clear (Lexel) caulk for the seams of the boards and then went over it after it dried with the satin polycrylic to take away any gloss.  Now all those crumbs dont get wedged between the boards.  They wipe away with ease.

Finally, I used heavy duty felt (4x6") from the local HD at $2.50 a pair.  Cut them to size and used the self-adhesive WITH gel superglue to put on bottom of bench and table legs.  A must.

THE MOTIVATION
After a recent washer outage (that I was ultimately able to repair myself), my wife and I talked about eventually replacing our front-loading washer/dryer set.  One of the bullets I hate biting is paying the exhorbitant prices for the matching pedestals for new washer/dryer sets.

Having just bought a good set of cordless powertools, and having watched my father when I was a kid build countless household fixtures, window dressings, furniture pieces, etc., I decided to try my hand and construct a permanent platform for our current washer/dryer set, thereby eliminating the need to ever buy manufacturer pedestals again.

The existing pedestals were a standard 15" high, with a storage drawer, which we felt was still not high enough for comfort.  And, the washer pedestal drawer was entirely inaccessibl due to the 2" walls on the washer drain pan, so its drawer was totally useless, wasted space.

And, lastly, we really wanted more space for clothes baskets full of laundry, which we generally stacked (full and haphazardly) on top of the machines.

THE CHALLENGES
The largest challenges were mainly logistics, and gravity.  The washer/dryer would have to be unavailable for at least 2-3 days while they sat disconnected in the next room waiting for their new home.  So I coordinated with the family so they'd know when they needed to have their laundry done, or tough it out until I was done.

There was no way to know for sure what the drain connection for the washer pan looked like until I got the washer out.  So it was a small gamble that I'd be able to get the parts needed to extend the drain pipe up to the new platform right when I was ready for them.  Fortunately, this was no issue at all.

The biggest challenge turned out to be toward the end when it came time to lift our 230-lb. washer onto the new platform.  I seriously considered disassembling the washer to the point that I could remove its molded concrete counter-weights, but instead (and arguably stupidly) elected to use a large hydraulic car jack to raise the washer.  This ultimately worked, but I have to STRONGLY ADVISE AGAINST trying this.

THE SPACE
Our laundry room is also the "mud room" between our kitchen and the garage.  It is only large enough for the two machines, and the walk way between the two doors--in total, about 70.5" square.  Building the platform from wall-to-wall made the most sense, and minimized framing by fastening edge framing directly to the wall studs. 

THE PLAN
Pretty basic:  2x4's all around for the edge framing--back and sides fastened directly to the wall studs, and front 2x4 supported by two, notched 4x4 legs.  3/4" plywood for the subsurface, and 1/4" laminate faux-wood flooring on top (left over from reflooring, so it matches the floor below).  Bore holes for the washer pan drain and the dryer vent.  1" quarter-round molding on the sides, and 5.5" face piece flush with the top of the molding across the front (spare lauan I had looks perfect).  I also made a point of putting the machines on the platform before the face piece since it might have been in the way or damaged.

Anyone will tell you that it's best to at least sketch out what you want to do so you can minimize surprises, forgotten parts, etc.  I, of course, did virtually none of that, and made several course changes and corrections along the way.  For this project, I was lucky that I didn't need to backtrack at any point, and probably won't learn this lesson any time soon anyway.  However, you SHOULD.

TAKE-AWAYS
The main mistake I made was while gathering the platform dimensions for cutting the plywood.  It was only blind luck that kept me from having to do it more than once (and having to buy more than one 4x8 sheet).  I know that it's actually very unlikely that two adjacent walls are perfectly square, so I made a point to measure the width between the walls at the back and at the front--and, sure enough, found a 1/8" difference--wider at the front.  But when I measured and marked the plywood for cutting, I measured both distances from the precut edge, and then cut.  By doing this, I inadvertently assumed that one of the back corners was perfectly square. 

What I should have done was used a carpenter's square in each back corner to extend a square line from the back edge to the front, and then measured from the square lines to their respective side wall.  This would have accounted for neither back corner being square.

Fortunately, my mistake wasn't big enough to keep the plywood from fitting, but it was very, VERY close.

GIDDY
I honestly couldn't be happier with the finished project (or more smug).  We've raised the washer/dryer 9" higher than they were (24" off the floor), and we now have basket storage underneath all the way across.  I placed two 24" plastic cabinets on top, which still leaves room for the detergent right over the soap inlet on the washer.

And, most importantly, I got to use every powertool I own.  Kinda beats "the quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog" thing, huh?

I used Ana's tilt out trash bin plans to help me build this fabulous center for use in my kitchen. I love the way it turned out!

Used the simple nightstand from this site, and modified to add in the "X" on the sides. Finished in a Classic gray minwax to give reclaimed wood look.

I used your basic plans,  but modified it to use some scrap wood I had from another project. I used blue stain pine,  tongue and groove. 

I made this toy box for my niece who is expecting her first baby (it's a boy).  I know she likes things clean and uncluttered,  so I added a lid, and then added some corner pieces to make it a little more juvenile. 

It was so much fun. 

We used old dock wood for the surface of our X table for a nice beach house beverage center (sand bar!).  We adjusted the size to fit our space (a little longer and wider) and used additional studs for the shelves instead of 1" shelving, glued and PH/PS together.  To cut the X pieces I just held the 1x1 on the end of the table where it goes and marked the lines. Then I clamped a guide board at the correct angle on the table saw to make all the cuts, starting a bit long and shaving off until it just fit.  

With all the pocket holes and screws I wouldn't consider this a beginner project. Some additional steps and pictures in your description would help also.  End result is really nice.

This was my first time using my own measurements for an Ana White build. I was really nervous but having completed a few other projects by following plans exactly, I felt confident I had gained the skill to branch out of my comfort zone. I had been looking at coffee bars for my kitchen, but at $300 and up, cheaply made and in the wrong dimensions,. I just knew I could build something with better quality for a portion of the price. This project took me half a day to build the carcass and then another afternoon to figure out the door hardware and stain. I used all 1 x boards and the final bar is 12" wide so I used 1 x 12 boards for everything except the trim.  All in all you could complete it in a few hours, it was really simple. I made the door hardware by popping open two pulleys and attaching them with metal somethings (not sure what they are) that I found at Lowes. I then ran a flat bar across the front using spacers like Ana did in hers. I painted the hardware with Rustoleum Oil Rubbed Bronze spray paint and stained the top of the bar with Minewax Dark Walnut, the bottom is Minewax Ebony. I still need to poly. One thing I changed up was the top. Instead of using a piece of plywood, pine, or combining pieces together, I used a stair tread! It was a little thicker than a typical 1 x, and also had a rounded edge which I think gives the piece a finished look! This is a piece of furniture I will truly use every single day and I couldn't be happier with how it turned out! The grand total? $60 for the wood and $20 for the hardware. $80 all in all (I had the stain leftover from another project). There's no way I could have bought a piece this nice for that price!