Community Brag Posts

This was the first time I had ever worked with some of the tools and really done any serious building.  We built a new deck onto the back of my home and I could not stand the cost of the furniture to make it complete.  Thank you Anna I have become fearless with tools!!  Our deck has become even more special!!

My son needed more room in his bedroom...and to be rid of the very girly furniture he inherited when he moved into his "big boy-ish" bedroom. At 10 yrs old, it was high time he got a bed that wasn't pink-tinged, white washed pine with 4 posters and enough curlicues to choke a forest. He also needed a desk which I couldn't really fit in his room with the armoire and chest of drawers that came with the Queen sized bed.

So off to Ikea we went and I saw a black loft bed for $300, but it was really, really high which meant I would have to cut it down and it was not sturdy at all. I looked at PB and saw the $1800 bed. Um, no - that wasn't happening. So, off to Ana-White I went and I'm so happy I did!

I built the full sized version of these plans and, to keep costs down, used wood I had on hand. This meant I had to work a bit at the cuts, but it all worked out.

Mods:
1) I modified the railings to have the ladder at the end of the bed to keep away from the ceiling fan.

2) Because I put the ladder at the end of the bed, I got very nervous about having a soon-to-be teen climbing on to a ladder secured to a 1x10 that was only connected to the side railings with glue and screws. So I sandwiched extra 1x3s over the bottom rails and attached them to the top railing.

3) I was very nervous about making sure that the bed was adequately supported so I put a 2x4 down the center instead of the 1x2.

4) I went a wee-bit overboard screwing things together to the point where it's a bit embarrassing and now I have to paint over the screw heads.

5) I made the ladder treads with 2x4's, modifying the inside spacer board cut lengths.

Because I had quite a bit of lumber on hand, the bed only ended up costing me about $90.

For the bookcase, I did end up buying the 1x12s and the adjustable shelf railings. I made the book shelf the entire width of of the bed and split the two sections based on width of the 1x24 board I bought for the desk. I only put the backer board up half way so that the daylight could get underneath the bed and make it not so cave-like.

The book case cost me about $70.

The desk was the easiest...but most costly item. A 1x6x24, 4 table legs and the table leg mounts ran me about $80. The plexiglass top that I had cut for the top cost me about $80.

Time wise, this would have taken me a lot less time than the 4 months it took - but I worked on it as I could and when I could, by myself. I got some friends to help me bring it upstairs and put it back together, but it was mostly done when I could fit in some time.

My son LOVES this and it really does give him so much room!!! Thanks Ana - I really appreciate it!

I had trouble with this project. I wasn't sure of the terminology, off square and such. It went well, I ended up not putting the truss part on due to not paying attention when cutting the wood.

This is my very first Ana White build! I needed a table to go into my craft room and stumbled upon Ana White. What an AMAZING site! After browsing and finding many projects i would like to give a whirl i finally decided on this modern craft table. My husband and I have worked together on many different projects and decided we would try this one. The plans were very easy to follow although we did make a few mistakes along the way. I painted it white and finished with several coats of poly. All in all we love it and have a list of other builds to do next.

Make sure to check us out at SouthernChicLove.Blogspot.com!

This is not my first build, as I built some tables for my shop using various plans.

Anyway, here it is, the hall tree! I changed up the trim a bit. So much of me went into this, and a couple of times I pulled out the crowbar and started over on the moulding and on the cross supports on the top because I was a bit of a perfectionist... something I need to learn to control with this new found hobby.

Let me know what you think! Already the picture have about 50 likes on my facebook and people want me to build them one! I think I'll just send them the link... !!!

This was our first build from this website and we are so pleased! Having seen very involved plans on an Australian website for a similar sandpit, I was so pleased to come across this version, with its far simpler design!
We wanted a slightly bigger sandpit, so I needed to do some modifications, and while I was enlarging it, I also converted to metric sizes, and designed specifically for the timber I knew I could buy locally (very obscure and inconsistent seeming German sizes). So the end result is a 1.5x1.5m sandpit, that has so far had 6 kids playing happily in it at once!
I've put in the drawings I used, and the cutting list for larger sizes in case anyone else is working in metric, or wants a bigger size!
Our other modification was to offset the shorter sections of the base to run along the front plank of the bench seat - there were two main benefits for this - we need a lot less sand, as there is none wasted under the seat, and the seat is supported and can't bow downwards!
The dimensions and layout we used are in the images.

Supplies

Timber
2 - 200 x 40 x 3000mm
6 - 120 x 24 x 3000mm
1 - 80 x 50 x 3000mm

Hinges
12 - 140mm long (the original design had 8, we went with three per edge to allow for the extra width)

Self tapping decking screws
18 - 5 x 80
48 - 5 x 50
96 - 3 x 20 (or enough for your hinges, depending on the design)

Paint
3 - 375ml PU Acrylic Paint, suitable for exterior use (top planks and seat supports)
1 - 750ml PU Acrylic Paint, suitable for exterior use (base)

Weed matting and staple gun

Sand
I calculated I would need 20 x 25kg bags - in the end we needed 11 - don't ask me where we went so wrong!

Cutting list

2 - 200 x 40 x 1500 (long sides of base)
2 - 200 x 40 x 1415 (short sides of base)

12 - 120 x 24 x 1495 (top slats - just under half a plank, to allow for waste)

4 - 80 x 50 x 245 (armrests / seat braces)
4 - 80 x 50 x 495 (back supports of seats)

I gladly paid 5 Euro for the wood to be cut in Hornbach - it should have been more than this, but the guy was generous!

12 hinges (the original design had 8, we went with three per edge to allow for the extra width)

On Sunday we had the idea, on Monday I drew up the plans, on Tuesday I went shopping! Once all our wood was home safely, we sanded it down - most edges weren't badly finished, but there were a few splinters that needed getting rid of!
The next two nights Mr W gallantly set to work with the paint brush. After two nights, the wood all had two good coats of paint and we were ready to start assembling on Friday.
I pre-drilled the base of the bench before the second coat of paint - three holes for each butt joint - with some careful measuring this made screwing the base together really easy!
The top planks were also pre drilled, but there unfortunately my tiredness made me make mistakes, and some had to be re-drilled! Spacing the planks out took a lot of time, but I am glad I made the effort. I used cereal box, and experimented with different numbers of layers - I knew I wanted a theoretical 5.4mm gap, but it took some time to get the right number of layers of carefully creased and concertinaed card!

Having got our spacing wedge sorted, we screwed the blue planks in place at either end of the base. We then assembled the green seat section, and the blue/yellow back rest. Following a tip from the comments section, we added the hinge to the seat/back combo first, as this ends up being on the underside. Once those two hinged sections were made, they were then laid in place on the base (card wedge spacers in place) and then the final hinges added. The final assembly took about 5 hours - but this was partly because we started outside, then had to move everything inside when a huge thunderstorm rolled in!

The next morning we got busy with the staple gun and tacked weed matting over the base, then it was hauled in to position and filled up! For us getting this done and dusted was important, otherwise it could have dragged on a lot, but we are terribly proud that it was done in less than a week from being fist conceived!
I hope the metric/enlarged plans are of use to someone else too. One other idea we had, which we didn't get round to building in, was a support bar to be fitted when you close the pit, so the kids can play on top as a stage when it is not being used for a sandpit!

This is a simplified version of the Unabox from Make Magazine.

Build Instructions:
http://www.instructables.com/id/Puzzle-Box-Unabox/

Video:
http://youtu.be/VTaoUHsGau8

If you like this, please see my other puzzle box.
http://www.instructables.com/id/Puzzle-Box-4/

I used the "square x bass pedestal" plans to complete this 4' card table. The top is made from reclaimed gym flooring from the local high school. The "x base pedestal" provides a nice sturdy base for the large table. The project was completed over several weekends when I had time to work on it. 

Took the fancy hall tree bottom and added Mimi's hutch to the top. Added a little bead board to the bench and top edges to cover up the plywood, and voila! My wife's Christmas gift. 

Was inspired to build this table after a visit to R.H. with my wife and realized a table this size and style would cost us about $3000.

So I decided to build myselft.  With a little help from Ana's plans and my own modifications, I think I got pretty close to the Restoration Hardware Trestle Table.

I bought the pedestals at Osbornewood.com and asked them not to drill the leg holes and ordered it in pine.  That was the most expensive part of the table, about $380 a piece.  The rest of it is Douglas Fir.

I created a template and shaped the feet myself out of 4X8 beams.  I was able to use my jig saw and a Bosch 10" blade.  I made the rough cut with it and then sanded the rest of the shape using my belt sander.

The pedestals have a hollow center and were too tall so I cut them down and created plugs and glued them into the pedestal.  The bottom plug has a large threaded rod and is glued and bolted to the feet, and the top plug was used to create the horizontal supports for the table top.  I too created a template for this and used a jigsaw to cut the shape.

I then used Minwax American English, then weathered oak, (Like in one of Ana's stain posts).  I then wanted to give it that weathered/reclaimed wood look so I add a fair amount of the White Pickling stain.  I wanted a little less of the red tones and more brown...I may sand and refinish it someday, but it is in the house for now and can't wait for our first dinner party.

This is my first attempt at making a wine rack. It holds 18 bottles and 9-12 glasses. I made it from 1/2" red oak plywood and 1x3s. I used a drill press with a 3" hole bit and 1 1/2 bit for the neck supports. The one pic shows how I kreg jig the supports to a scrap piece of plywood so I could stain all sides of the pieces at once! Plus it allowed for a quicker drying time. I kreg jig all the supports from the back side with 1" PH screws and glue. I used my router and a straight edge to dado the top and bottom shelves to the side walls. This rack measures 5'Hx 15 1/4"w x 17" deep. The wine bottles do not stick out past the front at all. I stained it in a dark walnut to give it a country feel.

I wanted to make a black and brown picnic table, this one turned out really nice and it gets a lot of compliments.

I, also, reinforced the 2x6s used for the seats by boxing in 2x4s underneath.  I just cut 4 53" (probably could have been 54" honestly) and mounted them to the bottom of the seats and screwed them into the seat cross members.  This should keep them from flexing.

I built this outdoor play area for my kids this past summer.  The area under that portion of the deck was always messy and muddy and so I wanted to make use of it.  I built the deck and anchored it with lag bolts to the deck supports.  On the one side I used rubber mulch and on the other there is play sand.  I dug holes in various locations and filled with gravel to allow for drainage under the sand and mulch.  For the awning I used plain cedar shingles.  I added a shower that is just regular 1/2" metal pipe with a hose adaptor.  The shower wall and fence are just old pallets that I had for a while, cut to size, which was pretty much random but they came out great.  I added a misting system under the awning that works great, the kids love the cool mist on the hot days. Overall, a heavy job ripping up the grass, moving the wood, gravel, stones, sand and mulch, but a fun deck build and even better experience doing this with my kids by my side!