Community Brag Posts

I used red mahogany 225 minimax stain along with 3 coats of diamond wood finish I gave it a very quick sanding with 600 grit sand paper right before the last coat of the diamond finish and it came out silky smooth and the color really pops. I am just a beginner and I thought this project was gonna be quick and easy because I'm used to having to plain all my wood and get it all ready before putting it together I slapped this together in no time but finishing it without a spray gun after it was all together was a very lengthy process.

The legs and trim were made from 2x4 that I cut down to size with the table saw. Plywood from a chicken coup I made from Ana''s chicken coup plan was used for the shelf base.

For anyone who is interested in building their own glass-top vanity with pull-out drawers :)

We made this in just over 2.5 hours with the kids "helping."  We made it a bit taller, with the seat at 19 inches, so the leg pieces were 25.25 inches instead of 18.25.  Because of this, we will probably add two supports across each side as it seems a bit wobbly when the kids all wiggle on it.  Now we finally have a seat where all 3 kids can sit together to play on the computer.  Thanks for the plans!

We used carraige bolts to make the legs removable. Very happy with the results!

Hey all my DIY friends!

This is my first build of the Rekourt Dining Table.  Big thanks goes out to Ana and Jen for providing these awesome plans.

I think I achieved this table quite well, except for a minor detail where I forgot to sand two pot holes.  It actually created a very rustik look to this table.  I decided to try the steel wool and vinegar solution combined with the black tea for the finish of this table.  I realized it adds so much richness to the wood, it's incredible.  The stain is Minwax's Dark Walnut and I topped it off with a Satin Oil-based Polyurethane.  The top and legs were also physically distressed using a variety of tools I found in my tool chest. Those included screw drivers, lag bolts, worm hole puch I created out of a leftover 2x4, chains, sanding disc, knife, hammer and much more!  That part, although tedious, was fun as it gave me the permission to bang stuff up intentionally :)

For the finish, I first started off by sanding very well, talking hours for the entire table. I then went out and distressed the tops in a very random fashion, trying to not repeat any patterns.  As I was doing this, I was waiting for my black tea to seep and be ready for application.  I poured boiling water in a large Mason jar and added 4-5 bags of black orange pekoe tea bags.  I waited about 2 hours before applying it with a foam brush, very liberally.  I allowed the tea to dry overnight and the following day, I applied the steel wool and white vinegar solution. My solution had been sitting for about 5 days, enough to start seeing a bit of rust in the Mason jar. The rusty solution ended up giving the wood an orangy/redish tone, which when seen under the dark walnut, added lots of depth and richness to the color.  Once dry and the wood had turned greyish/orangy/redish, I stained it using Minwax's Dark Walnut stain.  I did section by section, leaving the stain no more than 3 minutes before wiping dry.  I followed this (once the stain was dry) with two coats of oil-based polyurethane in satin (Varathane (Canada's version of the Rust-Oleum poly). I sanded the poly in between coats with 220-grit sandpaper using my orbital sander.

Since then, I have gone out to build about five of these, all in different lengths and sizes, including some with removable bases. The angles in the X's are a little tricky when you don't have plans for a specific size, but I have noted these down based on spacing between legs.  If any of you need andgles for specific table lengths, let me know and I may be able to help :)

Let me know what you think and happy building!

This is a wishing well I made for my sister for her wedding. It will be used during the wedding for people to drop "wish you well" cards into and afterward she can use it as a planter in her yard.
I followed ideas from multiple plans here on Ana-White.com, but I didn't follow any specific plan. Mostly I followed tips and instructions for cutting angles, drilling pocket holes and some finishing tips. This is the first "big" project I've done and I"m quite proud of it.

With everything, it measures 44.5 inches high. The well measures 21 inches across and 15 inches high. The roof measures 22.75 inches by 23.75 inches.

I hope y'all like it. I worked hard on this! :)

Thank you, Ana and everyone who contributes to this site. It's been so much fun and I've got lots of ideas for more stuff. If I was any good at all at Google Sketchup I'd put up the plans but I'm not. If anyone could help me with that, that would great. :)

Have a great day!

These were exactly what we were looking for to dress up the front of our house.  They are a great size and went together pretty easily.  Getting the angle cuts right took a few tries, but once you get past that it's all pretty simple!  Also these are very forgiving for small errors and they look fantastic!  We made three for across the front of our house and painted them to match our front door.  For more details on our planters, please follow the link to our blog!

Using Ana's plan as a guide, I built two of these sofas to fit an outdoor cushion I already had. I used wood from our old deck -- a great way to re-use and save money, too!

This was a very fun project to build. I pretty much followed the directions that were posted, but I used 1x6's instead of 1x4's because I wanted more storage space on the shelves. I also used 1/2" iron piping instead of 3/4" and am happy with how it turned out. Since the guest bathroom is gray, we didn't want to stain the wood and chose to do an easy to do "weathered" (directions below) look. Now all we need to do is replace the ugly shower curtain!

The rolling bar cart (or BBQ cart) with removable tray is the latest addition to my suite of DIY patio furniture. This site has become a bit of a building obsession with me. Even with the detailed instructions, I still found ways to make this project my own: I added a 3/4" dowel and plastic wheels, instead of wood rounds. I painted all the pieces with primer and exterior paint before assembling it, because it's hard to get paint between the slats, unless you have a spray painter. The white slat design of the bar cart, park bench and matching side tables goes with the white siding of the house for my own patio picnic.