Community Brag Posts

DIY Outdoor Sofa, Chairs and Coffee Table

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Thu, 07/27/2023 - 13:22

I decided to build my patio furniture and built a couch, with cushions, coffee table, 2 Adirondack adult chairs and one child’s Adirondack chair. It was so much fun to plan and build all of the furniture and so enjoy going out there on cool days! Thanks to Ana White for all of the plans! This is my 20th Ana White project! On to my next project! Plans were outdoor modern sofa, modern Adirondack chair, kids Adirondack chair, 2x4 outdoor coffee table.

JoAnne

Seasonal And Holiday

Chicken Coop

Submitted by Elloh on Tue, 08/11/2020 - 11:05

This was my biggest build yet and these plans along with being able to see a few brag posts with modicifactions made this project less intimidating. I extended the coop in order to add a walk in door. The drop down doors on both sides will give plenty of access and help with cleaning. I've added door latches to all the doors since putting it in place. My dad provided the cedar so that greatly reduced my costs. This project took about six days to complete. The fun part was getting it out of my carport : ) This was built for my daughter's chickens and she is thrilled with it. So am I! Thanks for the plans Ana!

Estimated Cost
Hardware, screws, hardware cloth and plywood - around $150

Lawnmower Shed

Submitted by PipesTX on Wed, 01/07/2015 - 06:19

Modified the design to allow me to roll lawnmower directly in the end. Fun project.

Built from Plan(s)
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Comments

Sandbox with lid

This was my first EVER wood working project.

With that being said, it took me more than just an afternoon.
I used cedar, and all the materials on the cut list had to be sanded , since I didn't like the roughness of the cedar.
I also made the box 4x8. I didn't take into account that that would require a minimum of 48 inches for the top planks. So, some of my top planks are shorter.

I also wished I had a little more instruction from which side to screw the screws in. May sound a little needy for some of you, but I never did anything with wood before. The instructions simply read attach top planks to arm rests (or something int that manner) and I wish it would have told me from which side to screw in (or give me a picture). Looking at some of the brag posts helped a lot.

Because its larger size, I decided to make the seats 3 top planks wide (and also the back rest) and made another middle cover piece to bridge the additional gap when both seats are folded down.

Also, the cedar was VERY expensive, and all the screws, hinges, and handles almost cost me as much as the wood.

The sand to fill the box ran us another $80 (for good plays and), but that was because we made it so big.

All in all, a rather pricey sandbox, but worth it because of the large custom sizes, and the cute little seats.

Pictures show the sandbox without sand, and with some of the handles still missing. I also still need to fill the holes.

Will add a picture of finished box filled with sand when it is available.

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
$250
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
None
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Chair Build with Loveseat Modification

Submitted by Joshh81 on Sat, 09/02/2017 - 12:26

Built the 2 chairs according to the plans, and then modified it for a bench that's 48" (our cushions are 23.5 x 23.5). Worked really well!

Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Comments

Seasonal And Holiday

Simple Composting Toilet Outhouse

Submitted by Emillie on Thu, 06/18/2020 - 13:36

We built this composting toilet as one of the first things we did on our piece of vacant land. (How can you build anything else without somewhere to go when nature calls?)

An eco-friendly design was important to us, so we used cedar fencing instead of plywood. Otherwise, we followed Ana White's simple outhouse plans. It came out perfectly! It even has a rain barrel for hand washing.

Estimated Cost
800
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
We stained the outside with a semi-transparent stain and varnished the inside with an outdoor varnish.
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Large tapered wooden plant boxes

Easy to follow plans and make adjustments with materials I already had lying around. Love them! Thanks for the plans Ana!

Built from Plan(s)

Comments

SMALL GABLE ROOF GREENHOUSE

Submitted by Ledopmi on Wed, 12/23/2020 - 06:07

I was planning on building a greenhouse some time next year but I just happen to see this by chance and fell in love with it. I've always built from my own designs but when I saw this I decided to purchase the plans. I couldn't be more happy with it. Right now its doubling as a feed room. I wanted a solid foundation so I build a floating deck to mount the walls on. The deck added quite a bit to the total price.

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
$1384.94
Estimated Time Investment
Week Long Project (20 Hours or More)
Finish Used
Paint
Recommended Skill Level
Advanced

Comments

Pool equipment fence refresh

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Thu, 07/06/2017 - 21:00

We love this fence refresh from the previous owner's solution to enclosing the pool equipment and a/c unit! It was the first time we fastened something to our house - drilling through stucco in the process. That was a big deal for us diy-ers! We made the frame out of 4x4's (which ended up being the most challenging part to the whole thing), applied the horizontal fencing boards and then used one of those $15 fence hardware kits - it was a great project that has made a huge difference in our backyard. Yay!

Estimated Cost
$300
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Chicken Coop with Run

Submitted by Jen Marzen on Fri, 06/17/2011 - 02:10

My husband and I live on a small hobby farm and are growing/raising a lot of our own food. We decided to venture into working with chickens. We wanted to start out small so we got 6 chickens and needed a home for them. We found a kids play house one day while shopping and got the idea of modifying it into a chicken coop with a run. We took off with this idea and with quite a bit of modification and some extra building materials we were able to raise it up in the air and attach a run so our chickens would have a nice home to protect them from preditors and the emements and not to mention one that looks good in our yard!

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
Cedar deck stain and white outdoor house paint
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Comments

Heather Dalton (not verified)

Tue, 02/21/2012 - 19:08

Are the plans available? I have Black Copper Marans and Lavender Ameraucanas and I really need to separate the LAs from the BCMs and this would be perfect!

madrona (not verified)

Tue, 02/28/2012 - 10:21

I'd also love the plans!
Great job - it's beautiful!

guest (not verified)

Tue, 02/28/2012 - 10:22

I'd also love the plans - thanks!

Eliza B (not verified)

Thu, 05/31/2012 - 10:02

Can you please post the plans you used? I have 4 week old chicks that need a coop. Thank you very much.

Jen Marzen

Sat, 06/02/2012 - 15:22

Sorry guys there are no plans for this coop. My husband and i just "winged it" and built it without any plans.

It is a play house that we found at Mills Fleet Farm and we modified it to make it a chicken coop. We put together the play house based on instructions from the box (with a few of our own modifications to make the window on the ground etc.) added some chicken wire to the doors and bay window, added some 4x4 "stilts" and a floor to get the house in the air, and constructed a frame around it with 2x4's and wire fencing to make the run

Sorry I dont have any plans to give you guys!

Seasonal And Holiday

Rustic Bench turned into an Entry Table!

Submitted by cclemons on Fri, 08/30/2013 - 11:49

I loved the look of the Rustic X Bench but wanted to modify to be an entry table. I took the exact plans, but made it longer and taller. The X bracing didn't match up exactly, but I like it with the separation. The stain is a Minwax Espresso finish. I added adjustable glides to the bottom so I could adjust if needed. It was an excellent first project and it fits in our home PERFECT! Thanks Ana for the inspiration to create, build and be a mommy at the same time :)

Estimated Cost
$150
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
Minwax Stain - Espresso Finish
Recommended Skill Level
Starter Project

Comments

Camp Loft Bed

Submitted by MommaBlue on Tue, 10/08/2019 - 10:58

I built this bed for my 8 year old son's room "face lift." His only request was to have a place to hang out, but being his room was so small, that was a struggle! The loft bed allowed us to make a cozy little hangout - the poor guy can't get rid of his siblings now!

I added a few extra inches to the height of the Camp Loft plan, I also added the pipe hand rail for additional safety and give his room a little older boy vibe! It was a very easy build, the staining/sealing took the longest. The stairs make it much easier to change sheets and getting up and down for those of us who aren't 8 year olds :).

Estimated Time Investment
Day Project (6-9 Hours)
Finish Used
I used a mixture of Varathane Weathered Gray and Minwax Special Walnut. It is about 3/4 Gray and 1/4 Walnut.
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

My Greenhouse

I went from a 6 x 8 Harbor Freight Greenhouse to this one 10 x 12. I added a few windows...

Built from Plan(s)

Comments

Seasonal And Holiday

Lee and Beth's Simple Nightstands

Submitted by community-cont… on Fri, 02/25/2011 - 10:39

we’re back with another furniture project. This time we built the Simplest Nightstand. Actually, we had enough lumber that we were able to build two of them! It was a little more difficult than the coffee table and side table, but still wasn’t bad once Lee figured it out. The hardest part was getting the drawer to fit right. The first one Lee built, he didn’t get the drawer bottom square, but the second time around went much smoother. The first time, he cut all of the pieces out at once, but the second time, he cut and fit each piece separately. This proved to be very helpful. For the side pieces, we used plybead instead of plywood, and nailed trim pieces underneath the table top. Also, instead of using two separate pieces on the table top, we used the top off of an old tv tray that we weren’t using anymore. It was the perfect fit, and looks really good! Both tables cost us 50 dollars and took about 6 hours to build both of them. The first table took 4 hours to build, but the second one only took 2! We absolutely love your easy to use plans, and can’t wait to try another one! There’s so many great plans to choose from, we’re not sure what to try next!!

We love our new tables, thanks again for another great plan! We’ll be back!

Read more about Lee and Beth's Projects.

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
$25 Per Nightstand
Estimated Time Investment
Afternoon Project (3-6 Hours)
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Simple Outhouse

I built this outhouse to go with a dry cabin I'm working on, and also as an emergency backup for my house. I used treated lumber on the base/deck and splurged on T-111 for the siding. I wanted to use greenhouse polycarbonate for the roof, but found a piece of metal roofing in my shed that was exactly the right size so I used that instead. I thought about doing a fancy cutout on the door but ended up going with a half moon because it was easy. I'm thinking about cutting out stars of different sizes all over the rest of the door to let in more light. I'll trim and stain it next summer.

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
$450 - I used T-111 which is $40/sheet here in Alaska. I also used treated lumber where recommended and stainless steel screws.
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Comments

CH

Mon, 01/13/2020 - 15:25

WHAT HAPPENS TO THE 'STUFF' THAT YOU DEPOSIT IN THE TOILET?  I DIDN'T READ ANYTHING ABOUT DIGGING A PIT/TREATMENTS, ETC.  PLEASE LET ME KNOW.  THANK YOU!  CH.

DIY Outdoor Furniture Set

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Fri, 08/04/2023 - 11:32

Loving this furniture! We modified it slightly by raising the height of the couches. Added some height and a slight tilt in the back. The chairs are super comfortable as the plans are done. We used 6” 25x25 cushions. We plan on staining soon.

Jaime Sallis

 

Seasonal And Holiday

2x4 Outdoor Sectional Sofa

Submitted by lknolan2 on Sat, 04/18/2020 - 20:19

Great Plan! Loved how easy it was to build and how little the cost was.

Estimated Cost
$200
Estimated Time Investment
Afternoon Project (3-6 Hours)
Finish Used
Outdoor deck stain by Valspar in Canyon Brown
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Comments

jwood4

Sun, 08/01/2021 - 18:40

Looks amazing! What method did you use (pocket holes, dowels, deck screws, etc) to join the visible portions like the arms?

Seasonal And Holiday

Modified Simple Outdoor Dining Table

Submitted by DD5.1 on Sat, 04/26/2014 - 20:00

I didn't make any changes , his orginal design was great. Hope these pictures help others. I tried to link to the modified-simple-outdoor-dining-table but wasn't able too.

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
120
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
make sure you stain as you go
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Comments

DD5.1

Sun, 04/27/2014 - 14:06

Found the plans "modified-simple-outdoor-dining-table" and I built it. Very nice table, I posted more pcitures to help others

DD5.1

Sun, 04/27/2014 - 14:06

Found the plans "modified-simple-outdoor-dining-table" and I built it. Very nice table, I posted more pcitures to help others

Modern Outdoor Collection

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Tue, 10/27/2020 - 16:06

Great plans - thanks so much! Started with two chairs, and kept going...

MODS: Once built, we felt there wasn't enough back support, so added a 2x4 then 4x4 on top. Also added a 2x2 in back of the seat bed, so our 25" x 25" seat cushions didn't float around.

Recommend paint gun vs. painting by hand.

Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
Two coats of Behr waterproof stain + sealer (BM swiss coffee)
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Comments

Seasonal And Holiday

Sandbox w/ Built In Seats

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Wed, 06/14/2017 - 07:30

I have built some other stuff before, but not with paint and sanding and such. It was definitely a great learning project. There are imperfections, but it's a toy, so kids will be having fun and that is all that matters.

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
$100... but, the paint will be used on other projects, and I paid for better boards for on top.
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Comments

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