Community Brag Posts

Hi Ana,
thank you for all you inspiring build plans
I have build a few of your 2x4 out door furniture plan
2x4 outdoor sofa
2x4 one arm outdoor sofa
2x4 outdoor side table
2 pcs of the essential outdoor chair for deep seat cushion.

Johan Janssen from the Netherlands

I am so excited about Ana's new book, I love it! This is my first project from her book and I am planning to do many more.

This was a fun build, the angles were not bad, except for the top angle on the two sides, I had trouble getting it on my miter saw, because the board was so long...

It all worked out in the end and my kids and I are really enjoying having it!

You can get more information on the build and finish at my blog:
http://mylove2create.blogspot.com/2012/10/vintage-step-stool.html

After making the farmhouse table and bench I was excited to try a bed for my next build. I wanted something simple for my 5 year old son that wouldn't necessarily be outgrown in a year or two. I truly like the simplicity of this bed and the price point for making it was even more attractive. His entire bedroom is white furniture but I did not want to completely cover the grain of the wood. At the same time, I wanted to ensure this bed was going to match with the rest of his room. I decided to do a white wash finish and then a clear coat. It turned out perfect; matches his other furniture and still displays the wood grain. The bed was beyond simple to construct. I had two worries prior to starting the bed: the curve on the headboard/footboard and how sturdy the bed would be given how the rails attached to the headboard/footboard. For the curve on the footboard and headboard, I used a scrap piece of cardboard to trace a curve for half of the piece. Once I was happy with the curve I cut out the cardboard and transferred the curve to the headboard and footboard. I did half of the curve so I could guarantee each side would be identical and made it easy to have matching headboard and footboard. I intended on buying some hardware to make the bed more sturdy based solely on the plans. However, once I had the entire thing put together and I (6 foot, 200 pounds) got on the bed and moved around rather violently without any movement. since this bed is for my 5 year old, I have no worries about the structural integrity. For the whitewash finish, I simply mixed a couple ounces of spare white paint I had with water (1:1 ratio). I used a rag to rub the whitewash into the wood and ensure even coating. I completed the project with a satin polyurethane.

Tilt Out Wooden Trash Bin

After 7 years of our trash can sitting out in the open, my wife decided we needed to do something about it. I saw the plans for this tilt out wooden trash bin, and slightly modified it using tongue and groove for the face panel.

For the most part I followed the plans for the legs and base structure as suggested. In our area the 2x4s are sold with rounded corners. To avoid a very obvious seam on the legs, I used 2x6s which I screwed and glued together then cut back to 3x4 (1.5x2) x 4 to make the legs and cross beams a little beefier with little or no seem on the legs. As I decided to build the top from reclaimed wood I framed in the top with 2x4 ripped down to approx.. 2x3 with a sheet of plywood to support top boards. As I don’t have a planner to level any reclaimed top boards I could find, I decided to make my own faux reclaimed boards out of ¾’ x 9’ – 8’ planks. I distress the wood using a chain, rocks my table saw, hammer, nails, blowtorch and bow saw. In hindsight, I wish I had distressed a little more vigorously but everyday use will augment it over time. I continued to paint, distress and sand on the fly, using paints I had left from previous projects. In some cases, I mixed paints to get additional colour varierty. All boards were stained at the to colour bare areas which as a bonus added a slight yellow hue making the paint look older. I did some scraping and blowtorching of semi-dry paint and stain to get a variety of looks and textures. I dry fit the boards and reorganized the puzzle pieces to get a random but organized look – controlled chaos. Once I was close I glued and screwed the board down clamping as I went to keep the boards tight. This paid-off later as the tighter seams allow less food to fall in-between. I cut down the last row from over sized pieces to get a tight fit in the last row. I finished with 11 coats of poly to toughen up the pine and again to seal the seams from food. My wife suggested painting the legs off-white as our cottage already is max-ed out on natural wood. We will follow by painting the existing chairs the same off-white and adding a little distress for age. Cost was approx. $175 to 200. The plywood alone was $45, paint I had. Time was easily 50 hours as the artistic on the top, time although fun, was time consuming.

Anna’s website is great I have had many compliments on my table. I have pointed many people to the site for direction on their own projects. Thanks for the great plans.

Sandy

Built from the Triple Pedestal Farmhouse Table plans. Had to size down the plans a little bit to fit into my dining room. Created three pedestal legs but only ended up using two on the final table. Took about 16 hours from start to finish. All of the wood is pine except for the top, which is Poplar. Made a couple of mistakes along the way but am very happy with the way everything turned out. Feel free to ask questions and I will do my best to answer them. Happy Building!

I built this play fort and swing set based on Ana's Playhouse design. Today is my daughter's 3rd birthday and it is a present to her.
She has helped me the whole way through the project. It was a lot of fun building it with her.

For more pictures on my project see
http://flic.kr/ps/2spv6t

The deck is 12' x 8' and it is 5' off the ground to the top of the deck. The tube slide comes off of a platform that is 3' x 4' and 7' high off the ground to the top of the platform. I got the slides, swing arm and swing legs off a set from someone selling and old set through craig's list. Everything else i built myself.

Cutest plan ever

I wanted a large chest to store toys, books or blankets. I wanted it to be cheap to build and be rustic. This project turned out perfectly! I used 2" and 4"-wide furring strips and rope for the hinges and handles. I used 1/4" plywood for the bottom and made a groove with the router for it to slide into while assembling. I helped 16 girls make these who had no previous experience and they loved it!

Instead of building a free-standing, 4-poster Pergola, I attached one side directly to the house. There are various Pergola design types and shapes. Simply Google for "pergola" images and decide which design you like best, or combine design ideas together (as I did).

Couple things to consider:
A: Is your Pergola more for decorative purposes or actual shade?
My design was more for actual shade (but with a decorative design), which is why I added the 1in x 12in x 12ft Pine boards between the cross beams at the very end (last picture). If your design is more for decorative purposes, you can space out your support beams and cross beams wider (using less wood and money).

You can also choose to use 2x4s as your support beams with 2x2 cross beams on top (essentially furring strips) either close together or spaced farther apart. This would also reduce the overall cost of your Pergola and make it much lighter as well. I chose to use all 2x6s for both support beams and cross beams.

B: What path does the sun follow across the sky over your Pergola?
If the sun passes directly over your Pergola and you want a lot of shade, you'll obviously need to consider this in your design (i.e., more cross beams that are close together).

C: Do you want your support beams and cross beams to inter-lock (by cutting square notches and assembling them like linking logs), or simply stacked on top of each other? (Again, Googling for Pergola images will help you see the differences in designs.)

I chose to interlock all of my beams by cutting notches and fitting them together. Obviously more time consuming to measure each notch, cut, and chisel them but the stability of inter-locking beams should hold up a little better in the strong winds of Las Vegas.

HOW TO (abbreviated)

Overall Pergola Dimensions: 10ft Height, 12x12ft

Tip: Paint or stain all your wood prior to assembly. Much easier. You can always touch-up scuffs and scrapes after it's built.

1. 2x6x12 installed directly onto the house (thru the stucco into the studs) using 3/8in. x 5in. lag screws. (Tip: Seal the top edge of the 2x6x12 that's against the stucco so water doesn't run behind it and down into the lag screw holes.)
2. Install the 2x6 Double Shear Hangers (as many as you need for your design)
3. 4x4 post anchors secured directly into the cement patio using Tapcon 3/16 in. x 2-3/4 in.cement anchor screws.
4. 4x4x10ft posts screwed on top of the anchors. Ensure level on all sides (use a partner to help hold the posts).
5. Attach the front and side 2x6 beams to the 2 posts (again, use a partner to help hold posts while you're up on the ladder screwing your beams to the posts)
6. Attach the remaining 2x6 support beams.
7. Attach the 2x6 cross beams on top (whether you inter-lock them by cutting notches or simply resting them on top, be sure to toe-nail screw them in with 2in exterior screws).
8. Lay 1x12x12ft pine boards on top in between the cross beams and secure with 2in exterior wood screws.
9. Construct the post bases ("sleeves" or "leggings") which greatly adds to the look, as outlined in the "Weatherly Pergola" plans.
10. Touch-up paint / stain any areas you need.

I designed this desk from another desk I built. With this one, I wanted the overall foot-print smaller but still something that was able to organize all our office stuff and be able to close everything to keep it clutter-free. We have a small apartment, and although this desk is about the size of an up-right piano, it works perfectly into our living space!

I made it out of raw hardwood (Ash) and because I knew just the wood alone would make this desk heavy/bulky to move I made the top hutch removable. It's held in place by wood pegs (dominos). All the shelves are adjustable and the drawers are full-extension (something I've never had - wahoo)! The drop-down door is help up by 2 pull-out boards on each side (my first desk had chains). I spend a lot of money on this desk because I knew it was a chance in a lifetime to make and wanted it to be perfect and something that would last generations.

I built the main carcass off of plans/measurements I designed, but then all the insides, drawers, shelves, doors, etc where made as I built (because just a millimeter difference in building changes everything)!

If you want more pictures/descriptions of the building process I wrote about it in a 4-part series on my blog.

As a complete beginner in wood working (unless you count a year of woodshop over a decade ago), I decided that building a cart for the miter saw I just bought would be a great first project. So what did I do with that brand new miter saw? I left it in the box and made all of the cuts with a circular saw. Not sure what I was thinking there...

I mostly followed the excellent plan provided here but used wooden arms to prop up the wings in order to save on cost. I got the idea from the folding sling chair plan. It took quite a few screw ups and adjustments of the lower support bar before getting one of the wings level but I got it eventually.

Update 8/20/13: The miter saw has been a joy to use with the cart and the big flip up wings provide a ton of really convenient work space in addition to stabilizing 8 ft boards for cutting. I added a sliding drawer and some utility hooks for additional storage.

This is my first, of hopefully many projects to come. I modified Patrick's Jelly Cupboard plans to be 40" tall and added the tins to the doors. I used spruce and pine board from a local lumber yard. The finish is Miss Mustard Seed milk paint inside and out. With kids in the house I didn't want to use stain with the heavy chemical smell so I mixed the milk paint with a lot of water to look like a stain. That product is so easy to use and looks great. Needless to say my wife loves her pie safe. Thanks Ana for this site and the inspiration to give this a try. I'm hooked!