Community Brag Posts

This was my first woodworking project ever - and am thrilled!! Thank you Ana-White.com!! I needed a beautiful china cabinet for a fraction of the retail cost. Once I found plans on this website, I bought some power tools and got started! I only worked a couple of hours each weekend so it took a while to finish.

I modified the Shanty sideboard and Shanty hutch plans in a few ways: Shorter overall width to more comfortably fit my dining room, shorter height (which I now regret), fewer shelves in the hutch, different method to attach shelves, and added glass doors to the hutch. My shelves were not perfectly flush with the cabinet walls (oops) so I couldn't use pocket holes to attach them. Because I detest traditional shelving hardware, I just secured 1/2-in quarter round to the walls and rested the shelves on that.

For the glass hutch doors, I built frames similar to the sideboard doors' frames -- two frames for each door, for a total of 8 frames. On 4 frames, I used a rabbit router bit to create an inset for the glass I bought and had cut at Lowe's. I secured the glass with glazier's points and silicon caulk, then attached an un-routered frame to the back of each door with screws. I chose to keep the screws on the back visible and accessible so that I could easily replace the glass if needed without destroying the door.

Thanks to the beautifully written as well as the example build post by Hilary, I found this project easy to build for a beginner like myself. I followed the plan as written and can't wait to start my next project.

This was my first project at building some sort of furniture. we wanted a stool that really fits out toilet bowl shape, the height, etc. and 2x6's worked perfectly. I could have bought 2x12's for the sides, but it would have cost significantly more and with the inside support board it is plenty sturdy.

I bought 2# 2"x6"x6 foot coarse pine boards from Home Depot (not the expense Select Pine boards. They cost about $6 each. Then I bought a 100 count package of Kreg 1.25" coarse screws.

Cut lengths
2 @ 15 3/4" for lower sides
2 @ 10 1/4" for upper sides
5 @ 14" for steps and fronts
1 @ 12 1/2" for inside support

I used my Kreg Jig and connected all the pieces along with wood glue. I sanded the whole thing down after and tried to round/smooth the corners.

I built this table in one day by myself. Well, just me and these three kiddos. We were at Home Deopt selecting wood at 9am and by 7pm they were sitting on a finished table. Thank you so much for the easy to follow plans, Anna!

I had a big empty wall in my den/man cave, so I decided to build a dartboard cabinet instead of just hanging a dartboard on the wall. No plans for this, I just made it up as I went. Measured twice, sketched it out and cut as I went.

I use pine 1x4's for the frame and back. 1x3's for the accessory box, 1x2's for the door frame, and poplar strips for the doors and door braces. The darts are held by 6" long 2x2's with holes drilled.

Wood screws, finish nails, and small brads were used to hold everything together.

The chalkboards are simple MDF's cut and sprayed with chalkboard paint. Overlay hinges are used for the doors, and the dartbord is held on with screws from the back so it can be replaced when needed.

The Alabama A is hand-painted.

After building the playhouse loft bed, I found this project to be very easy. I built the bunk beds at 37/38 weeks pregnant, so that should tell you how simple it is to construct. The total cost came in under $300 and I was able to use some of the scrap wood I already had in my garage.

I did run into some trouble with the slanted ladder. Even though the pieces were cut to the exact measurements in the plan, the sides of the ladder were too short for the bed. Being very pregnant and impatient, I just modified the ladder so I wouldn't have to waste the pieces I'd already cut.

You may also notice that I didn't fill and sand my pocket holes on the end pieces yet. That was also me being very pregnant and impatient. I'll go back and do that later when I have more time. Despite the little bit of finishing work remaining, this was pretty much a 2-day project. Cutting and construction was fast (one day) and finishing took another full day.

I used Valspar "Blue Burst" paint from Lowe's to finish the bed. I used bolts to attach the side rails because we move frequently so I wanted the bed to be easy to disassemble. Overall, this was a very easy and fun project!

I made this computer desk for my college age daughter out of a 150 year old door that we got from her grandfather's homestead.  I think it turned out fantastic.  I need to add a glass top to complete.

So we wanted to build a simple twin size bed for our 5 year old son. That quickly expanded into my wife wanting me to build this PB replica (which happens to be her favorite kids bed). My response was "honey, you really don't understand my lack of ability." She insisted and after a couple of weeks the bed is done! Using Ana's plans made this not only doable but much easier than I thought (this was my first build).

We changed the design very slightly because the original was a few inches too tall (we have a ceiling fan that would have hit the top). We simply shortened the top half of the bed by 3 inches. At the suggestion of a friend (who's mitre and table saws we used for the cuts) we used dado instead of pocket holes for the stairs. We also used a lot of countersinking instead of pocket holes (for example to attach the vertical slats on the side walls).

We bought the cheapest wood we could get at Home Depot. All the wood and stain and materials cost about $250-300 (I still haven't checked the receipts exactly). However, I was told (quite sternly) that I severely overpaid for the wood by not going to a lumber yard. We used a Minwax oil-based stain (mission oak). We only did one coat.

Now that we're done with this we can't wait to get started on the next project (right after I get my dissertation going).

A nice summer project that is good for relaxing and eating outside.

Built with
7 - 2x4x72"
1 - 2x6x8
galvanized hardware

Started with a light base paint and taped off diagonal sections.

Next time we would lessen the gap inbetween 2x4's.

We live in a termite infested area and as such were nervous about putting wood in contact with the ground. We modified these plans to sit on top of a welded bar frame that is moveable and stands a meter high. The measurements are custom to our welded frame but the shape was based on these plans as was the construction process followed. We dont have a worry about predators so have used a design that doen not have a closed floor - our girls can simply fly or walk up the ladder to the roost and are able to leave the coop when ready in the morning without us opening doors. We are also in a warm environment thus an enclosed coop is not needed.

So far they are happy and are happily laying in the two egg boxes (We left the remaining space closed internally so that we can use it for storage) and as there is no bottom to the coop they poop straight into the run and onto the sand floor.

They are not free ranging yet as we are nervous of our dogs chasing them but once we are happy to let them free range we will use the gate built into the welded run.

Thank you Ana and lady goats for this design - I spent hours (and hours) researching and reading and looking at coop designs before deciding that this cute number was the one we wanted.

From me and my happy hens, thanks again!

Found the plans for the little 3 tiered planter really interesting.  I built a few of the boxes when my wife says "You know...." She has wanted a "living wall" for years, so I modified some of the sizes to make the boxes 18 inches long to accommodate my 37" inch wall.  I added a french cleat to the back of each box, cut down a couple furring strips that I anchored to the wall and added the other half of the french cleat to the frame.  Woot! Together in moments.  The individual planters can be easily removed and rearranged.  I added LED's to the bottoms of the planters for additional lighting and it's really a cool affect.

We recently moved to Texas from Virginia and downsized in living space. Our 3 1/2 year old son had his own playroom so unfortunately we don't have an extra room for that any longer. My solution to that problem was building this loft bed. We altered the plans to fit our measurements (smaller bedroom). We also made it taller so we could use it longer. Also we didn't have a keg jig so we invested in that within that $200 cost. My husband and I built this in one evening from start to finish. 6pm to 2 am! This was also our first wood project. Not bad I say!

Made from : http://ana-white.com/2010/12/plans/corner-cupboard