Living on a small city plot, this vertical ladder planter was just what I was looking for to grow my herbs and flowers. I am not an experienced builder but the plans were easy to follow. It didn't take me much time at all to complete this project. Now I am looking forward to fresh herbs and flowers all summer.
This was my first big build and I love how it came out! Thank you Ana White for amazing and straightforward plans to follow for both the farmhouse table and benches.
Very easy and quick to build. It is amazingly comfortable. There are no cushions needed. My wife loves it. I took parts of Ana’s Simple Outdoor Lounge Chair and Modern Outdoor Chair with a twist patterns and modified them to be a double seat instead of a single seat.
Built this table with some modifications from the rustic table plans. Made it 6ft and added the breadboard end. Fun project!
I have been looking at sewing furniture for years, but the prices always made my jaw drop. I have a small craft room, so I needed a table that could also triple as a cutting table and fabric storage. Thank you so much to Ana White for this plan! I built exactly to the plan in The Handbuilt Home, and it's the PERFECT size.
So the sewing machine can sit flush with the top, making working on big sewing projects way easier, I traced the outline of my machine on the MDF and cut it out with a jig saw. Then I built a small shelf using a 1x12 scrap and 2 1x3 scraps. Putting the 1x3s on top of the 1x12 made the shelf 3.75 inches deep, which is exactly the depth I needed. I attached it to the underside of the tabetop using a pockethole jig and screws.
I built 2 boxes using 1/4 inch plywood, and installed drawer pulls on them, giving the illusion that the table has 2 drawers built in. This is where I keep my ugly stuff--interfacing and fabric scraps.
I got the color scheme for the table from the entryway console plan in The Handbuilt Home. In order to make the MDF top look like it had a wood grain, I applied mahogany gel stain with an old washcloth in very thick strokes that spanned the length of the tabletop. It soaked in and lost the "grain" look in some places, but the majority still looks like wood. I did have to apply several coats of polyurathane over the stain; the MDF has a prickly texture that grabs fabric and makes it hard to feed through the sewing machine.
My only complaint is that I didn't quite think through the fact that seating is bar height and I'm 5'7". It's a little difficult to reach my sewing machine pedal. I may build a small stool for the pedal to sit on so I don't have to half sit/stand to sew.
This is the first woodworking project I've done alone from start to finish: from going to Lowe's and picking out the wood, to cutting the wood with a circular saw, assembly, and finishing. (My fiance did carry it up the stairs for me. :) )
I'm so in love with this table! And now to finish the quilt I started 6 months ago....
Mon, 09/23/2013 - 07:40
I really like your colors! And that drawer idea is so clever! Nice work!
Val
artsybuildinglady
Mon, 09/23/2013 - 15:22
I love this idea!! I too have wanted a sewing table for a long time but the prices of them take my breath away. I may have to make myself one! Thanks for the inspiration!!
Plan modified to be built on stringers due to hight.
Fri, 07/07/2023 - 15:22
Do you have an illustration or instructions on the exact modifications you used for this project?
I built this bed for a guest room. Easier than I expected and took 2 days! I used watco danish oil in medium walnut. I was able to save some $ by using two twin box springs that I already owned instead of adding slats. I modified the height of where the box springs sit by lowering the cleat 2” and shortening the legs on the center support by 2” as well. It worked perfectly!
This bench was perfect for our front porch, but after I bought all the lumber I realized how big and substantial it would be. So, I slimmed it down and swapped out the following: seat slats 1x2, posts and supports 2x2, arms 1x3, backrest 1x6, aprons 2x3. Looks great and feels like a better fit for our porch. Enjoying the afternoon sun in style now, thanks!
Wed, 05/01/2013 - 09:31
I would like to make the bench on a diet since my front porch is smaller aswell. Are the cuts the same as original plans?
Great picnic table by Steve White
We just put in a pool and I needed something to hide a pair of outdoor speakers. I used Klipsh AW-525 speakers.
Basically I raised the bottom of the planter enough to fit the speaker under and had to add a few framing pieces to secure the speaker mount to. The mount attaches to a vertical board and the weight rests on a horizontal board. The wiring comes up from below.
The front panel uses vinyl mesh from Sailrite.com to hide the speaker but allow sound out. Imm planning to hang it with magnets if it doesn't distort sound too much.
see the full post at:
http://crabandfish.blogspot.com/2012/06/fish-made-work-bench.html
we bought our first home two months ago and have been doing a lot of small improvement projects. we decided to build your sturdy work bench in order to have a dedicated space for cobbling new projects together.
My shelves are about 2.5 ft long. I wanted a display area in my dining room to show off some plates I had made for my boyfriend a while back.
I recently moved to Boulder, CO and finally have a garage where I can actually work on projects. Since I moved here with practivally nothing, I decided I should build my own bed. This is probably one of the most ambitious wood working projects I've attempted. I also tend to be slightly anal, so I've probably spent way more time on this project than most people have or will.
After reading the plans and other Brag Posts, I felt I was ready to start. I ordered the Kreg Screws, and a few other supplies I would need for the Project on Amazon and was off to the races. Several trips to Home depot to get various pieces of wood, (since I wasn't going to fit it all in my Subaru in one go), I finally had most of the lumber for the bed frame. Let me tell you, it's not easy getting straight pieces of lumber (as mentioned before, I'm a little anal). I decided to go with oversized lumber, since I would have more usable leftover pieces for other projects.
I spent several hours after work during the week, and several more on the weekend, sanding down all the lumber with 60 Grit, then applied the first coat of Stain, to raise the grain. I was out of town for the weekend, and let the stained wood sit in my garage while gone. When I got back, I noticed a lot of marks which I didn't notice before staining. Some of these were from the belt sander I used to knock down really rough parts of some of the lumber. But most of the marks were because I put too much pressure on my random orbital sander.
Lesson learnt: Sanding takes time, and patience! DO NOT press down hard on the sander, if you don't want marks on your wood. These marks will be significantly more prominant after staining.
I decided to sand everything again, 60 grit, then 100, then 150. I gotta say, the wood feels so much nicer to touch and I'm glad I decided to re-sand. I spent a few hours after work to get most of the head board pieces done, but noticed that the 2x4 had warped beyond repair... I'm going to get the upper and lower 2x6 pieces ready to assemble with my kreg jig this weekend, and then decide if I want to add a 2x4 in the middle like the plans call for.
I decided to go with just 2x6s for the headboard, I used the Kreg Jig to put it all together, I also attached 4 supports made of some scrap Plywood I got from my neighbor for the headboard.
I stained it all with a Staining pad twice, then applied 3 coats of Poly with a brush. I didn't sand between coats since I was applying very thing coats and I had already sanded everything down with 150 grit.
Fri, 03/02/2018 - 19:17
Sick job dude! What stain is that? I like the color of it and might use it for mine. Did you notice a stain odor at all after applying the stain and covering it with the poly?
Fri, 08/09/2019 - 13:22
This bed is super gorgeous!! Thank you so much for sharing photos!
This was our first build alone. I've helped my dad build various things through out the years but was this first time me and my husband built something together.
The bed plans were great and it went together easily. We couldn't find untreated 4x4 posts so we went with two 2x4 sandwiched together, and then we bolted the headboard posts to the footboards. The side rails are plywood trimmed with 1x3's and topped with a 1x2. We also used L brackets to attach the side rails to the head and footboards and addition to bolts on the headboard and 2" screws on the footboard. We needed to assemble the bed in a way we could easily disassemble because we are moving soon.
Wed, 08/15/2012 - 14:46
I LOVE the turquoise finish! It looks like a piece of jewelry for your bedroom!
Loved these plans. Top unit was built exactly to specs. Bottom unit was built to accommodate one column of cans. I have also built one for my sis-in-law and will be building one more for this pantry. Love this project!
Leah
I just built this chair but I think I will be adding a back support for a larger cushion. The stain is a semi translucent white with a touch of grey.
These flat wall bookholders are the perfect little shelves to add storage for books to my boys' new tractor bunk bed. What a great simple plan!
We didn't paint it, but I think it turned out well. We followed the plan almost exactly and it came out great!
Ana
This is a farmtable that i made from your plans, along with the bench also made from your plans. Turned out pretty good, worked on it mostly on the weekends. Christmas present for my son and daughter-in-law. Your website is full of great ideas and plans, thank you.
Chuck
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.
Mon, 04/20/2020 - 15:30
This is so cool! I love that you put lights on it. I will have to ask my brother if he could make me one, he's the one with the talent and the tools!
Modified width to fit the closet. Prep work of sanding and painting took longer than we thought it would; assembly inside the closet was simple but definitely a challenge in the small space. At 81", the top shelf was higher than intended so had to remove front slat in order to be able to use it - will make the next one slightly shorter. But love the final product and am now on a mission to get all the cheap wire shelving out of the house!
Comments
hittintheboards
Sat, 01/02/2021 - 10:56
Garden ladder # 2
Garden ladder # 2