Community Brag Posts

built by Grandpa

Submitted by jsanders on Sun, 05/12/2013 - 10:25

Grandpa modified the simple changing table to match the rest of our nursery furniture.

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
$100
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
Paint
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Laundry Basket Dresser

Submitted by alifrancis on Thu, 03/17/2011 - 15:47

Anything to make Laundry easier and looks good I will build.  This is a very simple project that is invaluable to anyone that does laundry.  We have it in our master bath to help with separating our laundry.

It is sturdy, functional and is a nice looking piece.  The only changes I made was to use 2x2's for the rails instead of the metal L-brackets. 

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
$30
Estimated Time Investment
An Hour or Two (0-2 Hours)
Finish Used
After a good sanding I primed it with Kilz oderless spray primer. Then painted it with some left over Trim Paint we had for our house. Finished it off with two coats of poly in a Satin finish.
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Leaning Hall Tree

Submitted by vendo on Wed, 10/20/2021 - 12:33

I had a small piece of 2x10 left over from this plan's original post, as well as some 2x4's and a scrap 1x2 laying around, so added the top key hook and stained instead of painted. Love how it turned out. I did the top angle a little different too, so it sits a bit closer to the wall, making it awesome for a narrow entryway or space. Easy to modify for whatever the need.

Built from Plan(s)

Outdoor Patio Deck Chairs

Submitted by nlindauer on Tue, 05/24/2011 - 06:42

Made these chairs from plans found on the Kerig Jig website. I added the cup holders for convenience and lowered the seats by 2 inches to account for our short legs. Chairs were stained with an outdoor fence treatment that was tinted with a light grey color.

Estimated Time Investment
Day Project (6-9 Hours)
Finish Used
Olympic Maximum Solid - Grey Base
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Reclined Back Outdoor Sofa and Chair DIY

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sat, 04/09/2022 - 07:12

OK, I think this build may be my biggest project yet! It is definitely the heaviest. With the strong winds we can get here in Florida we needed substantial outdoor furniture.
I did make some modifications along the way measurement-wise so the sofa would fit my front porch better. All in all, this took 2 full days. I built the sofa first, stained it the next day and then decided (due to trying to get stain in all the nooks and crannies) to stain the chair pieces first before putting it together.
I am so happy with the results and so far, almost a year later, this furniture looks great and hasn't moved an inch in any of the thunderstorms we've had! Thank you Ana!!

Comments

Teeter Totter

This is one of the cheapest projects for my kids I have ever completed!! And the most rewarding. I think everyone of my neighbors has been on the teeter totter...including adults :) My kids just love it and I am thinking of making a few for my nephews for Christmas. I was able to find all the wood I needed in my scrap pile. I had the PVC pipe and bolt already also so all I had to make a trip to the store for was the foam for the seats. My son helped me build this in an hour. I liked the unfinished look so I just sprayed it with a little Thompson Water Seal. Thank you Ana White!!

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
$0 Lumber (scrap wood) $5 Foam padding
Estimated Time Investment
An Hour or Two (0-2 Hours)
Finish Used
Thompson Water Seal
Recommended Skill Level
Starter Project

Comments

Seasonal And Holiday

Fortnite Battle Bus boys bedroom loft

Submitted by bbcarey on Mon, 10/15/2018 - 08:31

We remodelled my son's room and what better theme than Fortnite for an 8 year old... and what better loft than the Battle Bus!!

Estimated Time Investment
Week Long Project (20 Hours or More)
Finish Used
Latex paint
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

American Girl Dollhouse with Farmhouse Bed, Bunk Bed, and Furniture

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Tue, 01/08/2019 - 08:46

I've been building Ana White American Girl doll furniture for my two daughters for the last three years, culminating with my biggest build of all - a modified version of Ana's dollhouse.

My wife kept telling me it would end up being huge, and she was right.  The great news is that it doubles as storage when the girls aren't playing!  2 Bedrooms, kitchen, living room, bathroom, and upstairs bonus room for dance and gymnastics.  78" tall x 76" wide, mounted to the wall studs for safety.   Lots of joy in our home on Christmas day.  Thanks Ana!

Estimated Cost
$300
Estimated Time Investment
Week Long Project (20 Hours or More)
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Comments

Bigger, Stronger, Kitchen Floating Shelves

When we recently bought our 150+ year old house, we were pretty happy with just about everything (not stopping us from coming up with projects!) except the kitchen. This kitchen hadn't been updated in about 15 years, had dark brown walls, boring square white tiles with white grout, and TONS of cabinets. Everywhere. I felt like the walls were closing in!

So before we ever signed a piece of paper I had a vision of open shelving. Wide, white floating shelves to put our every day items at arms reach and display the few items we rarely use but think are beautiful.

I loved Ana's plans, but I needed these shelves to hold 12 dinner plates, 12 bowls, 12 salad plates, 4 pasta bowls, and...well, right there that about 40 pounds of stuff. And the basic plans just didn't seem heavy-duty enough.

Enter our contractor, John, who I asked for help because, while they were my vision, they were his handy-work. My husband and I didn’t even attempt to build them on our own. John is a perfectionist and we knew he’d make this plan work…perfectly.

As usual, this was no sweat for John. To build the frames he used 2 x 2′s and secured them with 10 x 1 1/4″ angle brackets. During assembly, John made sure to position the center supports to match the wall studs in front of which the frame would hang. Once assembled, he removed some dry wall and attached the brackets directly to the studs.

We could store baby elephants on these shelfs, they wouldn’t budge.

Since I knew what needed to be stored on that first shelf (our every day items), we used the measurements to equally distance the three shelves (not including the first shelf of course—it needed more space above the counter top). Then we sealed up the dry wall. Another help with support was butting the shelves right up to the corner, putting another screw in another stud.

We moved the lighting electric up for new under cabinet lighting—so easy pre-tiling.

For the actual shelves—I like to think of them as “sleeves”—John used 3/4″ sanded plywood for the tops and bottoms of each shelf, then 1 x 6 clear pine ripped down to desired thickness for the fronts and one side (the other side is against the wall, so was left open). The primed sleeves spent a few days on the screened in porch while I tiled around the frames, they were pretty heavy and very solid.

I’ve made an attempt to lay out the measurements involving our floating shelf project. These are to scale and give a good idea of how our plans differed from Ana’s.

We LOVE our shelves and get so so many compliments. The seemingly small and simple changes (tile, shelves, new window trim, paint, and soon flooring) made a HUGE impact and not that huge of a cost. And we don't miss the upper cabinets at all.

Thanks for the head-start and inspiration Ana!

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
Primer and white paint
Recommended Skill Level
Advanced

Comments

claydowling

Mon, 10/21/2013 - 08:41

I'm not sure where to get big angle brackets like that, but you might want to try a local lumberyard instead of a home center. Even when they don't have a product they often know who does. The angle brackets embedded in the drywall is a clever idea I never thought of using.

Melissa015

Tue, 11/25/2014 - 20:08

What city was this work done in?  I live in Seattle and I am looking for a contractor.

Reclaimed Wood Queen Size Headboard

The plans for this headboard are great. Very easy to follow and the cut list is spot on. I used some choice pine from Lowe’s ($63) and then used the vinegar with steel wool mixture to age the wood.  That’s where this piece is at right now. Trying to decide if I want to leave it or put a light satin clear coat. 

Thank you for the plans!!

OK.....I added 2 more pics.  I added 1 coat of Satin Clear Poly witch gave it a richer look. 

Estimated Cost
$75
Estimated Time Investment
Day Project (6-9 Hours)
Finish Used
1 Sheet of 0000 Steel Wool torn apart and left in a mason jar of vinegar over night
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Comments

Double trash can cabinet

Submitted by jenklase on Thu, 05/04/2023 - 15:43

Double trash can cabinet made of plywood. Included soft close hinge. Holds 2 13 gallon cans.

Comments

Grand Waterfall Console Table

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Tue, 06/27/2023 - 08:48

I used the Grand Waterfall Console plans, but modified them to be 72 inches long instead of 84 inches. Overall, I learned a lot during the process, but wood filler, sanding, stain, and finishing with polycrylic made all the difference in the end. The hardest parts for me were the mitered cuts. I think if I did it again, it would look even better!

Deb

Coen's Cabin Bed

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Mon, 02/29/2016 - 15:28

This is a fairly easy build. It did take some time with three little ones running around, but the finished product is well worth it! My three-year-old doesn't want to get out of bed in the morning (win!).

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
$250-$300
Estimated Time Investment
Week Long Project (20 Hours or More)
Finish Used
Minwax weathered oak stain
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Comments

Ana White Admin

Tue, 03/01/2016 - 12:19

You did an amazing job on this, I wouldn't want to get out of bed either! Thanks for sharing:)

Rustic Farmhouse Vanity

Submitted by jameslee on Thu, 10/10/2019 - 16:23

My master bathroom was my first DIY remodel. I took this room down to the studs and built it back up. I struggled to find the perfect vanity that felt strong and sturdy and could not find one. I needed a wide vanity to accommodate this 3 foot wide vessel sink. I found Ana White and this plan online and fell in love! This was my first build and I’ve become addicted to wood working since. As my first build, this took me most of a day to build and assemble drawers. Sanded and painted with a flat finish! I love it! Thank you Ana!

Estimated Cost
$200
Estimated Time Investment
Day Project (6-9 Hours)
Finish Used
General Finishes milk paint in Seagull Gray with a high performance flat finish. Hardware and sink found on Amazon.
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Comments

Rustic Planked Wood Sideboard

Check out my blog post for more on building this giant, hardworking piece! It took me about 45 hours to build it from start to finish (I work slowly) and cost about $400 in materials.

Estimated Cost
$400
Estimated Time Investment
Week Long Project (20 Hours or More)
Finish Used
General Finishes water-based stain, milk paint, glaze, and Staples Crystal Clear bowling alley wax. More details on my blog post.
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Comments

Icepickman

Mon, 02/02/2015 - 07:21

hey, great build, i'm going to attempt a similar project. i could not get to your blog post?

Home Gym Yoga Nook

Submitted by kellystern on Thu, 09/07/2023 - 11:06

Exercise/Yoga nook. Built using the base plans from Ana's Shoe Bench Front with Hidden Storage and Easy to Build Floating Shelves.

 

Comments

My own weathered corner hutch :)

This was my first project. It took me a weekend to build and prime. Since I chose to use a crackle finish, waiting time between coats extended the total time to one full week. My husband and I were supposed to make this hutch together, but I became obsessed and did most of it alone! I adjusted the size a bit to make it larger, so I could fit big pieces on shelves and in cabinets. Thanks for the plan Ana!!

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Time Investment
Week Long Project (20 Hours or More)
Finish Used
Weathered Crackle Finish done as follows:
1. Killz2 latex primer (highly recommended)
2. Valspar interior satin finish, "Frontier Road" (this is the color that shows in the cracks)
3. Valspar weathered crackle glaze (a suggested substitute that costs less is Elmer's glue)
4. Valspar interior flat finish, "Churchill Hotel Lace" (must be a flat paint, this is the dominant color of your piece)
5. Valspar clear protector (also highly recommended to protect the finish you worked very hard to create, when you paint the same piece of furniture 5 times in one week your sanity will agree!)
Recommended Skill Level
Starter Project

Comments

JoanneS

Fri, 04/13/2012 - 14:47

Wow, this is sooo beautiful! The finish is just awesome. My Hubby hates to paint, and he saw this multi-step finish and said you must have the patience of a saint! :) Congrats on such a stunning first project!

kmsdance (not verified)

Mon, 10/01/2012 - 23:33

Very Nice! What did you do to make it "bigger"...did you make it deeper or wider? Just curious, because I would like to try and make a bigger version as well. Did you still cut the shelves on each side at a 45 degree angle? Thanks!

Window Bench for Our New Study

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Fri, 01/17/2020 - 13:20

Ana White, you inspired me! My husband bought me a miter saw for Christmas but I was too afraid to use it for all of my woodworking dreams...and then I found your blog!

I am a mother of six young kids but I watched your videos over and over and I reworked your plans to fit our little build-out and voila! We are beyond thrilled with the results! We have a new bed for overnight guests and a great reading nook for 2-3 people at a time!

Thank you for empowering women in the BEST way. My husband was there to help me with the heavy lifting and to cheer me on when I needed it. But if I hadn’t found you, I’m not sure I would have tackled it in the first place. Thank you and God bless your family!!

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
$300
Estimated Time Investment
Week Long Project (20 Hours or More)
Finish Used
I ordered drawer slides and the unique drawer pulls from Amazon. The finish is Behr Swiss Coffee to match the window trim. I followed Ana’s instructions to the “T” when installing the drawer slides.
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Comments

marti2629

Sat, 03/14/2020 - 14:11

We are building a bed for my son with drawers. Would you mind giving the dimensions of the drawers you mad? Thank you

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