Community Brag Posts

Chunky Rustic Kitchen Island

I wanted a Super Rustic and Super Chunky Island with out the Super High price tag. So I turned to pintrest for inspiration. I switched up a few things , but the end result was EXACTLY what I was looking for. Score!!!!

Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
Early American stain from Minwax.
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Memorial flag case

Submitted by TMW on Wed, 10/07/2015 - 13:11

I built this case for my Grandma when my Grampa died. I wanted to be able to display the shells as well. The design is a combination of a few I saw and like different aspects of.

Estimated Cost
$30
Estimated Time Investment
Afternoon Project (3-6 Hours)
Finish Used
shellac
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Comments

Garage shelv

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Tue, 10/23/2018 - 18:38

104.5” long, 17 1/2” wide. Heughan varies but on average is 72”. My garage slopes downward, so each front leg is a different length which made the unit level. I used joist hangers instead of pocket holes. 

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

Outdoor chair

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sat, 07/09/2022 - 22:36

I have not yet sanded or sealed the chairs. I made two in 5 hours because I ran out of screws and had to go and get some more but I made these for my husband and my 15 year wedding anniversary to be able to spend more time outside after the kids go to bed. It cost me $130 plus the cushions to build

Comments

"Sweet Dreams" - CUSTOM KING-SIZE HEADBOARD

Submitted by BamaGurl on Sun, 07/31/2011 - 22:23

I constructed this generous sized king-size headboard (tagged "Sweet Dreams") from a large number of beautiful deep discounted photo frames (pretty matting, exotic glass, all black purchased from Kroger for $1 each on a clearance rack) and featuring favorite photos of my daughter (for whom the headboard gift was intended) and her husband and children. For little more cost in wood for the framing and rope lighting to provide a soft glow through the channeled glass that surrounded each photo in the center frames made this the perfect gift. When it was hung on the wall with legs for support and mounted on a "french cleat". I coupled the headboard with two beautiful black nightstands I bought from a yardsale and painted to match the headboard. Then we placed wrought iron candlelabras over each nightstand and VOILA! It is a beautiful beadroom! Total cost: approximately $60 Best footnote, the photos can be changed out to keep the headboard fresh and current. (Do know...this is VERY heavy and must be handled with great care because of all the glass in the frames.)

Estimated Cost
60
Estimated Time Investment
Week Long Project (20 Hours or More)
Finish Used
Black semi-gloss enamel.
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Comments

spiceylg

Mon, 08/01/2011 - 08:36

What a great idea. Would love to see a photo of all the projects combined for the full effect!

Bama Gurl (not verified)

Wed, 10/17/2012 - 14:35

Unfortunately Luis, I do not have other photos of the headboard...none of the "construction process" nor other angles of the finished piece. The basic process was first knowing the average width of a king sized headbard, then acquiring the inexpensive photo frames and laying out the configuration you like best. Then I took 1"x1" 8 or 10 ft long pieces of unfinished wood and built a "frame" of horizontal pieces..first laying the wood on the floor, then putting the frames in their planned final arrangement by using cut pieces of 1x1 to put vertically between the individual frames to get the spacing correct. Then I put the end 1x1 pieces on to complete the 4 sided "frame". NOTE: I worked with the framing wood "face down" so that once the entire configuration was determined and all wood pieces were cut and in place, they could be joined together. I used glue and small metal plates that spanned the tiny joints and screws that made the joints more "permanent". Once all joints were finished, I used tiny wood screen moulding and glued it in place on two of the four sides of each opening (toward the back, precisely placed so that each photo frame fit flush with the face of the front of the frame). Then I painted the wood frame black (front, back, sides, top, bottom, etc). Once dry, I glued each frame in place in each opening. NOTE: Each frame, accessible from the back,allows for photos to be inserted and changed out. Finally I glued tiny wood medallion wood embellishments in each of the four corners and applied narrow wood trim that appears "carved" and three dimentional (using glue and tiny finishing nails) to the primary vertical and horizontal frame pieces. Then I carefully applied a final 2 coats of black paint. Lastly, on the back side, I took rope lighting "holders" that screw in place and mapped the hidden rope lighting and installed the rope lighting...out of view of the front view but where the soft light could illuminate the headboard. The final puzzle was how to put the headboard in place. First I built a wood rectangle the width of the headboard and the heigth I wanted the overall headboard to be and glued and screwed the base together...and painted it too. Then I made a "french cleat" that is simply a 2x4 cut at an angle so that when one piece is permanently attached to the back of the headboard with screws. Attach the other half to the wall, screwing it into the wall. Then 2 people can lift the heavy headboard onto the wall cleat. The base should rest on the floor and the cleat holds it to the wall. NOTE: You can google "french cleat" an look at photos and note instructions to see how to do this part. Hope all this helps. I will be glad to answer any other questions. Good luck.

Mini Farmhouse Bedside Table

Submitted by bcarter_1 on Tue, 10/30/2018 - 04:20

I'm just learning to make things with wood, I made two of these for the bedropom update last year.

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

Comments

Dress-up Storage finally!

Submitted by tannisg on Wed, 08/03/2011 - 17:10

I made this for my girls' huge collection of dress-up clothes. I had to modify the plans a little to fit more costumes, and also to try to fit the longer length. I was hoping the longer dresses would hang without filling the bottom quite so much, but to make it tall enough for that the little one wouldn't have been able to reach the hanger bar.

I ended up with 4 foot boards all around - 6 pieces of 1x12 cut to 4 feet long, including the shelf at the top.

The eight year old cut the letters out of scrapbook paper and we glued them on with elmers glue then varnished over it.

All in all it looks great and holds 4 big plastic totes worth of dress-up (11 Halloweens/4 little girls/5 flower girl dresses and miscellaneous other outfits).

Now I'm just hoping they'll learn to use hangers and it will stay neat and tidy!

Construction was very easy and went well - took us longer to shop than it did to build!

Painting on the other hand took a long time, mostly just to wait between coats. I used spray paint and some polyurethane to gloss it up.

Estimated Cost
$50
Finish Used
spray paint, polyurethane
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

DIY Storage Lockers {No Mudroom? No problem!}

I love my new lockers, and I am in love with building! I think the Kreg Pocket Jig is my new best friend!

This is my first project, and I made a couple of changes to Ana's awesome plans. I used bead board for the backing instead of ply wood, and I added divider shelves on the bottom shelf. I also added hooks on both sides of each locker so that my kids can hang lots of stuff.

Since I am a total beginner builder, I made a few mistakes as I built these lockers. If you are a beginner, too, please check out my post on OneCreativeMommy.com so that you don't have to make the same mistakes! I included a chart that shows the order I used to put everything together and added instructions for the extra dividers.

I am loving my organized space (and so are my kids)!

See the project now: http://bit.ly/lockers-kids
Pin it for later: http://bit.ly/14FpeHD

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
$150
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
This project was painted with 2 coats of Bare Wood Primer and finished with two coats of Valspar Rapids in Semi Gloss.

Hint--one quart of paint is not enough! I bought one quart of primer and one quart of paint. I scraped the cans clean and had to leave a few hidden spots with only one coat of paint. I have nothing left for touch up. Splurge and buy the larger can. You can always use it to paint accent pieces to match!
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Bath Board

Submitted by tjh4au on Tue, 11/06/2018 - 16:57

Bath Board! My very first woodworking project. It's 2 pieces of 2x6 cut to about 36" inches long each. You will need to measure your bath tub to see what size boards you will need to fit across it. I ripped 1 long side of each board on my table saw so I could join them togther. I used 3 pocket screws and glue to join them. I plugged the pocket screw holes and sanded the plugs down smooth. You can barely tell in the pictures after the stain was applied. I mixed saw dust with the glue when I put the plugs in so it would take the stain better and blend in. I marked up the outline of the areas that I needed to cut out with my router and penciled them in. The areas I cut out are for a wine glass, phone, soap bar, and a candle. You can arrange your board however you want, this is just the order I did mine in. Then, I used my router to cut out those areas free handed. I stained it with a dark wood stain. I used my wife's vinyl cutting machine to cut out the word "Relax". I painted over the vinyl with white chalk paint and pilled it off. Mother-in-law was very happy with her new bath board. Being my first wood project, I thought it turned out fairly nice and exceeded my expectations.

Ask any questions and I'll try to help the best I can.

Estimated Cost
$20
Estimated Time Investment
An Hour or Two (0-2 Hours)
Finish Used
Dark wood Stain
Recommended Skill Level
Starter Project

Apothecary Media Console

Submitted by ratizzle on Sun, 08/07/2011 - 13:13

My wife first saw these in Pottery Barn one day listed for over $2,000.00, we then stumbled upon Ana White's Website and noticed she had plans. I printed them out and went to lowes to buy the material. I didnt own a saw so I had them cut the MDF for me. They ended up cutting it way off from the measurments so I ended up buying a skil saw and some stain grade pine and went to work. I get frustrated following measurements, so I ended up just looking at a picture and making it custom. Took me a few months working on it every few days, sometimes a week at a time. Thanks for looking!

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Time Investment
Week Long Project (20 Hours or More)
Finish Used
Paint and Stain
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Comments

gdayskippy

Wed, 08/31/2011 - 07:39

Looks like you built 3 boxes and joined them together ? You said you used pine for this. Did you just go with 1x12's or did you join boards together with a kreg jig to make it deeper ? Awesome job this is my next project.

classic bunk beds

Submitted by jenherndon on Sat, 08/31/2013 - 18:30

Easier than I thought!

Estimated Time Investment
Week Long Project (20 Hours or More)
Finish Used
Dark mocha stain, then sanded edges, then restained with natural cedar color, then 3 coats of satin poly.
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

DIY Wall Mounted Concealed Jewellery Organizer

The idea for this project (and the final image that you see) came from the Whiskey Drink Studio ! Cheers to them for the original design. 

So, this is a really fun project that has to solve the following problems: 

  • Be a handy place to store jewellery
  • Feature a custom layout / organization system 
  • Be concealed, meaning it shouldn't be directly obvious it's a container, or if so that it contains jewellery
  • Be mounted on the wall (just because where else would you really put it)
  • The cover should be a painting on a canvas or another form of artwork. I mean not really SHOULD, but this was the original idea, you can modify it for your purposes
  • Should be styled to match the decor and interior design

Great, lets start with the:

Materials 

Materials for the concealed jewellery organiser

The sizes are entirely up to you, but if you're going to be using a canvas as a cover, you should first pick the size of your artwork and then scale everything else to size. 

They go as follow: 

1 x A3 Canvas Painting (420mm x 100mm)

1 x Same size hardboard cover (420mm x 100mm)

2 x Wooden Boards (420mm x 100mm x 50mm)

2 x Wooden Boards (287mm x 100mm x 50mm)

1 x Bundle of nails 

1 x Bundle of screws

1 x Bundle of screw hooks

1 x Magnetic catch set

3 x Standard cabinet hinges or 1 x Piano Hinge

This a very very beginner level build, so we're using the easiest techniques possible. Advanced users, who want to make the strongest box possible, can use alternative materials and methods. 

 

Step 1: Assemble the box

step 1 assemble the box - start with the frame

So, very straightforward, just start building the box, starting from the frame. In the GIF above you see how we put the shorter boards in between the longer ones and just nailed them together. 

If you want this to be extra strong, you can use corner braces on the inside. 

attach the hardboard

After the frame is ready, flip it on it's face and nail in the hardboard. The hardboard should be thick enough so it holds the screw hooks and your jewellery. It should also be pretty sturdy and well attached to the frame so use plenty of nails (well, don't go overboard).

Step 2: Attach the cover

step 2, attach the cover

Take your canvas (or whatever other cover you picked) and mark equidistant locations on the lower back side. Take your measurements and mark the same locations on the bottom of the frame. Put the two together and see if they match. 

Now screw the hinges in the cover and then, into the frame. 

At this point the door should open and close, lining up perfectly. 

Step 3: Screw the hooks

step 3 add the hooks

The next step is to think about the internal layout. Using a pencil plan and divide your space to represent your needs for storage. Then simply screw the hooks in. 

Step 4: Attach the magnet catches

step 4: magnet catches

The last part is attaching the magnet catches. They will hold the cover tighly close, with no accidental falls and issues. This can be substituted for a hydraulic arm, but we chose the simplest options. 

 

Special thanks to Rachel at Whiskey Drink Studio for the inspiration ! 

Check out the full tutorial over at my blog - DIY Wall Mounted Jewellery Organiser

Estimated Time Investment
Day Project (6-9 Hours)
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Comments

Corner Hutch Storage Bed for my Girls

Submitted by hawaiitara on Tue, 08/09/2011 - 16:19

I made this bed for my 2 girls who share a room. It was my first real attempt at building anything substantial. They are thrilled. The plans were so easy to follow. The only thing I did different was use 3 inch screws in the hutch base because I felt it made it more sturdy. I used bead board for the outside of the hutch and the back of the book cases. Thanks Ana for such great plans.

Estimated Cost
$525
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
White semi gloss paint with special walnut minwax stain brushed over to age
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Comments

sgilly

Tue, 08/09/2011 - 18:31

What lucky little girls to have a mom who can build them beautiful furniture! Great job.

Rachel Stacy (not verified)

Tue, 12/25/2012 - 04:39

I really want to do this for our twins who are about to move to big girl beds. However, I do not see the plans for this. Do you have a pdf to show how to build them? I especially love the hutch!

Mimi's Storage Bench as Toybox

Submitted by ematurne on Sun, 10/25/2015 - 10:34

My husband and I decided to make a personal gift for our new niece.  Everyone loved it, and we are currenly making another one.  The first time took us a LONG time...the second time went much faster!  We used nicer wood than suggested, which raised the cost. I used Sherwin Williams paint colors (buy the samples from Lowes...it was more than enough paint and only $5!) and the stencils came from a craft store. Can't wait to try more projects!!!

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
$120 for nicer wood, but you can do it cheaper.
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
Sherwin Williams paint (sample cans from the Color Pizzazz card, see below) and I sprayed a polyurethane coating from Michaels to protect the inside painting.

Turquoise- Reflecting Pool
Gray- Accessible Beige (it looks gray)
Yellow- Classic Yellow
Coral- Coral Reef

Michaels- Plain Wooden Letters and Stencils- Birds, Tree, Chevron, Bicycles
Hobby Lobby- You are my sunshine

Stenciling: I got really good at stenciling on the very top of the box (the last thing I did!) and I realized that your roller should have almost NO paint on it. It is cheaper to buy a door roller from Lowes. Also, the thicker stencils work much, much better (the ones from Michaels).
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Comments

Pub/Counter Height Table

Submitted by S.far87 on Sat, 12/08/2018 - 22:03

Facebook.com/esfwood

 

Modified the plans to match size for preexisiting tables in the bar. Table top burned, routed, dremmeled, stained, and finished with glaze coat.

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
180
Finish Used
Stain and Glaze coat
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Narrow Farmhouse table

Submitted by rhilborn on Thu, 08/11/2011 - 12:01

After discovering Ana White over a year ago, we knew that we wanted to build ourselves a dining room table. It was just a matter of finding the right plan for our house and family. The Narrow Farmhouse table was just perfect! We shortened the length to 6' to fit into our combined living dining area. I would love to have the 8' version some day, maybe when we have 2 separate eating areas?!

A note on our wood choices, I would try hard to use pine in lieu of whitewood for ALL the table components. The pine did a much better job with the stain and poly then the whitewood. As I have seen the one other time I tried to work with whitewood, it's CRAZY soft and I suppose I'm just not a big fan. I would take the trade off of more sanding with pine to insane finish silliness, any day!

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
$100, mostly because we moved this summer and had to buy stain & poly again. The wood cost was about $60 and we already had the pine scraps for the legs.
Estimated Time Investment
Day Project (6-9 Hours)
Finish Used
Minwax Dark Walnut with both Minwax Wipe On Polyuretane and Minwax Polycrylic. I am not usually aiming for a shiny, glossy finish so Wipe On Poly is my go-to finish. However, for this project, the Whitewood just soaked up the Wipe On Poly and the tabletop was not sufficiently smooth. So I bought a tiny jar of Polycrylic. I may just be converted, at least for tabletop surfaces, because the finish is now just beautiful.
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Comments

Guest (not verified)

Tue, 08/23/2011 - 16:49

Looks good!

I've found that if you put a conditioner on first, the soft woods take the stains more evenly and don't soak up the stain so readily. Minwax makes one for both oil and water-based stains.

In reply to by Guest (not verified)

rhilborn

Tue, 08/23/2011 - 16:58

I actually used a wood conditioner from Minwax and yet the stain still had a struggle. I did not use the wood conditioner on the pine on the legs and they had no problem. Thanks for the tip though!

The only glamorous thing in my kitchen...

Submitted by bhoppy on Wed, 09/04/2013 - 16:40

Is this kitchen island with its beautiful marble top:-) I really hate my kitchen because it is so ridiculously from the 80's and small... but it's a rental so it's not forever. The only counter space I had to cook is right there to the right of the sink by the coffee maker. I started building this the night Ana put the plans up. A friend of mine just remodeled her bathroom; and gave me the top since it was just sitting in her garage. I had to modify the plans only slightly to accommodate the top. It's 3 inches wider than the plans and I beefed up the top frame with 2x2's to support the 29 pound slab of stone. I spent less than $20 on the project because I had leftover wood from another project and a whole bunch of 2 x 4's from a project that got trumped for this one:-) I also ripped a piece of plywood to 11 1/4 to use as the sides and added edge banding on the back. I used paste wax for the very first time instead of polyurethane and I'm not sure how I like it yet.

Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
Early American, dark walnut and paste wax
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Comments

Rustic Farmhouse Table

Submitted by Sbarker645 on Thu, 10/29/2015 - 07:33

Built this table for our dining room. Neighbors kept coming by to look at it and I now have my first commissioned woodworking project for a table and benches!

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
$140
Estimated Time Investment
Week Long Project (20 Hours or More)
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate