We were inspired when we saw Ana's Outdoor Sectional on Pinterest and after checking out the site we decided to build ours using the modified plans with 2 x 4s as it was much more cost effective. It was a really fun weekend project for my husband and I and not difficult at all.
These chairs were easy to build, although I modified Ana's plans a little bit. I opted for solid wood 2x2s for the legs (I wanted it to be sturdier), and a solid seat instead of a slatted one. I notched out the back of the seat so it would fit flush against the back legs. Because of my modifications, my chair was just a couple bucks more.
Also, I was so excited to find solid wood balusters for the chair legs - they're not only better quality, but cheaper than furring strips!
Check out my blog link for a complete play-by-play!
Mon, 07/23/2012 - 08:25
Nice. I like the solid seat. Much easier to keep clean from kid grime.
A modified version with tiered areas. 2x4's tie layers together. Happy Mother's Day!
This is my second stuffed animal zoo tower. This time around I used cheap 2x2 furring strips. Not the best pick of lumber, but it gets the job done well. :)
Great build. Hubbie extended to couch one seat and added legs for additional support. We painted after assembly and the x’s were a PITA to paint. Love the end result. Now to pick coffee table plans!
Built the Cassidy bed. It was a great project, and you’re right. The hot glue gun worked great on the shims.
Jonathan
Farmhouse table made from distressed (worm hole) maple.
My neighbor was able to get me the 5/4 distressed maple for about $2/bd ft - I ended up buying 100 board feet and had plenty leftover. The finished board feet for this project was about 60 if I remember correctly. So the $200 was the bulk of the expense. The only other costs were sand paper, I bought a Kreg Jig, screws, Minwax Marker, paint, stain and urethane (much of which I already had).
It came out better than I anticipated. The antique white finish was not difficult at all.
Tip - When following the instructions for the finish here, I applied the first coat of urethane with a brush almost immediately after applying the Minwax marker to all of the sanded edges. I did this in haste, but ended up with some unexpected results that really added a nice touch. The stain from the marker incorporated a bit into the urethane as I brushed it giving it an antique, yellow hue. At first I thought I made a big mistake, but it turned out to add a really nice look.
Mon, 05/19/2014 - 07:29
CSaintD - The top can be removed as I did not glue it. I set 3 dowels on top of each of the 2 legs so that the top would always lign up correctly if disassembled and reasembled. The stretcher could be removed, but would probably cause some damage to the finish as it was a tight fight when I finished it. The stretcher would be removed by removing the dowel pegs that I fabricated on each leg.
In reply to Disassembly by g82martin
Mon, 05/19/2014 - 08:21
Thanks. I really like the dowel pegs on the legs/stretcher. Very nice top finishing as well. Did you square the boards to get them to be so smooth when joined?
Mon, 05/19/2014 - 08:26
I cheated a bit on the top. My neighbor who got me the wood works in a furniture reupholsery shop. He planed and joined the boards for me, which saved me a good amount of time. I'm confident I could have done this at home with my table saw, miter saw and hand plane, but what he did in 2 hours probably would have taken me 10.
Fri, 08/05/2016 - 20:35
Love the dowels you added! Planning on building this exact table pretty close to your dimensions and have a very long church pew as well! Trying to decide between L-ing my pew and cutting to straigjy 6'. Do you mind sharing the dimensions of your pew? And how did you miter the pew?
Tue, 01/21/2020 - 09:40
Beautiful table. I love the pegs added to the legs and stretcher, they add a historic detail lost in a lot of today's building techniques
We took the loft bed plans and modified a bit for our daughters bed. We made it a little taller including the doorway. Instead of a ladder we did a set of carpeted stairs with entry to the underneath space through a door on the inside and added a light for a 'secret' hideout. Everything else were just some added features. We built flower boxes and added foam blocks with silk flowers. For the gable we used bead board. For the shutter we used small wood strips and the horizontal pieces are just the free paint sticks from lowes cut down. We then added wired in lights hooked up to her light switch. (she loves this part) Then he built a fold down desk that can be opened or closed for when they want to play in there. The school supplies we used the rod and tin buckets from Ikea kitchen area. Over it took about 6 weeks to do everything between watching the kids and working. Cost for materials and the extras came to a little over $600.
Lots of room for improvement but I'm pretty excited for my first time following plans.
Thanks, I love your videos and have learned a lot.
Entry table made with poplar and stained with General Finishes Graystone. Applied GF high performance flat topcoat.
Laurastodolist
This was inspired by your Flat Wall Bookshelf and made using a piece of 1x6, a piece of 1x4, and a smidge of recycled paint. We added towel hooks to the ends (the same ones that kept pulling out of the wall), and mounted the whole thing to studs in the bathroom. Thanks for the plans!
This was my first project! I used the plans for the modular locker, but used an old shutter for the door instead. Next, I think i'm going to try to connect 5 or so in a row for an entryway, all with different shutter doors :)
Wed, 05/21/2014 - 16:27
I am a total sucker for shutters. Love the look of them, not sure why..lol. this is nice, great job!
I built this toy box for my nephew, who is into Tractors, using the plan provided by Ana. I made some modifications to the lid mostly, other than that the differences are cosmetic. I thought the plan was super simple and easy to use!
My husband and I have been inspired by your website and are getting started with wood working projects. We did this cart on the weekend. We used MDF board for the front, back and shelf bottoms because we had it laying around after replacing our garage shelving. I’m pleased with how it turned out given that we are just beginners. I do think we’ll have to invest in a table saw. Not a fan of working with MDF board. We used the example found on Infarrantlycreative.net but changed it up slightly. (Sorry about the first photo, I can’t seem to delete it)
followed your instructions for the "Essential Platform Bed Frame" -- made this as a king. 2x6's for all legs/center supports with mitered corners for a simple added style. only suggestion/modification is the the #of slats you suggested (10) is way too few, I ended up using 15 or more
Also, used the circle-corners instead of mitering because all our doorframes in the house have that type of corner, and then I wouldn't have to "match" the leaf design where the mitered corners meet
Thanks for your guide!
Jake in Spokane
After I built my work bench I was ready to get started with my first real projets from the site. My wife requested that I make this pedestal first so that she could get a little more organized. I would say total there was about 8 hours of cutting and building and then another hour of painting. I did make one modification to this project and that was to add extra trim to the bottom and top of this pedestal. With everything included (wood, trim, paint, screws) this probably costs me right around $115. Much less than two of the standard medal pedestals that don't add much as far as aesthetics to the laundry room.
I used replacement screen door wheels and 1" by 1/4" Aluminum bar to make the hardware.
