Community Brag Posts

Christmas Kitchen Set

Submitted by Fuchsia on Mon, 12/26/2011 - 10:44

My father in law and I built this kitchen set for my two daughters, ages 3 yrs and 9 months. It was so fun to work with my father in law. I have built a few things before (table, chairs, doll bed, etc.) but nothing of this quality or magnitude. He is a great woodworker and knows how to do all the neat finishing touches that just make the project look really professional. I learned a ton working with him and had a blast!
I was inspired by Ana's kitchen sets and used a combo of then and the Lowes plans and I was very happy with how it turned out. I changed a few things: put two doors under the sink, made "gas" burners instead of "electric", used half the sink cabinet top for the sink and left the other half for counter space, added a clock to the stove, made the oven door open down.
The sink is a food service warming pan 1/4 size and the faucet came from Wal-Mart for $10. I will probably replace it with a nicer one from the ReStore when I get a chance
Break down of costs:
Lumber: $100
Hinges and pulls: $40
Paint and primer: $45
Burners: $20
Sink: $24

Estimated Cost
$230
Estimated Time Investment
Week Long Project (20 Hours or More)
Finish Used
Exterior: Glidden Red Delicious high gloss enamel
Interior: White
Oven: grey stone textured spray paint
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Comments

Cindy from Indiana (not verified)

Mon, 12/26/2011 - 13:09

Holy cow! Fantastic job! You guys really pulled it together and I really love the creative use of hardware, etc.

Fuchsia

Wed, 02/29/2012 - 10:03

Sorry I didn't see your comment sooner - I made the burners with craft wood circles and squares and 1/2 inch pieces of wood. I notched the ends over the circle with a chisel.

Bookcase

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Wed, 08/21/2019 - 05:07

Bougth some furniture but no bookcase . So I started to make it myself; first time ever I worked with wood.
I used the plans of Channing bookcase but modified them a bit.
It fits completely with the other furniture: same color and structure , but most important, 5 times cheaper.
Thanks Ana White

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
70 €
Finish Used
old white paint
Recommended Skill Level
Starter Project

Reclaimed Wood Bedside Table

Submitted by Ktosaka on Fri, 11/22/2013 - 07:31

I had inherited some bed frame wood from our local Re-store and have been working it into projects here and there. We needed some actual night stands and I loved the look of the Reclaimed Look Wood Nightstand, but they were a little too tall for our bed. The height of the original plan is 28" and I ended up taking out one drawer for a total height of 20". I also found two sets of drawer slides at the Re-store and decided that an open shelf on the bottom would better suit our needs, so I crossed the reclaimed plan with the farmhouse plan to create a shelf on the bottom. The bottom is built the same way that the sides are, but attached so that the 2x2 is on the underside.

I didn't have enough wood from the bed frame to make two full tables, so I used Douglas fir 2x2's for the legs (the best the local big box home improvement had that day for my price) and white board for the table tops and every other board for the sides and shelves. This was my second real building project, so they were really easy to put together, but it was a lesson in making everything super square because of the drawer slides. The finish I used also goes great with a 130 year old dresser that you can see a bit of next to the finish table. The wood only needed one coat to reach the color closest to that dresser and it hid the fact that I used three different types of wood in this project. Overall they are just what we needed in this space. The bed frame is IKEA, but I am thinking about making the Reclaimed Look Bed Frame to match the tables in the future.

Estimated Cost
$75 for two side tables
Estimated Time Investment
Day Project (6-9 Hours)
Finish Used
One coat Minwax Provincial stain with two coats of Minwax Wipe-on Poly. I like the look of the wipe-on, but this is the first time I've used it so I'm hoping two coats is enough. For the application, I went with old cotton socks.
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Farmhouse table

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Mon, 02/08/2016 - 05:38

Made this table and benches for my daughters friend. Now I have orders for 5 more tables and benches.  Easy to make just takes some time to the finish to cure.

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
$165 wood, stain, polyurethane
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
Kona stain for the tops, white latex paint with dark brown glaze for the legs and water based polyurethane.
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Comments

elaineaskew

Mon, 02/08/2016 - 10:49

Your table and benches are beautiful and it is exciting you have additional orders! Do you mind telling me what you charge for a table like this and the benches?  I have been sked to do the same but really dont know how to respong.  Thank you!

Elaine

My first chair

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Mon, 05/15/2023 - 05:16

Thank you Anna for designing such beautiful plans, and making them available for free. My husband likes the chair so much he doesn’t want it outside! I guess I’ll have to make a few more for our deck.

Comments

Restoration Hardware inspired Maison bed tutorial and finish. Starting with Ana's platform base.

I have wanted a Restoration Hardware bed for so long. Now I have "one" but for way less and we did it all ourselves. starting with Ana's platform bed plans we build on it and walk through the process and even the custom 3 part finish. for a full tutorial please see my blog. http://imperfectlyimaginable.blogspot.com/2013/11/restoration-hardware-…

would love to hear from you and see any projects that are completed.

Estimated Cost
under 400 I think the lumber cost me 175 or so
Finish Used
custom 3 step finish please see blog for tutorial
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Modified 4x4 Truss Beam Table

Submitted by barnes420 on Fri, 10/04/2019 - 05:58

Build this 4x4 Truss Beam Table for my wife's Birthday. For this table however, I did change the top and used the Fancy X Farmhouse Table top shortened to 7' (84"). I also used Whitney's plans on where to put the pocket holes (link provided in 4x4 Truss Beam Table Plans).  This is my first wood project and with that first time using an Ana White plan. The plans are awesome and very easy to follow, we can not wait to build the matching benches! Biggest tip I have is do not wait to long after buying the boards to start the build, the wood sat for about 3 weeks(due to work travel) and some warped a lot. 

Estimated Cost
I do not have the exact amount anymore but between $100-150
Estimated Time Investment
Week Long Project (20 Hours or More)
Finish Used
Varathane- Kona and clear Poly
Sherwin Williams- White Cotton
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Pool supplies storage shed

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sun, 06/25/2023 - 18:50

I was looking for a shed to keep pool towels and other deck and pool items. This shed hit every feature I was looking
for. My husband loved the plans. He's always saying he can build anything with a measured drawing and a
cut list. The only thing we changed was the roofing material. we were given some metal roofing by a friend.

Built from Plan(s)

Comments

Downsized Fancy X Farmhouse Table

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Fri, 10/11/2019 - 10:25

This table was modified because my dining room is really small. So the table is 71"long x 35" wide. This was actually my second attempt on the table top. The first attempt I only used kreg screws and no glue. To say that it warped is an understatement. This second attempt I used kreg screws and biscuits. For the breadboards I tried something new and used Rocklers Beadlock system. I also used Z- clips to mount it to the base so that as the wood expands and contracts it will hopefully not warp. So far it's remaining pretty flat.

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Time Investment
Week Long Project (20 Hours or More)
Finish Used
General Finishes Graystone, General Finishes Lamp Black Milk Paint, General Finishes Flat out Flat Topcoat
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Comments

My first Chunky Build

This is my first build and im really proud of it. We needed a new platform bed to fit our new matress! Yeah! a queen size bed! I discovered ana's blog and i got really inspired by all the projects in the blog! For the construction, i used birch for the showing parts, pine for side rails and center support and spruce for the slats. Actually, i haved cut de sides and builded the legs then i oiled evething before assembling. I used my Kreg Jig r3 to join the sides and i used a corner metal bracket to join the legs to the sides! Everything is attached from the inside, so no filler needed! I also decided to use 1x6 for the legs to get a taller bed. If you want your matress lower in the frame use 2x4 instead of 2x6 for the center support. Adjust de side rails to fit with the 2x4. Can't wait to build something new! FYI: I know my english is bad but its not my first language!Im french canadian!

Estimated Cost
250$ finishing oil included
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
Deftoil Danish oil finish color fruitwood
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Comments

8 foot Farm Table

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Mon, 03/21/2016 - 05:21

Inspired by the Fancy X farmtable plans. Added a crossbeam mid legs. Stained top and center beam chalk painted legs. Bench inspired by the table just minus the diagonal pieces.

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Time Investment
Week Long Project (20 Hours or More)
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Pallet wood coffee table

Submitted by Joep_erez on Tue, 03/29/2016 - 12:01

This project could take alot less time if I had a wood planer.  I use a belt sander to sand all pallet wood and this is what takes the longest. Well applying the polyurethane takes a while to finally get it to the way I like it. Bc I'm my worst critic. 

Estimated Cost
Cost on 30.00 or less depending if you have all material already. All you need to purchase is screws
Estimated Time Investment
Week Long Project (20 Hours or More)
Finish Used
Stain of choice and polyurethane.
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Comments

Malka

Wed, 03/30/2016 - 00:19

This is probably the coolest brag I've seen on here! Do you think this is something a beginner could pull off with a coping saw? I'm assuming you cut the state out, stain the rest of the board, and then glue/screw it all back together? Seriously this is amazing, kudos to you!

 

Joep_erez

Wed, 09/07/2016 - 00:43

Actuall all i did was put duck takp to try to keep stain from leaking under. When i got close to stain I just patted it slowly and that was final result. But thanks for comment. 

 

Rustic X Bench for Entry

Made 2 changes to the plans which was using a 2 x 4 as a center top board to add some variety to the board width and also decided to go with breadboard ends which also used 2x4

Thanks for the plans!

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
$50
Estimated Time Investment
Afternoon Project (3-6 Hours)

Kitchen Island with Farmhouse Table Top

Submitted by JoanneS on Fri, 03/30/2012 - 17:57

I’ve wanted a new island for awhile but wasn’t quite sure what I wanted it to look like, until I saw Ana’s cabinet plans for the Momplex kitchen! We wanted a fairly large island, so we did two 24” base cabinets “townhouse style” (from Ana’s Kitchen Cabinet Base 101 post) plus we added a little extra space at both ends, so Hubby could install some electrical outlets and we’d still have plenty of room for the drawers. The old island had power already, so he got the outlets wired pretty fast. Behind the doors are some deep pull-out drawers to hold all the stuff you’d usually have to bend down and reach for. Now it’s so convenient! I built a Farmhouse Table top for it and love it! We built flat doors and trimmed them up to match the island sides and back (also matches our pantry and dining room). This project took us about 40 hours to build and finish, and it was so worth it! Ana, you are a rockstar in our house! We now have a real showpiece for our kitchen, thanks to Ana White!

Estimated Cost
$550
Estimated Time Investment
Week Long Project (20 Hours or More)
Finish Used
Cabinet: 3 coats of Ace Royal semi gloss in Crushed Peanut, sanded between coats. Top: 2 coats Minwax Color Express in Walnut (1st coat brushed on, 2nd coat rubbed on), plus 3 coats of Minwax Oil Modified Water Based Polyurethane in Satin (sanded between coats); and on the drawer boxes, 2 coats of Minwax Polycrylic in clear satin (the clear water base poly doesn’t add any color to the natural pine)
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Comments

Brigitte (not verified)

Fri, 03/30/2012 - 21:14

Absolutely stunning! I'm in the process (sooo sooo close to being done) of making a banquette seating area with the creamy colored drawer base and the top stained in walnut. I put the same half round trim on my drawer fronts too. I saw a vanity on display at Lowes with this detail and had to copy it. I love the look! I am also building a trestle table from plans from www.thisoldhouse.com to match. I bought some beautiful matching chairs from Target.com. I can't wait to get it finished. I'm about to go paint the drawers right now. The table components were just primed 15 minutes ago. :-)

JoanneS

Sat, 03/31/2012 - 08:04

Brigitte and Pam, thank you very much for the nice comments! :) I'm having a ball building projects from this site. This is our favorite one so far (we say that every time haha). I have to smile and run my hand across the top whenever I walk past it - I guess when the novelty wears off I'll stop doing that :) Now I'm ready to add those door dampeners to all the cabinet doors in my house (so cool not hearing a slam when you shut them). Brigitte, your project sounds beautiful, can't wait to see the pictures of it!

mebohn

Sat, 03/31/2012 - 18:57

Absolutely gorgeous! I really love the colors. I've never tried the color express stain - and I have to try it now! The top is so seamless. Love it!

JoanneS

Sun, 04/01/2012 - 05:33

Mebohn, thanks very much for the nice comment! You'll love the color express when you try it. Walnut is my favorite and I've used it for lots of projects. I like brushing it on to get a nice dark first coat, and then on this one, rubbed on a 2nd coat (needed to wait an extra hour for the first coat to dry). I used lots of wood glue and Kreg screws to assemble this top (it's 5 pieces of 1x10, 3 across and 1 at each end) and then added 1x4 underneath (around the edges and across the center for attaching) to make it 1 1/2 inches thick. Then a whole lot of sanding :)

guest (not verified)

Tue, 04/10/2012 - 21:37

This is soooo beautiful! And the top is so seamless ans glossy. You should be so proud! Great job!

Mariah Papaya

Sat, 05/26/2012 - 06:25

Wish I had enough room in my kitchen for one of these -- would definitely copycat this! Love it!

JoanneS

Sat, 05/26/2012 - 06:46

Mariah, Thanks very much for the nice comment! I'm really happy with how this turned out. Now I want to re-do all my kitchen cabinets with Ana's plans. :) PS -- I saw your jugsaw puzzle table this morning on the brag board -- super creative!!

Wood Shop Storage Solutions...

It seems like organization is always a work in progress especially in my one car garage shop. Honestly it took years to realize what I needed to customize my space in order to organize things. I've built bulky work benches out of 2x4s and plywood. I've rearranged the work space over and over again over the last few years and finally came up with my own system

The miter station is a life saver. I had one of the fancy ones with the foldable wings but didn't like it. The object of it was to be able to fold the wings down for storage but I never did and it caused other space saving problems. Now I can easily store all of my small tools and woodworking knick knacks all in one spot. You can find plans for these if you google miter station, but take my advice and custom make one that fits all of your needs. There's a spot for my vice and speed square too. Things like that make it count.

The router table is probably my favorite tool in the shop. You can do so many things with the router table. I started out with just a top and a base and worked from there. Now everything router is in the cabinet ready to go.

Everything is on wheels. Us military guys and gals have to move around a lot so we have to plan for that. Now everything can just roll up the ramp and in to the truck.

Take some time and think about the efficiency of your shop space. How does everything flow? Or do you even flow at all? I used to woodwork myself in to a bunch of brick walls and now I don't.

Thanks for checking it out
Patrick

Estimated Cost
a lot hah
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Comments

birdsandsoap

Fri, 04/06/2012 - 22:05

wow. This is very impressive. I love how tall the pieces are so you don't have to bend down, I'm always working with my tools on the ground and it is a pain.

I covet your router table.

And the miter station is awesome. I just may copy that! I love how it houses all of your other tools as well. OMG! It even holds your shop vac, and has a handy ledge for pipe clamps?! I would love a simple plan.

I'm really curious about your kreg jig setup on that work table too.... details please.

Well Done!

patrickhosey

Sat, 04/07/2012 - 09:20

You've got to get up off the ground. I did that for a looooong time and my back suffered big time.

The kreg jig is mounted to a piece of plywood. Then I drilled 2 holes in the top corners and hung them on the side of the work table.

The miter station has to be custom made for your shop needs but planning it out is very important. I needed a spot for my vice and a quick spot for my speed square. So I calculated all the space needed for 3 drawers and then just added a few inches. Also measure how high your saw sits and recess your work surface exactly that amount.

Grizzly tools has a good deal on simple router table set ups right now. I'd check that out. Eventually the miter saw will be hooked up to the shop vac. I bought an outlet that automatically turns the vacuum on when I use the saw.

It's just like the other stuff. Start with the face frame and the rest will come to you.

Patrick

claydowling

Sat, 04/07/2012 - 11:49

If working without plans makes you twitch, Startwoodworking.com, Fine Woodworking and Popular Woodworking usually all have plans for shop furniture like this. There are enough variations over the years that you can usually find the features you're looking for if you do some mixing and matching. I know there was a very nice router table plan last year.

For the record, I work more like Patrick unless what I'm building gets complex.

birdsandsoap

Sun, 04/08/2012 - 00:25

Me too! i always seem to get inspired by a plan, and by the end of the project, it's totally different than the original because of all of the adjustments I make. I have never even considered building shop furniture before, these photos are inspiring!

Thanks Clay for the link, I will have to go burn some time on that site as well. Someday (when I don't have a leaky garage) I will have a shop worthy of such beautiful equipment.

Great Job again, Patrick!

redhead_61

Sun, 04/15/2012 - 14:24

Uh, this is amazing. Good thing I can tell your shop vac and scraps bin have DUST on them, or I think you might be lying about this somewhere you actually work :) ! I just got around to finishing my work space table. I am planning on doing some major organizing before the heat of the summer hits, and then maybe a router table like this might make it to the top of my list.

Scott Kershaw (not verified)

Mon, 06/11/2012 - 19:56

Patrick, with the recent release of your Farmhouse Table, I find myself watching it over and over and my jaw is always on the floor by the end. In a way, the flow and the craftsmanship is intoxicating. My family is in the process of moving to a new home and I am mostly looking forward to organizing the garage space. I need a man cave and it needs a miter saw station and a router table.

Did you construct it all with pocket holes? What material is the majority of the carcasses, face frames and drawer fronts?

Thanks for the excellent pictures and marvelous video!

Scott

In reply to by Scott Kershaw (not verified)

patrickhosey

Mon, 06/11/2012 - 22:54

The materials are just standard pine boards from Home Depot. White pine for the face frames and drawers and 3/4 pine plywood for the cabinets. I'm glad you like the video and I really appreciate the nice words. We have some new stuff coming up, so be checking back for the router table plan.

Patrick

Scott Kershaw

Tue, 06/12/2012 - 18:36

Do you use a table saw for any of your projects? What would you estimate the cost of the miter saw station, alone, to be? For some odd reason, nice 3/4" birch plywood is the same cost as 3/4" pine/fir plywood here is Missoula, MT. An 8' x 4' sheet goes for ~$45. Is your switch for the vacuum the Rockler product like in this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7LmSVvOnxsI ? Sorry for all the questions. Your station is by far the closest to the what my mind has been imagining and what my garage could handle. Thanks!

patrickhosey

Tue, 06/12/2012 - 20:18

I just bought a used Grizzly table saw. It's pretty new to me so I'm all excited about learning on it. For the most part I used a circular saw with a straight edge. Now that I have a table saw, all that should go a lot faster. The switch is very similar to that one, but I bought it from sears a few years back. The miter station is hard to make plans for. Every miter saw is different so the platforms need to be different sizes to match whatever saw you're using. Then you have to keep in mind the size of your shop vac and design it around that as well.

claydowling

Wed, 06/13/2012 - 05:31

Table saws are something that can last fifty years or more without any trouble, so you can get them used pretty readily. You want to buy a good sturdy saw. Locally the used market is dominated by Craftsman/Sears saws. The saws made before 1962 were made by King-Seeley, a company local to me, and those are pretty good saws (I own one and really like it). The ones made after that were made by Emerson Electric, and the owners of those saws have not had such kind things to say about them.

cmm314

Tue, 09/16/2014 - 06:30

Hi Patrick,

I am in the process of desinging a similar miter station, but am curious as to how long your's is?  Some of the recommendations call for a full 8 ft long base, but not sure I have the space in my garage for something like that.  What is the length of yours?

Thanks!

 

 

 

justinjester

Thu, 06/02/2016 - 13:55

Hey Patrick. Thank you for providing so many plans to such beautiful pieces.  I am about to start working on the router station this weekend.  I can't wait to get started.  The reason for the message, could you possibly provide the plans for the miter station you created.  I am a new woodworker and I need plans to be able to create some of these pieces.  I would love to have a garage of similar pieces.  Is that something you could provide?  I would be happy to purchase it from you.  Thank you again for your hard work. - Justin

Corner TV stand

Submitted by TBarn on Tue, 01/21/2014 - 12:41

After a promise to get a new carpet and TV stand as an anniversary gift, I began a search for a corner stand that would fit a 50" flat screen and hid all of those ugly wires. Craig's List had nothing and the retail options were either cheaply made, ugly or crazy expensive. I stumbled upon Ann's page, and since my son has a wood shop in the basement, I figured why not try to build something. I used the original plan, but borrowed ideas from other brag posts to create a 36" tall model with overlay doors that we think looks great. Next project: bar stools for the kitchen island.

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
$200
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
Zinder Primer and Gidden (America's Finest) Semi Gloss
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Washer Dryer Pedestals

Submitted by Kvnpalmer on Sun, 04/17/2016 - 13:57

We have a very small laundry room and we wanted some additional room to put shoes when we walk in. We also couldn't have the pedestal be too tall or our washer and dryer would hit the shelves we put in over the laundry room. For this reason I modified the plans to remove the bottom and adjusted the height of the plans to just fit. I was worried about the stability, but made this super strong.

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