Community Brag Posts

Modified shoe bench

Submitted by mdj1281 on Mon, 11/16/2015 - 05:06

In our new home there was a 46" wide coat closet at the entrance. My wife wanted a place to sit down, take off shoes and put our coats and backpacks when we were home. I found Ana White's plans for this shoe bench and modified it to fit our space. The project took 3 days to complete due to the painting, staining and polyurethane, construction of the bench itself was quick. Previously I added a light switch and two 3" LED recessed lights in the ceiling. The project came out wonderful and I am very pleased. Thank you for the inspiration!

 

-Mike

Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
White semigloss paint (2 coats), Minwax Red Mahogany 225, Varathane Polyurethane semi-gloss (3 coats)
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Comments

Garage / Basement Shelving + Bonus Wine/Liquor Under Stairs Storage

Submitted by MJC2DIY on Wed, 10/12/2022 - 21:35

Using the guidelines for the “BEST DIY Garage Shelves (Attached to Walls), I added this to our unfinished basement area for additional storage. I plan to replicate it in our actual garage as well and build the freestanding shelves also!

As a bonus, I used this plan as inspiration and built directly beside it, which is an unused space under stairs, a wine/liquor storage shelving replacing the plywood with cut 2x4s for added weight capacity/stability.

Couldn’t have been easier!

Comments

MJC2DIY

Wed, 10/19/2022 - 09:14

Thank you!! I am so thankful for Ana White and team! These projects are helping me build a lot of confidence to continue endeavoring more challenging projects each step of the way :-)

First project

Submitted by reidev275 on Wed, 09/18/2013 - 20:31

modified the plans by making the top from 4 1x6s and adapted the legs to use 1x6s instead of the 2x4s. The wood I used was higher grade pine than what is called for, but because of the reduced size (2' x 4') I came in at the same price.

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
$80
Estimated Time Investment
Day Project (6-9 Hours)
Finish Used
Minwax Early American with clear semi-gloss poly
Recommended Skill Level
Starter Project

Rustic X coffee table

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sat, 01/19/2019 - 15:40

First coffee table build. Plans were perfect! Built for $50, sold for $255

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
50
Estimated Time Investment
Day Project (6-9 Hours)
Finish Used
Chalk paint
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Platform Bed with Shoe Trundle

Submitted by vendo on Tue, 11/22/2022 - 08:08

We had some bulky items that needed to be stored. So I came up with dimensions for a low platform bed so the bows could slide under. I decided to build a faux drawer to conceal the bulky items and added shoe storage into the faux trundle drawer. Of course I used one of Ana's plans for the basic idea and modified from there! 

bed with trundle storage bed

bed legs

bed frame 2x4

inside bed frame

bed support

Flip Top Storage Bench

Submitted by Linda7 on Tue, 10/01/2013 - 15:40

So my sister's house is on a rural, sandy lot. Did I mention sand...lots of sand. Her tile doesn't react well to sand-covered shoes , so they needed a place for guests to take off street shoes to replace them with spa booties. I offered to build them a storage bench for that purpose.
I modified the bench to make it shorter as per my sister's request. She also wanted the lower shelf modified to place a boot tray on it to catch the sand. I suggested replacing the lower shelf with rails to place the shoes on so the sand could fall off onto the boot tray. We nailed finish nails into the legs under the rails and slid the tray onto them. Now she can remove the tray easily to dispose of the...sand.
The finish on the body matches the mirror, which hangs above it. The lid of the bench was stained to match the finish on the doors, posts, etc. I used wrap around inset hinges from here: http://www.rocklerpro.com/product.cfm?page=5135&rrt=1
I checked this as a weekend project because of dry time for stain and poly.
Thank you, ANA for the awesome plans.

Estimated Cost
About $65
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
Minwax Express Color "Crimson" for body; Minwax "Ipswich Pine" water-based stain, followed by three coats of gloss poly for the top.
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Dog Houses

Our local Habitat for Humanity puts on an annual event where they get folks to restore discarded or worn down furniture and sell them at auction. My wife and I participated last year and this year I was asked to build 4 dog houses and then they were going to let local designers/decorators finish them out.

I figured it would be easy to find a good dog house plan, but I was wrong so I had to come up with my own designs. I did not want to use plywood becauase I wanted them to look good. So I used 1x4's and 1x6's. I built them all just a little bit different, but the same basic design on all 3. Since I am not very good with circular cuts, did not do any fancy 1/2 circle doorways!

There are "after" pictures on the Blog. Thanks for looking!

Estimated Cost
$100 each
Estimated Time Investment
Afternoon Project (3-6 Hours)
Finish Used
I didn't finish them out, but did use screws to attach everything, so filled those in with wood putty and sanded down of course.
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Comments

Cindy from Indiana (not verified)

Sun, 11/06/2011 - 16:10

Great job for a great cause!

Community Garden Farm Stand

This spring, my neighborhood started a community garden.  Five families came together to break ground, sow, tend, and give away our produce.  The local church close by allowed us to use their front lawn for the "Lakeside Community Garden," located in Duluth, MN.   Every Saturday during harvest season, we gave away our produce to the community.  I took on the project of building a farm stand.  One of our neighborhood families donated re-claimed lumber to the cause, and I started building.  I had research many farm stands on-line, and knew I needed two large boxes to hold the veggies, as well as a sign to indicate what produce we were giving away.  

Estimated Cost
$free!!! Use what you can re-claim, and design your own stand.
Estimated Time Investment
Day Project (6-9 Hours)
Finish Used
none
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Ultimate Workbench/Miter Station

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Mon, 03/06/2023 - 15:32

This plan is exactly what I needed for my workspace. I ended up adding some slat wall pieces and cabinets above from cubicles in an old office nearby that closed down for a tool wall and storage. I left the right opening empty due to how unlevel my floors are. I may close it in later with drawers or cabinets, but it will be my sitting workspace for now. I trimmed out the edge with 1x2s and painted and stained everything for aesthetics.

Comments

Adirondack Stool or End Table

Submitted by Clang on Wed, 06/19/2019 - 19:45

I love making this table, my take on the Patriotic theme. Sanding and Painting always add time, this is a fairly easy project.

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

Comments

chicken boxes that work!

I have tried all sorts of nest boxes. No one ever used them. I decided to make the one from Anna White's site. I used joinery to attach the various pieces. The best thing of all: I find girls sitting in the boxes and take eggs from them. It really is awesome. I got a photo with real eggs and you can also see the wooden eggs to entice them to try it out. Thank you so much! I will build another one for the other side of the the wall.

Built from Plan(s)

Comments

Stick on organizers for dresser drawer

Submitted by Ana White on Thu, 04/27/2023 - 12:58

I used the stick on drawer organizer tutorial to divide a giant dresser drawer

With the divider, the drawer can hold more and is so much neater and easier to use

i love there is ZERO planning or sourcing of dividers with this method  just have the basic materials on hand, open up a drawer and get it done  

 

 

 

Modified Modern Park Bench

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sat, 08/03/2019 - 16:06

I used the Modern Park Bench plans and modified the size for our patio space. I also modified the bottom and used 2x2’s to give it a different look.

Built from Plan(s)

Vertical Shoe Rack

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sat, 05/06/2023 - 14:12

I needed a shoe rack that would work for our limited space and the Laundry Tower that was on the brag post caught my eye. It was modified from the Open Frame Laundry Basket Organizer. This shoe rack is working great for our family now! Thanks for this community!

Comments

Entertainment Center

Submitted by azca33 on Mon, 01/09/2012 - 18:48

My wife and I decided it was time to give our new TV a home. We began looking on ana-white.com and saw a beautiful black entertainment center. That is where I received my inspiration. It is a very similar design however, I decided to change the color and add inset doorsand drawers.

Everywhere we looked for an entertainment center, it was either too pricey, or the measurements were not right. I decided to come up with a plan for an entertainment center that would fit perfectly into our little niche.

Estimated Cost
650-700
Estimated Time Investment
Week Long Project (20 Hours or More)
Finish Used
Dark Walnut Stain/White Latex Paint
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Comments

Jana Thomas (not verified)

Mon, 01/23/2012 - 12:28

I LOVE your entertainment center....exactly what we are working on as we speak. Ours will be a little larger (12 foot wide) after adding on two end shelves to hold lots of DVD's!! I know I want the white color, but could you give a little more information on the distressing and finishing? We've never done that before. Thanks!

azca33

Mon, 01/23/2012 - 17:59

Hey Jana,

What I did was kind of a pain. To give the entertainment center the distressed looked, I stained all the areas that we were going to distress a dark walnut. After we allowed that to dry, we painted it with white latex paint. Since we were painting over a dark walnut stain, it took about 3 coats to completely cover the color. After 24 hours of drying we sanded it with 100 grit sand paper on all the areas we wanted distressed. You will want to lightly sand it until the dark walnut color comes through. Avoiding sanding too hard as you will sand through the stain.

We still have some distressing that we would like to do on it, but we need to get a wire sponge for that, and just haven't gotten around to it. The sand paper works really well on corners, but not so much on the face of the wood. We haven't sealed it completely since we still have some areas to distress, but will use a water-based sealer.

Let me know if you have any other questions.

davidmac (not verified)

Tue, 01/24/2012 - 14:15

It looks great. How did you attach the side units to the middle unit? Are the drawer fronts just solid 12" x 12" with the decorate trim attached to front? I can't tell if the portion where the handle is attached is recessed or not. And lastly, are those 1" x 3" trim pieces around the drawers?

azca33

Tue, 01/24/2012 - 16:46

Hey Davidmac,

The trim is all 1x3 solid pine, including the trim around the drawers. The drawers measure out to 10x10. I built the drawer faces the same way I built the cabinet doors. I used 1x3 trim and dado'd a 1/4" groove to inset a 1/4" piece of plywood. I then added molding to give the drawers and cabinet doors a more detailed look, so it is recessed where the handle is attached.

The side units are attached by 1 1/4" screws that are hidden behind the trim. Easy access to remove for any future moves.

Jeff (not verified)

Sat, 01/28/2012 - 22:15

Are there actual plans for this? I just see it in another brag post. but no actual laid out plans.

Guest (not verified)

Sun, 02/19/2012 - 19:22

Where can I find plans for this. Beautiful.

azca33

Fri, 03/23/2012 - 09:24

Unfortunately, there isn't a set of plans for this entertainment center on the site. I looked at the Entertainment Center for Kristen Lotz and built my own plans according to her pictures, with a few adjustments. If you have any questions, I will be more than happy to help you out.

Kristen Lotz (not verified)

Tue, 05/29/2012 - 17:32

I just checked in onto this site for the first time in awhile and I saw your entertainment center. I knew you must have gotten inspiration from ours... I love how yours turned out! I love the white, I love the distressing, and I love the inset doors and drawers with all the details. It turned out absolutely beautiful. Good job!

azca33

Mon, 06/11/2012 - 12:21

Thanks Kristen and thank you for the inspiration. When I saw yours on ana-white, I knew that is what I wanted in my living room. I also thought it was genius to put the DVD Player etc... up higher so the kids can't play with it. We are really happy with it.

kristenlotz

Mon, 12/31/2012 - 14:20

I finally got around to making the plans for our entertainment center (well, actually my husband did it). It is very similar to yours except the inset doors and drawers, the door and drawer trim and the finish colors. Hopefully that helps those looking for plans for this beautiful entertainment center. I love finding brag posts of similar entertainment centers because they are absolutely beautiful at a fraction of the cost of buying one. And we love telling people that we built it!
http://www.jrlwoodworking.com/2012/12/furniture-plans-custom-entertainm…

Andrea Miller (not verified)

Mon, 01/07/2013 - 12:26

Did you do an under coat or did you just add stain to the sanded areas? Love the look.

Home for the Fridge

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sun, 02/14/2016 - 07:42

I used this plan to build this cabinet space around the fridge. Before this was built, we just had a small dinky counter space and the overhead cabinet. I had to make a few minor adjustments in order for it to fit in the space.

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
$200
Estimated Time Investment
Week Long Project (20 Hours or More)
Finish Used
sanded, primed, and painted - Sherwin Williams Pure White.
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Comments

Industrial Coffee Table

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Tue, 02/16/2016 - 12:24

I was seeing this coffee table everywhere so I knew we had to make it. It's the easiest build ever. I think the only tricky part is the painting near the edge. We like a more sanded/finished top. We tried spray painting the base and then attaching the top, but then we sanded the top and the spray paint on the base near the top came off, so I had to cut in and I'm not good at that.

So we're still working on a way to do this properly. We tried making the top on the ground and then sanding & attaching it. But the top needs to be completely exact/square in order to do this. We live in a old farmhouse, so we prefer to attach it as we go - then sand. We also plane the top for a more exact and modern look. 

Estimated Cost
Under 50.00
Estimated Time Investment
Afternoon Project (3-6 Hours)
Finish Used
Top stained in our custom beachwood mix. A mixture of Minwax stains, Bottom spray painted in Oil Rubbed Bronze & semi-gloss polyurethane ( two coats )
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Comments