Community Brag Posts

Rustic X Coffee Table

Submitted by jmuhorn99 on Tue, 02/04/2020 - 16:22

I'm really bad at making the X's, so I just added some straight pieces for decoration.

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
$64
Estimated Time Investment
Day Project (6-9 Hours)
Finish Used
Dark Walnut stain and white chalk paint
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Kentwood Bookcases

Submitted by tglife on Fri, 04/27/2012 - 09:30

When I started my blog This Girls Life ( t-g-life.blogspot.com ) I knew I wanted to makeover my office to give me more room and storage. These bookcases were perfect for that.

Estimated Cost
$120ish for both, $60ish per bookcase
Estimated Time Investment
Week Long Project (20 Hours or More)
Finish Used
Minwax English Chestnut
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Modified Husky Farmhouse Table

Submitted by Doro.marie on Tue, 02/11/2014 - 04:28

My husband Chris and I have been planning for a few years now to build a farmhouse table for our home. Every year for christmas my mother-in-love (mother in law) gifts us a "must have" tool. We like to think of it as her investing in our home and quality time together. Last year she gave us the Kreg gig, holy cow, that sure is a must have!!! :) This year we received a hand sander. Needless to say we were motivated to start our farmhouse table journey.
We loved the table Ana built for her sister, so we followed the plans almost to a tee. We ordered the turned legs from Georgia. Let me also add that we try to buy everything we possibly can that is made in america, from paintbrushes on. I encourage everyone to take the a few seconds to look and spend an extra dollar or two to support america's economy.

The only modification we did to the plan was add a small strip of wood to the base layer for just a little extra touch of character. :)

Estimated Time Investment
Week Long Project (20 Hours or More)
Finish Used
Table top- miniwax wood conditioner, Early American stain, and helmsman spar urethane.

Base- early american stain for base layer, Old Fashion Milk Paint in Buttermilk, and spray on polycrylic.
We live in a small town and were not able to find gel stain anywhere. We could have ordered it online, however we adamant about using our snow days to work on this project. This made a difference as far as how the milk paint chipped on the legs. I had to hand sand to get the rustic look, however it still looks fabulous. :)
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Comments

Combination Workstation

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Wed, 02/12/2020 - 07:45

Combined a few of your plans to make my wife a Workstation. Plans were easy to follow and there were no dimension errors.

Estimated Cost
200.00
Estimated Time Investment
Week Long Project (20 Hours or More)
Finish Used
Combo semi gloss paint and primer
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Small Kitchen Storage Pantry

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Mon, 10/02/2023 - 11:17

I adjusted your Barndoor l Pantry plans to utilize repurposed lumber from a Murphy bed. The shelves are 22" deep for my microwave, toaster oven, etc. It's so functional and much easier to work in my small kitchen.

Cheryl G

Built from Plan(s)

Paint stir stick Letter Bin

Submitted by ltl_lisa on Sat, 04/28/2012 - 18:16

I used paint stir sticks as the front of my bins!
I wanted the "bead board" look but to still have a natural wood grain that I could stain for the rustic look. I also really like being "frugal"

Estimated Time Investment
An Hour or Two (0-2 Hours)
Recommended Skill Level
Starter Project

Pretty, massive coffee table

Submitted by sgilly on Sat, 02/15/2014 - 08:48

I'm still helping my kids furnish their new home. They "hired" me to build them a massive coffee table for their family room. They fell in love with the legs featured in a plan built by Shanty 2 Chic (http://www.shanty-2-chic.com/2013/11/diy-square-coffee-table.html). The legs definitely were the most expensive part of this table!
I made a couple of adjustments: because these kids of mine hope to have kids of their own soon, and the table measures 48x48, I reinforced the lower shelf of the table and the table top with support pieces. I picture babies crawling all over this and wanted to ensure that it would hold up!

I finished with the same steps used by Jen of House of Wood's rustic yet refined finish, but used a dark walnut stain as the base.

Another fun project for me, and they are very happy with it!

And, I just have to say that Osborne Wood products delivers a wonderful product with great follow up and customer service! http://www.osbornewood.com/

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
$250 for table - the Legs accounted for $160 of that.
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
Wood conditioner (2 coats), sand, Minwax Dark walnut, Minwax weathered Oak, sand, rubbed on whitewash (old, diluted white paint), sand, mixture of weathered oak and a little dark walnut, sand, 3 coats of polyurethane, satin finish, sanding between coats.
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

iTable with bench seats

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Thu, 05/12/2016 - 13:43

Ana, I really loved this design and was pretty easy to build! I like the way the finish turned out by painting it black and just a few coats of poly on top. 

The benches are overbuilt with intention of converting 2 benches into 4 chairs in the future.  I made them larger so I can simply just cut them in half and add two 4x4s 18 inches higher than the current bench legs at 24" and just deck it as a chair back, seems simple enough. One thing I would change in the design is eliminating the 3 1x12s and 2 of the 1x4s and just going with a solid table top at 33 3/4 x 40 3/4, similar to what I did on the benches.  

Let me know what you think and if you have any questions.

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
150
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
Flat black paint with satin finish polyurethane
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Wood slab bar

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sun, 02/16/2020 - 22:03

Hand mad love edge bar

Estimated Cost
300
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Farmhouse Writing Desk

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Fri, 10/06/2023 - 08:58

Brookstone desk with a white oak top and drawer that I built for my 8- yr old son. It is a very fun build.

Jerry from NC

Built from Plan(s)

Comments

Tilt Out Trash Cabinet with Shutter Door

My trash situation was pretty dire once my dogs figured out how to pop off the lid and dig into everything. Trash was everywhere! So to keep out prying paws, I built Ana's tilt-out trash cabinet to keep the can safe. But I didn't read the plan through before going shopping, and didn't get any plywood to make the door! So I used part of an old bifold door that looks like a shutter and cut it to fit. I also added a cabinet clasp inside the top so it can securely shut. Now we don't have any trouble with my dogs dragging trash through the house!

Estimated Cost
15
Estimated Time Investment
Afternoon Project (3-6 Hours)
Finish Used
Three coats of semi-gloss white
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Comments

Alex's Book Shelf

This design came from Ana's website. My daughter Alex asked me for a shelf to hold all her "stuff". She's a typical girl... lots of "stuff". I was able to snap a picture before she started to fill it all up!

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Time Investment
Day Project (6-9 Hours)
Finish Used
White Paint
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Rectangle Nesting Tables

Submitted by BrandyK on Sat, 05/14/2016 - 14:55

I needed a small rectangular table to put between the sofa & wall. I also wanted a small table to set elsewhere in the room temporarily. Nesting tables were the answer. I adjusted several measurements to fit the wood I had on hand for the tops. The larger table used 2 1x8's. The smaller table is topped with 3 1x6's. I also used 1by lumber instead of 2by except for the 2x2 legs.

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
Mostly used lumber I already had, about $15 if new
Estimated Time Investment
Day Project (6-9 Hours)
Finish Used
Leftover white paint, stain/ poly combo from house windows
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Custom kitchen island

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Tue, 02/18/2020 - 10:04

I built this custom kitchen island for a family friend that wanted something bigger than what can be purchased at a retail store. They also wanted to have a butcher block top for cutting meat. The base is made out of select pine and the stained parts is red oak with a couple strips of birch. The over all project took me 5 days to build. With the top being the longest because it consisted of 94 1 ¼” pieces glued together. Thanks for looking!

Estimated Cost
$1,200
Estimated Time Investment
Week Long Project (20 Hours or More)
Finish Used
White Chalk paint mixed with a little antique white, sanded, and spray with poly. Dark stain for top with butcher block oil and sealer.
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Sandbox with Benches

For the last year we have been kicking around making a sandbox. We really needed a cover and really wanted seats. So this worked out perfect. We did modify the plan a little to make it just a little bigger. It is 4' x 5' instead of the 4'x4' called for in the plans. Very easy to build...we have very little building experience and pulled it off. We did dig out the grass where the box was going to sit and stapled 2 layers of landscaping fabric to the bottom of the box frame. We also sealed the main box frame with a little silicone to minimize sand leakage.

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Time Investment
Day Project (6-9 Hours)
Finish Used
Miniwax Polystain (Stain and Urethane in one) in Pecan color
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Comments

Lady Goats

Sun, 05/06/2012 - 21:06

Widening that had a HUGE impact! Did that mean you had to double the 1x4s you bought? Very nice!

queenmooshie

Mon, 05/07/2012 - 05:32

Thanks. There are the same number of 1x4s on the top they are just longer. I was worried about the benches sagging because of the increased length and was prepared with scrap 2x4s to add support under the first two boards if needed but it doesn't seem to be a problem. We only widened it to 5' though...I think at some point that extra support would be needed.

Headboard

Submitted by meg_odom on Tue, 02/18/2014 - 14:47

2nd project - added some additional supports on the back with scraps & fixed a bowing issue. We've had it in the bedroom since October 2013 & love it (especially the price tag)!

Estimated Time Investment
Afternoon Project (3-6 Hours)
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Sandbox

Submitted by andygurbal on Wed, 05/18/2016 - 15:10

I followed Ana White's instructions to a tee and things turned out great! I chose a dark brown wood stain and used an exterior Helmsman Spar Urethane for protection. Because the sandbox will always be outdoors, I ended up putting 5 layers of urethane on it.

I also attached a tarp (not seen in the pictures) to the bottom to hold the sand in. This way the sandbox can be dragged if you want to move it's location.

Estimated Cost
I bought all of my wood from Home Depot, as well as the wood screws, brushes, stain and spar urethane, so it ended up being a little bit more than I expected. All in all, it was around $125, but it could definitely be made cheaper if you have wood already on hand or the screws, brushes, stain, and urethane readily available.
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Corona square coffee table

Submitted by ygoryanina on Fri, 02/21/2020 - 09:26

Farmhouse style wood coffee table with gorgeous balustrade legs, 38" x 38", 18" high. Stained antique oak, sealed for long life...

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
under $200
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
General Finishes water based stain antique oak, flat water based poly.
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

12' Farmhouse Table

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Mon, 10/16/2023 - 09:03

This is a 12’ Farmhouse Table made from old reclaimed barn wood. I used the plans from Ana White Farmhouse Table and just scaled it for 12’.

Shawn Imes

Comments

Back