Community Brag Posts

Changing table

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Mon, 07/11/2016 - 20:25

Modified with arrows to go along with theme for baby room

Estimated Cost
50.00
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
Red mahogany with polyurethane semi gloss finish
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Modern Adirondack Chairs using reclaimed pallet wood

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Wed, 05/06/2020 - 06:20

The plans were easy to follow and the finished result was perfect! We subbed 1x6s for the 1x10s, because we were using some reclaimed pallet wood. We cut, sanded, and stained/weatherproofed all pieces before assembly, which I would also recommend.

Estimated Cost
$20 per chair (we used some reclaimed pallet wood)
Estimated Time Investment
An Hour or Two (0-2 Hours)
Finish Used
Valspar Canyon Brown Transparent Exterior Stain
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

$35 (55) Chaise Lounge

Submitted by melbooker on Thu, 06/28/2012 - 10:32

This cost me $55 for wood (pine), nails, and bolts. Additional $7 in paint. It's very sturdy and very comfy with a lounge chair cushion (Walmart had a great price--cheaper than I would have spent to make one myself). This will also serve as bench seating for my deck (I love multi-use furniture). Thanks Brook and Ana for this great plan!

Estimated Cost
$65 ($100 with cushion)
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
Primer with white exterior flat paint
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Comments

Mimiprin

Fri, 05/20/2016 - 11:32

I have my lounge completed except for the slots. It looks great and I am very happy with the results. But, in looking at your finished photos, I notice the 2 X 4 in the horizontal slot is not seated into the space completely. And, melbooker's photo shows the board sitting on top of the rail. So, I'm a bit confused about cutting in the slots. Any advice would be very helpful! Thanks

Hifi - Living room Console

We started from the benchmark media console plan, but then adapted it to our room and needs.
It's entirely made of plain wood (no plywood, except for the drawers bottom) which probably adds to the cost a little, but gives a very nice finish! All the boards (for table top, shelves and sides) are made from 1x4, assembled with wood glue and pocket holes.

The doors are made of glass cut to fit, and glued with silicone.

Only trouble was with the door hinges.. Since we wanted them to be concealed inside but I hate Euro-Style hinges, so we ended up finding Soss "invisible hinges" that conceal in the thickness of the door, and used a dremel as a router to install them... This proved a bit more challenging than anticipated, but all in all it worked out pretty well.

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
~ $350
Estimated Time Investment
Week Long Project (20 Hours or More)
Finish Used
Two tone oil based stain from: http://ana-white.com/2012/12/minwax-two-tone-oil-based-stain-pine#comments

Sand carefully the pine with fine grain (~200) before staining, otherwise the dark stain will turn the wood almost black!
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Built the Console Table - Wife Loved it!

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Fri, 07/15/2016 - 00:13

Had to try to build the Patrick Rustic Sofa Table and though it was my first time trying something like this, it looked very do-able.  Modified to 60" instead of the original length.

Estimated Cost
$70.00
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
3 coats of Paint and Wax to seal
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Mother's Day Coffee Table

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Fri, 05/08/2020 - 22:01

My sweet wife wanted a new coffee table so I decided to build one for her. Thanks Ana White, mission accomplished!

Estimated Cost
80.00USD
Estimated Time Investment
Afternoon Project (3-6 Hours)
Finish Used
Sanded to 320 grit. Minwax Classic Grey with a sanded finish to produce the wear areas. Used 120 grit to sand the scuffed up areas. I coated the top with two coats of poly and hand sanded each coat with 400 grit.
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

DIY Small Manger

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Wed, 01/03/2024 - 08:34

Seen a picture somewhere and I liked it . It was on my mind so I made this Nativity Manger, no plans just went for it by memory.

Mike

Buzz Lightyear bookshelf

Submitted by jwright on Mon, 07/02/2012 - 11:17

This is the rocket bookshelf plan with a color scheme for buzz lightyear

Estimated Cost
$65
Estimated Time Investment
Afternoon Project (3-6 Hours)
Finish Used
paint
Recommended Skill Level
Starter Project

Wood Work Table (based on iCoffee Table)

Submitted by zduchene on Fri, 04/18/2014 - 13:11

We have some large open spaces at our office and are converting them into workspace areas. We needed some large tables that would accommodate four people but we did not want to spend thousands of dollars on furniture. We needed something that would be useful and inexpensive to build. I started poking around on the web and found the iCoffee Table from the “A Touch of Arkansas” blog. I loved the design and I thought with a little bit of tweaking I could make it work for us…and it did!

Estimated Cost
200
Estimated Time Investment
Day Project (6-9 Hours)
Finish Used
Varathane Kona
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Modified desk

Submitted by bef0016 on Sun, 07/17/2016 - 17:25

Modified table to desk. Built the original table plan for a friend and it was too big, so I had the frame in my shed for a year. Repurposed it to office desk. 

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

Surface Mount Fireplace Accent Wall

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Mon, 01/08/2024 - 09:44

My wife and I wanted to do something with our surface mounted . Then came up with this design.

Bob Cousineau

Comments

Bar Stool

Submitted by beansurfin on Thu, 07/05/2012 - 17:15

My wife and I needed bar stools for the kitchen and could not find ones we liked. Also, finding ones that were the height we wanted was a challenge. So, after seeing the plans for the Simplest Stool we decided to make them. It was really quite simple with the plans given. Even the angle cuts were not that bad. Thanks for the plans for this awesome stool.

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
<$50
Estimated Time Investment
Afternoon Project (3-6 Hours)
Finish Used
Painted with urethane top coat
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Comments

Jeromy (not verified)

Wed, 01/02/2013 - 10:35

Hi there
My wife loves your design so guess I'll be donning the old tool belt soon...!
Are there any plans of these to get me going?

Jeromy (not verified)

Wed, 01/02/2013 - 10:37

Hi there
My wife loves your design so guess I'll be donning the old tool belt soon .......!
Are there any plans of these to get me going?

laundry room organizer

Submitted by erinnist05 on Mon, 04/21/2014 - 12:00

We revised the design a bit to make it fit in our space. We also made room for our dog food bin at the bottom

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
Paint
Recommended Skill Level
Starter Project

Comments

Easel

Submitted by Moses13 on Thu, 07/21/2016 - 23:49

Thank you for allowing us to use your plan this is a great gift.

Recommended Skill Level
Starter Project

Dollhouse

Submitted by keribeth on Sat, 07/07/2012 - 05:46

I combined my favorite elements from three of Ana's dollhouse plans to make this dollhouse for my kids. My favorite part is the stairs, which I cut from a 2x4 with a miter saw. I made this project from start to finish in one day while the grandparents took the kids, and it was ready for Christmas morning! I made simple furniture for it, too, which you can see in the second picture.

Estimated Cost
~$20 (I used some scraps)
Estimated Time Investment
Day Project (6-9 Hours)
Finish Used
linseed oil
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Comments

Jerika

Wed, 02/11/2015 - 06:35

Is there any way you could email me the plans you used for the furniture? or just individual pictures of the furniture? [email protected] (you may wanna copy and paste that people always get it wrong, haha).
I LOVE THIS

MissM

Wed, 07/10/2019 - 04:08

I know this is an oldie but if you have the finals plans I would love to see them!

What a great open dollhouse!

From Scrap to Sweet!

Submitted by Jake on Wed, 04/23/2014 - 11:12

A friend wanted a small box for her cosmetics. She gave me the dimensions of her present container but my mind and my saws envisioned a different end. My only promise was that she would get three drawers. To keep cost low I used only scrap lumber I found around the garage. I added oak dowels for strength and decoration.

Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
Finished only with a lot of sanding, two coats of Danish oil, and two coats of poly. Also once it was completely dry a coating of Johnson's paste wax.
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Comments

booksnotbombs

Tue, 08/12/2014 - 11:51

I happened across your profile this morning, and I've spent a good part of the afternoon looking through your projects, as you've posted more brag posts than most people I've seen on Ana's website. I loved seeing all your projects and experimentation! Your sense of humor doesn't hurt, either. :) Keep it up, and I look forward to seeing more of your work in the future.

Jake

Tue, 08/12/2014 - 14:32

Over the past four years I have learned a lot. The most important lessons are experiment and don't let the frequent screw ups get you down. Lately I have been concentrating on learning to weave seats (reed and rush), build small boxes, and turning wood. Today was terrible. Nice bowl blank I cut from a Hackberry log turned out to have cracks and a really nice scoop built up of poplar and walnut broke into two flying pieces when my gouge caught at 1200 RPM. Only thing to do is start over and hope you learned something.

If you are new to woodworking check for square at every opportunity and be safe. Accidents happen in milliseconds.

My Bailey Console Table for the #IGbuilderschallenge

I was so excited to participate in the #IGBuildersChallenge! My modifications included reducing the width a few inches so I could cut two boards from a single 8' length for both the top as well as the bottom shelf. I added two additional legs to the front so I could divide the table into three drawer sections. I also decided to make it two thinner drawers as well. I added the x's on the sides to match the x coffee table I built for our home last month! I used tongue and groove to attach the breadboard ends which is something I'd never attempted before and is something I will try again. The top is stained in Minwax Jacobean and topped with a satin wipe-on poly. The base is painted Ashwood which is a Benjamin Moore colour I had colour matched at Home Depot in their Behr Premium Plus line and then topped in a satin polycrylic.  I'm thrilled with how my table turned out and have already received a request from a friend to build her one for their home.

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Comments

Rustic X Hall Tree - With Some Changes

Submitted by jman11 on Fri, 05/15/2020 - 14:50

This is a great design! I made a few changes to suit our needs: 1. Raised the shoe shelf so shoes can also be kept on the floor 2. Added a few spacer blocks on the shoe shelf to prevent the 1x1 from spinning since there's only enough room for one pocket screw per side. 3. Cut a rabbet in the back of the tall 2x4s to accept the tongue and groove shiplap 4. Used tongue and groove shiplap (pre-painted white from Lowes) 5. Topped with crown molding 6. 6 hooks so everyone has their own hook (although I can see this getting very crowded in the winter) The wife loves it and got me a lot of brownie points right around Mother's Day!

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
$200
Estimated Time Investment
Week Long Project (20 Hours or More)
Finish Used
Indoor/Outdoor Acrylic Satin Finish, Polycrylic clear coat.
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate
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