Community Brag Posts

Narrow Farmhouse Sewing Table

Submitted by melodylisa on Mon, 10/17/2011 - 07:49

modifications to plans: legs not tapered; shortened table by two feet.

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
$70
Estimated Time Investment
Afternoon Project (3-6 Hours)
Finish Used
Olde Century Colors in ‘Candlelight’
General Finishes Wood Stain in ‘Georgian Cherry’
General Finishes Gel Topcoat
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Comments

Reclaimed wood - look Headboard and . modified platform bed.

Made wider for a king and modified platform bed. Used a weathered oak stain followed by a 50/50 whitewash.

Estimated Cost
$300 ish
Estimated Time Investment
Week Long Project (20 Hours or More)
Finish Used
Used a weathered oak stain followed by a 50/50 whitewash. Varythaned.
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Lean-To Shed

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Fri, 03/24/2023 - 13:17

I’m a first year teacher of construction class at Waterloo High School in Illinois. We recently used your Small Cedar shed instructions with some modifications for a class project. It’s a bear getting cedar right now, so we used T1-11 for the outside and 2x4 for the frame.

Built from Plan(s)

Comments

Potting bench

I made this with leftover lumber after my mom helped me make a swingset for my kids. It's the very first project I've ever done by myself and it turned out GREAT! 

Estimated Cost
About $60 worth of wood, a other 10-15 in screws and other supplies.
Estimated Time Investment
Day Project (6-9 Hours)
Finish Used
I'm not going to finish it probably.
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Comments

2x4 Sectional , table, and chairs

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Fri, 04/14/2023 - 04:57

Your easy to follow 2x4 proje ts turned out amazing. My outdoor set is complete. The chairs, also, came from your plans. I built all of it by myself in one weekend. Thank you

Comments

One arm 2x4 outdoor sofa

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Thu, 05/18/2023 - 08:10

This was so super easy. We are so in love with this. Thank you Ana for making DIY so much fun!

Comments

Simple Twin Bunk Beds

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Mon, 02/15/2016 - 14:38

I built the Simple Bed into bunk beds. The plans for this project are pretty straight forward. The only change I made in the plans, was use 2" x 4" angle plates to mount the side rails to the head and foot boards. This made it easy to assemble and disassemble if the beds needed to be separated or moved. I also had to use two 2"x4"'s mated together to make the bed posts since 4"x4"'s are only available pressure treated. The ladder is constructed of 2"x4" with the steps spaced 10" on center. 

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
$300
Estimated Time Investment
Week Long Project (20 Hours or More)
Finish Used
I stained the beds with Minwax "Puritan Pine 218". I prepped the wood with Minwax Pre-Stain Conditioner. Pre-Stain Conditioner prevents the stain from looking blotchy.
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Comments

Barn wood frame

I made the barn wood frame for less than $30 (the plexiglass alone was $23!). It's better than the $80 they were going to charge me at the frame shop for the same style! I used an opaque black stain to both hide my not so accurate miter cuts and give it a modern feel. I'm very satisfied with the results!

Estimated Time Investment
Afternoon Project (3-6 Hours)
Finish Used
Cabot solid color acrylic deck stain in black. This stuff takes forever to dry, but I prefer this to black paint.
Recommended Skill Level
Starter Project

Comments

Guest (not verified)

Sat, 02/18/2012 - 09:24

I need a large frame for a family photo. I cant spend the money right now. This has been very helpful. Great job

Media Stand

We built this media stand for our home and we had many that followed. We put a backing on ours to hide the cords and such. It makes it feel a lot classier & takes under 5 minutes to add! We used 1/8" particle board and we used our neumatic nail gun. 

All in all, this is a super easy beginner project that adds a big bang to the space!

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
80.00
Estimated Time Investment
Afternoon Project (3-6 Hours)
Finish Used
This is our custom beachwood stain. A few stains from Minwax mixed together.
We then Distressed it & applied 3 coats of semi-gloss polyurethane
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Outdoor buffet table

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Mon, 06/05/2023 - 15:03

My first project using Ana White plans. Used pressure treated lumber and Kreg pocket hole jig. Cost: $126.

Built from Plan(s)

Comments

Laundry Station

Submitted by docfin02 on Sun, 01/22/2012 - 19:14

My original plan was for a laundry cart or stand for laundry baskets. I ended up building one that is pretty big for 4 baskets, a shelf on top, and elevated 10" on the bottom for our Roomba vacuum to be stored.

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
$80 + paint
Estimated Time Investment
Afternoon Project (3-6 Hours)
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Comments

Wood Sideboard

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Thu, 10/03/2019 - 12:22

My wife and I originally saw this Ana White planked sideboard and knew it was exactly what our dining room needed! We had the perfect spot for it! The plans were generally easy to follow and it was actually my first time installing drawers! It turned out amazing and we all love it! We love the added storage it provides for dishes and other kitchen accessories.

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
$250
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
We wanted a unique distressed finish, so after sanding everything good I actually used a black spray paint on most of project (mostly cracks and edges). After the black spray pain dried I Brush painted the entire project with Behr ultra paint (sorry I cannot find the color anywhere!). After the paint dried I sanded in random places, especially the edges to let the black come through, as well as some of the bare wood. This way it had a very rustic worn look of the three different colors (red, black, raw wood).
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Comments

From Logs to Famhouse Table

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sun, 10/13/2019 - 18:45

So this DIY Farmhouse Style Table has been on my “make it” list for a while now. And what better time to make it than now, since we just got a saw mill. Check out the blog link below to read all about it.

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
Minwax Early American Stain
Minwax Polycrylic Clear Sealer
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate
Seasonal And Holiday

Round Farmhouse table

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Thu, 11/28/2019 - 05:48

I took on a little bit more than I could chew with this one, but after a little R&I(Resourcefulness, and Ingenuity) I was able to figure it out. I love how it turned out though! Thanks for the inspiration!

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
$120
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
Dark Walnut with Matte poly top coat
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Comments

Our master closet from this plan!

Submitted by jec on Sat, 01/11/2014 - 07:18

We built this master closet using the simple closet plan. It looks wonderful and wasn't too difficult to do once we determined the measurements we needed to use to fit our closet. My husband does not have much building experience at all, but he was able to do this with Ana's fabulous plans. Thank you so much for saving us hundreds of dollars! We have real wood in our closet and we love it!

We used plywood and painted all surfaces with indoor latex trim paint.

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
$100
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
Painted with interior latex trim paint from Porter Paint. Used 2 coats.
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Comments

imortison

Sun, 01/12/2014 - 19:02

It looks very nice. May I ask what dimension of the plywood you used?
They look more than 3/4'' thick to me, right? My husband and I are planning our very first project!! Any info /advice would be highly appreciated.

Farmhouse Table-First Project = Big Success!

Submitted by dianek on Wed, 03/28/2012 - 20:43

This was our first project; and definitley and inspiration to do more. I am so excited to have this in our dining room. Project took about 8 hrs to build and 4-5 days to stain and poly. We used a Gunstock stain with 2 coats of Walnut over that.

Overall cost was about $150 with wood, stain, materials and poly. We ended up working with 2 types of wood (yellow & white pine) which proved frustrating as we tried to match the stain color. All ended up OK after a couple of trial and error on some scrap wood.

I can't wait to make the matching benches. Thanks Ana!

Estimated Cost
$150
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
Stained
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Comments

ferbit

Fri, 03/30/2012 - 10:01

Gorgeous table!!! I can't believe this is your first project! Yay! Now it'll never end! Ha! My husband thinks I'm nuts - I want to build everything!

I wish I had used Pine instead of Hemlock. I made a table very similar to this, but my HD only carries 2x stock in hemlock. Apparently Lowes carries 2x pine. I like the sharp square edges of pine better. Hemlock has rounded edges. Blah blah blah, your table looks awesome!

DIY Campsite Outdoor Storage and Grill Station

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Thu, 08/31/2023 - 11:28

We made the grilling station to keep at our seasonal campsite and it's absolutely fantastic! We have since added some L brackets and 2 shelves, and this is where we store our extra cases of water, soft drinks, outdoor cooking utensils plus an air fryer! Super easy plans, with well written instructions for even the novice (me and hubs) diy builders!

Ali W.

Beach Bench

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sat, 04/16/2016 - 14:26

Thanks for the plans, Ana!

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Time Investment
Afternoon Project (3-6 Hours)
Finish Used
Weather Gray stain with a white paint finish for the bottom.
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Sandbox with benches

Submitted by h.abbott on Tue, 04/10/2012 - 05:43

I knew I needed a sandbox for my toddler, and saw the original on pinterest. I was so happy when I came here looking for designs and saw that someone had created a plan for this. I think I'm more excited about it than my little guy is.

The plan was easy to follow, and it went together quickly. Thank you very much for these plans

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
$50
Estimated Time Investment
Afternoon Project (3-6 Hours)
Finish Used
Exterior paint in light blue.
Recommended Skill Level
Starter Project

Comments

hippyengineer (not verified)

Tue, 10/16/2012 - 19:32

You rock Ana! Your plans are some of the best quick builds with lots of features. I built this sand box in two hours and my son is having the best time. This is a Texas winter replacement for the beach and the backyard pool.

edkeogh

Mon, 05/23/2016 - 19:44

So I just started making this box and it's truly an awesome design but I couldn't get 1x8 lumber instead I got 2x8... For the box base, will this make an difference in the mechanics of the seat and back opening..and the overall size of the box is 1.5" longer at 49" instead of the 47" the plans detail.. I was hoping that it won't but I think it might interfere with the 2x4 support the seat back..

I right in the middle of this project so I need to get on with it as it's nice tomorrow..

THANK YOU
ED