Community Brag Posts

I ran into all sorts of problems building this! I started building it based off the materials I had on hand, not really knowing what it was going to be in the end. I started with the plywood box I hadn't intended for it to be a TV console, at first I was thinking a stand for a 55 gallon fish tank (which I have since sold.)
Once I decided what I was actually doing, it went together fine. I was going to make all three of the central column area into drawers, but I can't afford the hardware for that right now. I made the farmhouse style top and stained it to match the coffee table I made previous. However, I had many issues with finishing, problems with the legs, and after attaching the top accidentally broke off one of the breadboard ends of the top.

Finishing it was most exasperating. I started out with a mini-roller and white gloss paint. After I got it completely painted, I put on poly, but the poly dried very yellow and completely ruined the finish. I had to sand it almost completely back down to the wood to get it out. By the way, I learned something important about sanding which I will share with you... the cheaper sanding discs (made from clay) are crap. Get the ones made from ceramic. They last considerably longer and get the sanding done SO much faster. I love the guys at Lowes. :)

After I got it sanded back down I got some flat paint and used my sprayer. I love flat paint, it was so easy to get it on evenly. I did water it down quite a bit though. Then I sanded it down to a beautiful very smooth finish with some slight distressing. HOWEVER - flat paint needs a top coat, and I again screwed it up. Not as bad this time though. I used a spray on poly just in some places which gave it a little bit of an aged look, not too bad. Not exactly what I wanted, but doable.

I have not reattached the top with the expectation that I will still need to do more finishing, and it will be easier that way, and I will still be adding large caster wheels instead of legs on the bottom to raise it up a few more inches.

Also, the smaller cubby areas over the doors... they aren't big enough to use a sander to get the insides.

I used invisible hinges for the first time on this project which worked out quite well, and I love those.

I would love suggestions on finishing... if I use flat paint because it's easy to work with, what is a good top coat for that? Or should I stick with gloss paint and no top coat, and try that for my next one? Paint with primer? Still learning...

They say it takes 10 years to become proficient at a skill.. I've got about 8 years of building left before I'll be good at it. :)

This was easily the most elegant and functional tower design I found on the internet and it does not disappoint! I made a few modifications that included a lower, squarer (?) profile to fit under our counters, a hand painted mural, some stain, and of course some Yeti-your-feet-go-here-footprints on the platform. As soon as the paint was dry, I set my son up at the counter in it. His little face lit up with delight at all the new details and things to see. He instantly started looking at everything with swift little back glances at me that said “Really Mommy?! I can stand here?!” Totally worth it!

Due to limited space and inclement weather, this table took us a bit longer than a weekend....in a perfect world, we would have been done a lot sooner...however, it was completed just in time for Thanksgiving dinner...hence the mis-matched chairs. I LOVE my new table. It turned out even better than I had hoped. Thanks Ana!

This is the third smaller sized chair that I've made. This was for my nephew's first birthday. Adjusted the measurements to suit smaller kids. My chair gift list keeps getting longer. I've got another 4 to finish before January.

.

I started baking my own bread a few months ago, and storage was an issue. My husband decided to build me an old fashioned bread box and set out designing one on his own to fit in our small galley kitchen. I love it. It is a double decker, so I can fit two loaves in it just fine. The inside is coated with a food-grade sealer.

We followed the plans closely, and it turned out well for the first project. It was the perfect size for what we needed! My husband had never built anything like this before and after a little research on how to use the kreg jig, he was able to finish it in a weekend.

This site introduced the Kreg Jig which was a game changer as far as allowing me to give this a go. Thanks to the various posts for inspiration particularly Suzie_R. I added an off the shelf guard on the bed - photo to follow. I built the dimensions to fit a day mattress that I bought.

We love the look of farmhouse tables but not their hefty price tags. So we decided to build our own. $60 in supplies and a week-end's worth of time left us with a beautiful table that has a story. Ana's plans were easy to follow. Building furniture is so rewarding...and easier on the wallet!

Our dear friends built us a pergola over the summer and I wanted a big outdoor farm table to go underneath but had no interest in spending thousands on one already made. So, thanks to Ana White, I found the directions to making this 'anthropologie knock-off' for under $200! We made ours 10' long by @46" wide. And I included support boards on the underside of the table top for additional support and to try to address the fact that one of the boards us a little warped. It's not nearly as beautiful as our pergola and still needs to be stained/treated, but I can't wait for next spring and summer when we can hang and laze around out here! I'm so proud of us. Thanks Ana!!!

Built this over 5 days, around my son's naps (including 2 days for sealant to cure). Actual time was probably around 8 hours total. Not too bad for my third project! I only built one shelf and am using it for storage in our master bathroom. I love the way it turned out. Thanks again, Ana, for a great project plan. :)

My husband and I built the art table to give our 3 year old for Christmas. We have had great success building from other Ana-White plans and the Clara table was no different. We did modify it by adding a 1x3 to the legs to give it more stability. I think the table is great without it but we have older kids too and wanted to make sure the table could withstand them sitting on it or leaning against it.

The table was built with scraps from our garage so the top is modified slightly because of that. I think the only thing we bought for this project was a 2x2 for the legs. Can't beat a $3 table!