Living on a small city plot, this vertical ladder planter was just what I was looking for to grow my herbs and flowers. I am not an experienced builder but the plans were easy to follow. It didn't take me much time at all to complete this project. Now I am looking forward to fresh herbs and flowers all summer.
My second building project... this one took quite a while, building in the evenings after the kids went to bed.
The playhouse is based off of Ana's Playhouse Building series, with some modifications to fit the space in my backyard and accommodate climbing wall, monkey bars, and slide.
To put the main deck structure into the ground for sturdiness while protecting from moisture, I dug out 5 holes to fit single hole cinder blocks (4 corners plus an extra 4x4 for the monkey bars; you can see an leftover block on the ground in one of the pictures). I placed some brick in the holes, then the cinder blocks on top. I then partially filled the cinder blocks with sand, put the pre-built deck in the cinder block holes (with help - it's heavy!), and then filled the rest of the cinder block holes with sand. It's worked remarkably well - the deck has been up for about a year now. I also sprayed some clear waterproof sealant on the bottom part of each beam near the ground for extra protection (deck, monkey bars, climbing walls, and swingset A-frame). This has allowed me to still run sprinklers near/around the playset and even grow grass underneath the swings!
Materials used:
* Playhouse: pine, plywood, Suntuf solar grey polycarbonate corrugated roofing panels (I live in Arizona, so little rain to worry about but lots of heat - the sheeting lets light in but blocks most of the UV rays, corrugated shape also provides venting at top when placed sideways)
* Deck/Swingset/Monkey bars: treated lumber, composite decking, pine for railings, monkey bars purchased from Amazon
* Climbing wall: pine, treated lumber, handholds/railing bought off ebay/Amazon
* Swings/slide/bongos/wheel, telescope: purchased from Amazon
Modifications:
* Turned playhouse 90 degrees to be in back of the deck, with swingset coming off the side. This meant the support beam for the swingset had to pass through the playhouse - modified the frame for that wall slightly and created a notch for the beam to pass through.
* Slide comes out one end of playhouse - made the "window" on that end larger than the plans called for in order to give room for the slide.
* Monkey bars come off one side of the deck - used extra 4x4 here to create support for the bars, and used extra bars to make a ladder on this side
* Climbing wall instead of ladder for main entrance
* Put large window in back wall of the playhouse
* Added cross bracing to side of decking on swingset end to make it more solid/cut down on sway when swinging
Tue, 04/29/2014 - 20:41
This is phenomenal - just the plan & design we've been looking for. Can you upload a few more pictures? Any sketches you can provide? Shopping list? Really great job - I hope your kids love it. It looks awesome.
Wed, 09/10/2014 - 14:03
Thanks! It's certainly nestled in right behind that tree - I originally was going to place it in between that tree and another one but then decided to just place it behind them in order to take better advantage of shade (critical in AZ) and fit in everything I wanted to put on it (monkey bars, swings, slide, climbing wall)
Mon, 07/08/2019 - 00:48
We've been looking at these type of players for our son, and good grief! Prices are astronomical for playsets that are NOTHING like this. This absolutely an amazing place for those boys to make memories. You're amazing! Do you mind if I ask what it cost once it was finished? I never imagined that it would cause a tic in my eye to look at the kids from Lowe's or anywhere else for that matter.
Tue, 08/20/2019 - 10:14
I don't remember how much it cost in the end... but probably around $900? That may include getting some tools that I needed but didn't have at the time. The slide was the most expensive single piece I bought - I think I got it from Amazon.
When it was all done, I remember thinking that what I got for my money was *way* beyond what I would have gotten by purchasing a kit or a pre-built play structure. Plus, by going my own way, I was able to build it to fit my space and the needs/abilities of my kids.
While the whole thing is big and looks like an intimidating build, it really isn't bad - the platform is a fairly blank base to design everything else off of, and is incredibly sturdy. Everything else is a discrete part that branches off of the platform and can be planned out as you need. Adding the monkey bars required putting in a 5th upright (the first 4 are the corners), but that was an easy modification since I knew I wanted it before building the platform. The playhouse just sat on top of the platform (screwed down, of course).
Sat, 08/01/2020 - 20:40
Hello. This is pretty cool, probably the best modification that I am looking for from Ana's default plans. Could you please add some more detail on the right side wall, and how you incorporated the support beam through the playhouse? (with maybe a picture from inside of that wall). And secondly, if you can add the dimensions for the monkey bar setup on the left side of the deck? Thanks, much appreciated
I recently landed my first teaching position, and unfortunately my predecessor left quite a blank canvas for my classroom. I will be teaching math and definitely needed a lectern to hold my book as reference for examples during instructional time. However, I was completely unable to fork over $200 for a lectern...so of course I turned to Ana White! I saw the Podium Plan that another had submitted, and used it as a guide with some changes:
1) My dimensions are 15" wide by 21" long by 43" tall (I'm shorter than your average bear).
2) Used the table saw set at 45 degrees to create mitered joint edges with my plywood
3) Inset the shelves into the frame for added stability using a router.
4) Added casters to the base for maneuverability
5) Added an easily-removable laptop shelf for the side for easy hook-up to the Promethean Board in the classroom.
6) Decoupaging my name to the front for some visual interest...(and of course to claim ownership...:) )
My room is painted yellow, and all of my accessories are teal, lime green, and brown. This is gonna look GREAT in there, and best of all, it's attractive AND functional!
Sat, 07/28/2012 - 22:23
I don't remember having ANY teachers with anything this cool and personal in their classroom (except maybe woodshop, har-de-har-har). All the other teachers will be jealous!
Built 2 of the workbenches for our garage. The plans made assembly very easy and quick. We had Home Depot cut the plywood to size.
This was a fun family project! Thank you!!
Loved it. I’ve made 6 chairs.
Crystal Shanaman
I made this loft bed for my 4-year-old son. It is plenty strong. It can easily hold him and his daddy for bedtime stories. I followed the plans to the letter. I found this a challenging but attainable second project and only needed help with final assembly. I'll start working on some bookshelves for under it but need to figure out how to work around the supports I already added (that are omitted in the bookshelf plans).
My son chose to make a workbench for his high school theater for his Eagle Scout project, and selected the Ultimate Roll Away Workbench with Miter Saw Stand as the basis for the project. The theater teacher wanted pegboard for tool storage, so we extended the rear legs on each workbench and notched the top to allow them to pass through. We built two frames from 1x3s to fit inside the rear legs, then put a pegboard inside each one.
To secure the extended legs, we added a riser shelf from 1x8s. We put a storage station for drills at one end of the riser shelf.
We also made all the cart shelves adjustable and added an adjustable shelf under the miter saw, and added lighting and power strips.
We left out the panels at the end of the workbench to allow access to the shelves there without having to remove the carts. Once we had constructed it, we added a brace at each end of the workbench to better support the outside front legs.
This plan was the perfect one for the theater, giving a stable work area for the miter saw and allowing for tool and materials storage. The carts can be rolled around to where a work surface is needed. This will come in handy for years of set construction in the theater. So proud of my son and all the leadership and hard work he put into this project!
Mon, 10/18/2021 - 11:54
WOW, that is absolutely amazing, thank you so much for sharing this story!
Entire wall fireplace built-in!
Modified the top of Ana’s plan for a Hall Tree and very happy with how it turned out.
Steve Nadler, High Springs Florida
This was my first project. It is for our nursery. Painted white to match the crib and dresser. So much fun. Plan was great and very easy to follow. Thanks to the other brag post which mentioned there was a missing cut for the box (bottom shelf). 28 3/4. I used countersink screws with a 1/2" countersink drill bit. I also used shelf pins to secure the shelf. With the paint I noticed the shelfs were very snug. I would probably take off 1/4" off the shelf size if I built it again. Can't wait for the next project! Thanks.
Great easy project to get the bigger chicks out of the garage to integrate with the older hens. Made some modifications because we have a lot of critters trying to kill the chickens/chicks.
Made this coop in a weekend. $140 in material. Still a bit of work to do.
Built this to give my daughter more space for her books. She picked the color (she's 6), and my 9 yr old son helped paint it.
We picked up a couple 14.9" square plastic garden planters from Home Depot and ended up creating some wood planter boxes from pallet wood for them to sit in.
I didn't add up the cost of these boxes, because we had most of the wood and only needed a few pieces, but I'd say they were definitely less than $10 a box.
We altered our dimensions to fit our HD planters so they would slip in for a snug fit and made the legs flush with the top of our sides. We build a simple frame for the top, which allowed the lip of our HD planters to sit firmly on top.
Something I didn't do, but wish I did: fill in the cracks with wood filler. There were a couple places that really could have used it, but I was in a rush and decided to skip it. They turned out great, but could have been even better had I taken an extra 30 minutes. On an off weekend, we are going to use wood filler in the seams, sand them down, and do a second coat of white paint.
Can't wait to plant these with some mums for Fall! :)
I had very little clearance on the long side of the shed, so I opted to put the door on the short side. Thanks for the plan, it was a great starting point for my project.
Tue, 09/10/2013 - 10:15
Thanks for posting! I plan to make this shed. Yours turned out beautiful!
First time I designed a piece of furniture. Made out of pine. Slat top and bottom with book shelves on both ends. Joints held with glue and pocket screws. Minwax pre-stain conditioner. Two coats of Minwax Provincial stain. Three coats of polyurethane.
Sat, 01/14/2017 - 08:58
I really want to make this table! It's simple, yet very functuional and exactly what I need! Please help me with some plans or some instructions. It is the first piece of furniture I will try to make on my own :)))
I based this design of the simple Sofa Table by Jenna Sue. Instead of a 2x8 across the top, I opted to use 1x4s side by side. This slatted look matched some of the other items in the house and to allowed me to create two hinged sections. These sections allow for easy access to wall plugs and include small notch for the cables to come through.
In the middle of a much needed makeover on our back deck! We did not have skirting around the deck and decided that we would like to close it in for extra storage(ladders,compost bin...) and we came up with this little something as a bonus. We are always hosting backyard get togethers and seating is a challenge. Setting up and putting away chairs,ugh. This has been the perfect solution. This was completely an "as we went" plan but the biggest need to know is, heavy duty hinges! (As I said,the deck is getting a makeover so go easy on the appearance:)
Jodi and Matt B.
This is my very first project. I have no other tools yet besides the drill, so I had to make all the cuts with the hand saw, but it worked out well :) As I am in Europe, the imperial metrics mean nothing to me. The wood they sell here is of different sizes. That is overall not an issue, although I had a tough time calculating the holes for the legs. Luckily, only one error hole, and all came out level on the first try. No waste of wood! I also had a good helper.
Thank you, Ana
Ventsi
My mom was looking for a new outdoor table, and asked me to come up with something. I found the link for these plans (http://www.thedesignconfidential.com/2011/04/free-diy-furniture-plans-t…) to knock off Restoration Hardware's $4000 Provence Beam outdoor table. Overall I liked the plan, with the chunkier look of the 4x4's. But there were a lot of errors in the diagrams, and the finished height is 34" which is ridiculously tall for a table. So we took it apart and cut the legs back down to change the finished height to 30". We chose rough-cut cedar for it's look and outdoor properties, not wanting to use treated lumber for a dining table. We couldn't find 2x10's like the plan, so we substituted seven 2x6's just like Ana's plan, but left a 1/2" gap in between so water can drain and not pool on top and rot the wood. Also, since we were working with 4x4's for the legs, we chose heavy duty lag bolts instead of screws to join them together. I love the finished look they give. Overall it's a sturdy, yet lightweight table that my mom loves and has already used for entertaining!
Wed, 04/25/2012 - 10:02
Thanks Brook! It was so much fun to build. I put my dad and husband to work while I was the "project manager" ;)
Comments
hittintheboards
Sat, 01/02/2021 - 10:56
Garden ladder # 2
Garden ladder # 2