Community Brag Posts

Outdoor Console Table

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Thu, 05/12/2016 - 20:19

The console is tall, perfect as a serving comsole or for a portable BBQ. I used straight stair baulsters for the feet at 34". Fun, quick project. This was my third Furniture project from the Ana White site.

Clair

woodpaintcreate.com

Estimated Cost
$25
Estimated Time Investment
Afternoon Project (3-6 Hours)
Finish Used
White Paint
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Farmhouse Console Table

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Mon, 02/17/2020 - 17:44

I'm a 17 year old just getting into woodworking. I built this for my mom, it was my first big project. She loved it, thanks for the plans and I'll definitely be using more plans to build other things!

Estimated Cost
$25
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
Carbon Gray stain.
White Chalk paint
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Comments

Mini-Mini Farmhouse Table

Submitted by Jake on Wed, 05/02/2012 - 13:35

I took the suggestions for the Mini-Farmhouse Bedside Table and revised it a little further. First I cut the legs to 18" which gave me a total height of 19". I enclosed the back to avoid looking at the back of the drawer. I covered the drawer with a piece so it overlaps the drawer slot. Worked great at hiding some of my mistakes. From the pics you can see that it sits next to my easy chair in Mi Cueva de Hombre. Great project.

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
$40 includes knob ($2.40), Spray paint ($8)
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
One coat of Rustoleum primer and two coats of Spruce Green Rustoleum spray paint.
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Rustic X Console

I made this Console following your step by step rustic X console plan. turned out great! I love your site!

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

Comments

Happier Homemaker Outdoor Firepit Benches

I built these benches out of cedar, which added considerable cost to the job.  The total cost for four benches (including stain) was about $240.  I used clear cedar and Sikkens outdoor stain in chocolate brown.  I also modified the plans slightly to create stronger joints, using rabbet and mortise joints and Titebond III (waterproof) glue.  This only slightly changed the dimensions, but I think it will make the benches last for years to come.  It did add some time to the plans, as I think butt joints would've taken only 2-3 hours total before sand and finish. 

Estimated Cost
$250
Estimated Time Investment
Afternoon Project (3-6 Hours)
Finish Used
Sikkens ProLuxe Semi-Transparent Chocolate Brown
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Vintage Step Stool

Submitted by sraper2 on Tue, 02/18/2014 - 20:10

I built this step stool recently and am so happy with the way it came out! I even learned that I'm not all that terrible with my jigsaw anymore haha. I painted it turquoise and distressed the edges a little bit. I also added some silicone to the bottom to prevent it from sliding out from under little ones. I have some of the build process up on my blog. Thanks!!

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Time Investment
Afternoon Project (3-6 Hours)
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Comments

Restoration Hardware Inspired table

Submitted by EstebanM on Fri, 05/20/2016 - 10:31

Needed a classy table...

Purchased the chairs separetely. Sanded the legs from black paint back to wood, and stained them to match the table.

Estimated Cost
$150
Estimated Time Investment
Week Long Project (20 Hours or More)
Finish Used
Weathered Oak with a satin seal
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Full Loft Cottage Bed with stairs and shutters

Submitted by dannymd22 on Sun, 02/23/2020 - 10:11

My wife started off looking for a commercially available bed for my daughter (age 4 when I started), but after not finding a style and size that she wanted (e.g., at Pottery Barn Kids), she convinced me to design and build one. This was the biggest projected I've ever undertaken, so I looked for inspiration on a number of websites including ana-white.com. 

The Sweet Pea Bunk Bed served as major inspiration for this bed, but I also took ideas from many other designs.  However, I made a few changes:

  • I designed it as a single full-size bed with play-area underneath
  • Designed to be cottage-like
  • To get it into the room when complete and if it ever needed to be moved, I designed as 6 separate pieces: the 4 walls, the roof, and the stairs
  • All of the main pieces are held together by 6 bed bolts at each corner
  • I added some cabinets and drawers with raised-panels. these came out nice, but added a lot of time!

In all, it took me 9 months to design build. However, much of this is because this is new territory for me, I'm a bit OCD, and I could only dedicate about 4-8 hours per week on it. Plus, we were hit by Hurricane Harvey during this, so things slowed down for a few weeks. I decided to go with hardwood for most of it for durability and paintability, but this could likely easily be done with less expensive pine.

Note: I did not build the appliances seen in the images. Those were purchased. 

Estimated Time Investment
Week Long Project (20 Hours or More)
Finish Used
2-3 coats of Semi-gloss Sherwin Williams Paint Latex pain for bed. Shingles are 3 coats of Miniwax water-based poly.
Recommended Skill Level
Advanced

Comments

DIY Shed Chicken Coop

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Mon, 10/16/2023 - 10:30

8x12 coop modified from your classic shed plans. 2/3 for the chickens, 1/3 for storage.

by Harmony Munson

Built from Plan(s)

Comments

Seasonal And Holiday

Sandbox with Built-In Seats

Submitted by Loral on Wed, 05/09/2012 - 15:32

This is a fun project even for beginners. If you have an interest in building a sandbox, and have some tools, I'm sure you can make this easy enough!

I used 2" X 10" wood for my sides instead of the 1" as the plans call for. This gives extra strength and more depth. When you use 2" wood, you will have to turn your 1 X 4's the other way to match the 47½" width, because with the added width of the 2 side boards, your new width is now 49¼". It's not difficult, you just have to match your 1 X 4 X 47½ boards to the proper width. It will turn out fine, they just won't match the plans or pics of those using 1 X 8's for sides.

Sorry, I'm delivering this to my grandson's house for his birthday present, so no sand, but use landscaping cloth under this sandbox, then fill with sand.

One other thing, I'm toying with the idea of matching the angle the backrest is at and re-cut new pieces of 7½" arm rests. I think that may look a little better than the rectangle blocks.

My added pics are as follows:
1. The side boards all cut, and sizing up the frame.
2. All other boards are cut; I laid them out for fit before screwing the pieces together.
3. Using a square will help you keep everything at the correct angles. Also note in this picture and the next where I used two ½" pieces of wood I ripped to keep the ½" spacing uniform. Just rip any wood to the ½" width, make 2 pieces and butt against the next board on both sides, then screw them down. Makes it VERY easy to keep a uniform gap.
4. This picture shows me using the same "spacer" when putting the hinges in place. The red arrow points to the wood spacer.
5. The first bench is complete, and working fine!!

With the wood I used in my project, I used 2½" self tapping deck screws for the frame and attaching the 1X4's to the frame; I used 2" galvanized for attaching the 1X4's to any 2X4's; and for the hinges, I used ¾" wood screws. Using these sizes prevented the screws from coming through the other side.

I bought everything needed in this project at Lowe's and it was under $90 in costs; this is all the lumber (upgrading to 2 X 10's), hinges, screws, and handles.

Estimated Cost
$90 - Everything purchased new at Lowe's
Estimated Time Investment
Afternoon Project (3-6 Hours)
Finish Used
This is a gift, so I'll leave it to my daughter and son-in-law to use fence or deck stain to match their house. All pics are un-toned raw pressure treated lumber.
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Comments

Lady Goats

Wed, 05/09/2012 - 16:25

I was just going to tell you how to add a brag blog when I saw that you'd already done so! YAY! Your sandbox looks awesome! You guys are all making me wish I had a tolerable yard to put a full-sized box in!!!

Loral

Thu, 05/10/2012 - 13:49

Yeah, you made the plans easy to follow. It was a lot of fun. I spanned it over 2 days, but still was only around 4 hours of work.

I'm considering cutting the "arm rests" at an angle to match the slope of the back rest. I may play with that this weekend.

Thanks for all the help!

Also, what did you use to make the sketch type pics for the plans? I know you mentioned something about not knowing how to put the hindges on them. If I can help, I can probably do it for you in PhotoShop.... Just let me know.

Thanks again!
Loral

Platform inspired bed frame

Submitted by KL728MX on Sun, 02/23/2014 - 15:01

I had searched for a nice bed frame for the longest time. I wanted something that would last and the prices in furniture stores or antique shops were crazy. I found the plans for the platform bed/headboard and modified them a little. I used 2x12's for the frame and set my 2x6's down inside for my box spring. 2x6's for the headboard and trimmed it the same way as in the plans. I love it. Thanks for the plans Ana.

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
125
Estimated Time Investment
Day Project (6-9 Hours)
Finish Used
Rust oleum dark walnut. I didn't put polyurethane on it so it would have an older look.
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Comments

Jmar2038

Fri, 05/30/2014 - 18:40

Love your inspired bed! What size mattress is your frame for? I am looking to make a frame just like yours for a queen size bed. Do you have your measurements or are they pretty similar to the original post? Complete beginner here, any help is much appreciated!!

American Girl Doll Bunk Beds

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Mon, 05/23/2016 - 12:16

My daughter and I built it together. We had great fun. She is totally into the Kreg Jig and the brad nailer now. I'm sure we'll find something else to build. What a great father daughter activity. Thanks for the plans!

Estimated Time Investment
Day Project (6-9 Hours)
Finish Used
Non
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Rustic X Desk

Loved this plan from the moment i watched the video! This is the first time I truly needed a plan right when Ana posted it. I trimmed the 2x4's down to 3 inches. Sanding each single wood piece down as I went really helped. Love this website so much.

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
Under 50 bucks I think
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
Minwax Provincial
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Comments

Custom Closet with Heated Floors

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Fri, 10/20/2023 - 08:16

I love the outcome of this project! I removed the old wire shelving and used 3/4 inch sanded plywood and few pieces of trim and pine to build this floor to ceiling custom closet. Then I primed and painted, and installed the clothes rods. Out of the frame are new recessed lights and a tile heated floor!

Laura E.

Wardrobe for American Girl Doll

I Loved this plan ever since the first day I saw it! I was very intimidated though by the star cut out.

I modified this plan a little, mine is about 6 inches taller than the plan, because I had to fit my daughter's Pottery Barn kids washing machine inside which I believe is bigger than the machines in the original plan. My middle shelf is only about half the width of the shelf pictured, I wanted to add extra space beneath, plus it was the cheapest piece of shelf I found.

For the star cut out, since I did not have a protractor, I cut out little templates with my miter saw at the different angles, I labeled each piece, so I could reuse them if I ever build another one. My daughter loves this wardrobe, so does my son! I am planning on making this again for my son, but making it grey and calling it a "Hockey Locker". Thanks for the plan Ana! This is my favorite plan so far!

Estimated Cost
$25
Estimated Time Investment
Day Project (6-9 Hours)
Finish Used
Berry Pink Spray Paint, Spray Poly-Acrylic
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Comments

itzann

Sat, 10/13/2012 - 09:41

Very nice job! I love that color of pink, too. Where do you find hangers for the doll clothes? I make a lot of clothes for my granddaughters' dolls, so I guess I need to find hangers!

Farmhouse table

Submitted by Dtrain1680 on Tue, 02/25/2014 - 05:46

First time project, this was a birthday present to the wife. Good project and a very good build. I only modified the length and went with 3 2x10s instead of one. Nice big table that we hope to enjoy for years. The entire table is distressed and we actually went with two stain colors. Dark Walnut on the top and an Ebony on the base.

Estimated Cost
Under $200 only because I didn't know what I was doing and made mistakes.
Estimated Time Investment
Week Long Project (20 Hours or More)
Finish Used
Dark Walnut on the top with Ebony stain on the base. I did let the stain soak in for at least 10 minutes and did re-apply. I used Spar Urethane Satin as my clear coat and it was the most difficult to get perfect. I would advise at least 4 coats with sanding in between.
Recommended Skill Level
Starter Project

Comments

Double Bed Headboard

Submitted by RobA on Fri, 05/27/2016 - 20:18

so I tweaked this plan and made it a double bed for our spare bedroom.

Estimated Cost
$100 CAD
Estimated Time Investment
Afternoon Project (3-6 Hours)
Finish Used
Miniwax gel walnut stain
3 coats Polycyclic clear
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Comments

Farmhouse King Bed

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Wed, 03/11/2020 - 07:20

The plans, as always, were very easy to follow. I couldn't be happier with the results. For anyone looking to build this plan, I highly recommend picking up a Kreg jig. For the couple of places you'll use it, it makes a huge difference.

Estimated Cost
$400
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
Minwax Pre-stain, Minwax Jacobean stain, Watco Satin Wipe-on Poly
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate