Community Brag Posts
Thanksgiving Table
Family surprises you at your place for thanksgiving? No problem just build a table!
C. Mastro
Sand box with benches
This sand box was very easy to build and it works great. The only thing I would change is cutting the "arm rests" at 7 1/2" instead of 6 1/2". I did that for the second set of arm rests (when I downloaded the plans many weeks ago the cut list was wrong). It made putting that section together a lot easier.
I easily spent more on the hinges (at $5 per hinge x 8 hinges) than I did on the wood itself.
My 1 and 1/2 year old loves playing in it and now I need to build a toy box for him to put all of his sand toys in!
Comments
Sun, 04/29/2012 - 00:06
It's been zen-raked!
It's been zen-raked! haha.
Those little benches are adorable. I wish I had seen this plan before I built ours.
Mon, 09/17/2012 - 10:29
Covered Sandbox
I just want to say that I asked for my husbands help, and his advice increased the price significantly.
He does not like to paint, and will spend the extra dollar to purchase pressure treated wood. So I sent him with my materials list and the wood he purchsed was $60.00, plus $22.00 for hinges and $10 for a box of deck screws. Actually, I am a artist and had wanted to paint the project to look like a big frog.
The Two Towers, Master closet Makeover
I have been wanting to makeover my master closet for a long time! I finally decided to just give it a try, I looked at several options and finally decided to base my closet around Ana's master closet tower she made for the momplex. I loved the plan and knowing I would need two towers I set to work designing with two towers in mind. I LOVE how it turned out and the tower plans were awesome! I also used the drawer plans for the tower and added the amount I needed, that is the best part about DIY! Thanks so much Ana for all your amazing plans they gave me the jump start I needed to get this project done! For details on the rest of my closet makeover please check out my blog post. If you go to my reveal post on my blog, near the bottom it has all the links to my building posts.
Comments
Sat, 02/15/2014 - 11:42
I love this. I love the price
I love this. I love the price also. I redid my closet and chose not to use the towers, but after seeing yours I plan on doing my other closets using this one. While doing research on closet organizers, the price was nothing like yours. This is really good quality for $150. Great job...
In reply to I love this. I love the price by freefromburdens
Sat, 02/15/2014 - 12:48
Thank you so much!!
It really was a great price, please note that without using a lot of my scraps I could not have done it, for so cheap. All of my drawers were made with scrap/reclaimed wood I had collected, and reusing wood from my old closet. The price of $150 was just for the two towers (drawers not included) and not all the other builds in my closet. I just don't want you to think that you could do it for that price if you had to buy all the wood. If you click on my blog post link I do a break down of all my costs (again not including what I had on hand) and for everything in the whole closet including the bins it was just over $300, that I personally spent. I was lucky to have so much scrap/reclaimed wood, it saved me a ton of money! Thanks again!
Sat, 02/15/2014 - 15:50
Thank you for replying back.
Thank you for replying back. I went to your blog and saw the break down. Still a good price. Good job...
Outdoor Console Table
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
Farmhouse Console Table
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!
White Chalk paint
Comments
Fri, 04/17/2020 - 11:17
You are amazing, what a…
You are amazing, what a beautiful job! I love the different colored top!
Thanks so much for using our plans and posting a brag photo!
Rustic Wood End Table
I built this table from the Tryde end table with shelf plans with modifications. I cut the table top boards from 23" down to 16" and added 2x4 bread boards 1 on each end. I also added a magazine pouch on one side of the table.
Mini-Mini Farmhouse Table
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.
Rustic X Console
I made this Console following your step by step rustic X console plan. turned out great! I love your site!
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.
Vintage Step Stool
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!!
Comments
Restoration Hardware Inspired table
Needed a classy table...
Purchased the chairs separetely. Sanded the legs from black paint back to wood, and stained them to match the table.
Full Loft Cottage Bed with stairs and shutters
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.
Comments
DIY Shed Chicken Coop
8x12 coop modified from your classic shed plans. 2/3 for the chickens, 1/3 for storage.
by Harmony Munson
Comments
Mon, 10/16/2023 - 10:48
Great Coop!
Fabulous job on this project, love the color choice and functionality!
Fri, 10/27/2023 - 11:54
Look really roomy plus a…
Look really roomy plus a place for storage in front for feed.
Sandbox with Built-In Seats
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.
Comments
Wed, 05/09/2012 - 16:25
Yay, you figured it out!
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!!!
In reply to Yay, you figured it out! by Lady Goats
Thu, 05/10/2012 - 13:49
Yeah, you made the plans easy
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
In reply to Yeah, you made the plans easy by Loral
Thu, 05/10/2012 - 14:07
I used Google Sketch-Up
And didn't even think of putting the pics in PS to add the hinges. DUH! Thanks for the idea! ;-)
What do you mean about angling the armrests? So they sit right on the back, instead of the gap?
Thu, 05/10/2012 - 15:42
New Arm Rests
Something like this:
http://www.loraljohnson.com/sandbox/NewArmRests.jpg
I cut these at a 10º angle on both ends and 8" long.
Now, how did you make the "plans" images?? :)
Loral
Platform inspired bed frame
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.
Comments
Fri, 05/30/2014 - 18:40
Inspired bed
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
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!
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.
Comments
Custom Closet with Heated Floors
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.