Community Brag Posts
L-shape Modern plywood desk
I constructed this desk all from birch plywood. It features a pull out keyboard tray, modern drawer finger pulls, and full extension drawer slides. The plywood was finished with a hand-rubbed danish oil for a natural wood appearance.
Estimated Cost
$150.00
Estimated Time Investment
Afternoon Project (3-6 Hours)
Finish Used
danish oil
Recommended Skill Level
Starter Project
DIY Providence Bench
Hooray! I recently finished building a dining room bench. For this project, I used the Providence Bench plans by Ana White. I started this project in May, and two months later it is finally complete! I am really happy with how the bench turned out! It is pretty sturdy and makes for a nice addition to the dining room!
Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
ECOS Paint Woodshield Stain in Pine Needles and their Satin varnish
Rust-Oleum White Semi-Gloss
Rust-Oleum White Semi-Gloss
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner
Fireplace with recessed TV mount
This is a very custom fireplace that I built for my wife as a 40th wedding anniversary gift. It is built around a Samsung 55” Frame TV and a Vivo motorized mount. The motorized mount allows the TV to be lowered to a better viewing height than the standard above mantle position which is usually too high for comfortable viewing.
In order to maintain the flush mount effect with the TV in art mode, I recessed the mount into the fireplace. That required building a “back” frame for the TV mount then the outer frame for the surround. I covered the outer frame with ½” OSB then ship lap. The mantle and hearth is made from Poplar with walnut stain and Polyurethane satin top coat. The hearth opens for storage.
This was sourced from several different plan sets with a lot of customization and input from the Technical Support Staff at Vizo-US.
Built from Plan(s)
Comments
Thu, 02/16/2023 - 09:46
Happy Anniversary! This is a…
Happy Anniversary!
This is a beautiful, well thought out project.
I was hoping someone would do the recessed mount, and you nailed it! It's so much better with the tv flush like yours.
Also love the motorized mount.
Thank you very much for sharing photos.
Ana
Modern outdoor chair and loveseat
Modified chair plans to build loveseat. Chairs took one day and loveseat took one day.
Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
Lumber is way more expensive where I live. The chairs were $85 in lumber for both and the love seat was $40 because I had some leftover from the chairs.
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
Red mahogany stain, then a coat of polyurethane
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner
Comments
Mon, 07/22/2019 - 11:14
This is a very beautiful set…
This is a very beautiful set! Thank you for sharing the photos!
Wed, 07/15/2020 - 11:33
I love how you set the…
I love how you set the cushion down in the seat. What type of cushion did you use? Is it comfortable this way? This looks exactly what I am picturing in my head, but I worry the bar on your legs might be uncomfortable.
Built in closet
Built in closet to replace builder grade wire wracking. Closet is approximately 11 feet by 5 feet. consists of two shoe racks with 7 shelves each. 6 large drawers and 4 small drawers. Two hanger sections with storage above them. End wall has hanger for longer items and storage above and a cabinet with shelves.
Yet to finish the floor.
Estimated Cost
$1000
Estimated Time Investment
Week Long Project (20 Hours or More)
Finish Used
Sherwin Williams Extra White satin paint.
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate
Farm house queen/ crate storage
Started with the farm house queen bed and changed the plans. I made the head/footboards 3 inches taller and took the panelling on the footboard all the way to the floor. I made storage underneath the bed and night stands. I'm using old apple crates for the storage. I made the night stands with the crate in it too to match the bed. I used a single piece of 18x18 ceramic tile for the top of the nightstand. The set is stained Minwax classic grey. I used a mixture of wood. Oak and pine, surprisingly it stained good and matched up. The crates aren't in the pictures yet. We have an older house with small rooms so the storage is perfect. The grey finish looks good for the old wood look with newer wood used
Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
$100.00
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
Minwax classic grey
Some pieces were stained more then once to get an even,matching color
Some pieces were stained more then once to get an even,matching color
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate
Small Table Plant Stand
This is a revised kids table plan. I needed a plant stand. It is 36 inches tall and the top is made from 1 × 4's. The top is about 11 x 14. What did I learn from this?. The top is so small it was hard getting the kreg dill bit in to screw in the Kreg screws. I should have thought of that. Also learned that you dont get a tight fit if you have to take out the screws. 2nd time they dont grab and hold as tight. Overall I'm happy the way it turned out. But lots of room to improve.
Barb Runquist
I doubled the recipe and built a table that seats 12!
I used the Farmhouse Table plans and just extended the measurements to build an extra-long outdoor table that seats 12.
Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
$250
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
Tea, vinegar, and steel wool
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate
Comments
Adirondack chairs
I made five of your 2 x 4 Adirondack chairs. Well I started with one and then my wife wanted four more after she saw how it turned out. We absolutely Iove them and they are easy to make! Thanks Ana!
David Knight
Built from Plan(s)
Comments
Tue, 10/05/2021 - 09:30
Wonderful addition!
Those looks great, so happy to hear you're enjoying them!
DIY Learning Tower / Kitchen Helper
Our little one may be happily playing independently but the second I go to make dinner she demands to be held and refuses to be put down, making cooking impossible. To help keep her occupied but still involved I've been eyeing a learning tower / kitchen helper on Amazon for months now, but at $200 it just wasn't in our budget. My sister-in-law had made a learning tower from a plan by Ana White and suggested I try to make one too. I was unsure at first, I've never made anything more complicated than a birdhouse, but I decided to give it a go!
Please see my blog post for additional photos and lessons learned during this project.
Built from Plan(s)
Greenhouse
Built the greenhouse from Ana Whites plan
She did the plan really well..
Built from Plan(s)
Comments
Mon, 01/03/2022 - 12:26
Beautiful greenhouse!
Thank you for sharing, it looks perfect, love the happy face!
Lean-To Shed
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
Sat, 03/25/2023 - 09:14
Great project for your class!
Very fun and job well done! Thank you for sharing.
2x4 Sectional , table, and chairs
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
Our first project
I was looking for plans to build a table like this and found Ana's site.
Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
100
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
Minwax Early American and Satin Poly
Recommended Skill Level
Starter Project
Comments
Wed, 02/15/2012 - 10:16
WOW! THAT'S BEAUTIFUL!!
I love this project. Well done! You have inspired me to do something similar for our breakfast room.
Fri, 02/17/2012 - 19:26
Good so far.
I would make the bench first if I could do it again--good practice. You can't fit a lot of people around it but it is good for a small space.
Mon, 04/30/2012 - 04:55
How did you fasten the
How did you fasten the tabletop to the base? Did you screw it from under and attach along every cross beam? Or screw from the top and fill the holes with putty? All the way across or just on the ends...this step in the directions is very vague...
American Girl Doll Horse Stable
My two dauirlghters wanted a stable to protect their beloved American Girl Doll Horses.
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
None
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate
Comments
Sun, 10/18/2015 - 19:55
AG stable
Hello Scott,
The links provided for the AG horse stable does not work or exist. I probablly cannot create one like you did because I don't have wood working tools but if you have the pics available somewhere I may be able to do a rough version for my daughter. It pains me to buy a horse she wants knowing she won't use it much but it's on her xmas list! :)
Christina
Mon, 10/19/2015 - 08:38
AG horse stables link
Here's Ana's plans
http://ana-white.com/2012/12/plans/horse-stables-american-girl-or-18quo…
Jelly Cupboard
Ever since I saw this cupboard, I wanted it. So when I got a free day I jumped at the chance to build it. I love it! The only problem is trying to figure out where I want to put it.
Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
$30-40
Estimated Time Investment
Afternoon Project (3-6 Hours)
Finish Used
Porter's Prussian Blue and black spray paint
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner
Comments
Fri, 11/02/2012 - 19:29
Great Build and So Fast
In an afternoon? I would have taken a couple of days. You did a great job.
Thu, 02/19/2015 - 19:11
Estimated Cost?!
Hi Ana - I dont mean any disrespect but how do you figure this project costs $30-40. I bought just the boards no hardware or plywood and its cost me $60. Pine #2.
Please let me know your thoughts and where you buy your wood from.
Fri, 02/20/2015 - 12:00
The cost estimate is from
The cost estimate is from emilyr, posted almost three years ago. Lumber prices fluctuate, but $30-40 is still quite low. I estimate about $100 to buy the lumber (pine) on the shopping list from Ana's plan at current prices in my area.
Corner Media Console
We had just moved into our new house and were using an end table for our TV stand I just didn't like it. I found this and modified it so it's shorter and fits in our room better. I also opted to not put doors on it and use it to display items instead. This was a relatively easy build and I'm learning new things with every build I make. It took about 2 days to complete not including filling holes/paint/stain. I love it, it looks so great in our room and I am planning on building end tables to match as well as replacing our buffet with movies in it to match also. Thanks for the easy-to-follow plans!
Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
$45
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
Whatever white paint I had on hand (haha) and Varathane Kona with a satin poly for the top.
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner
Cedar herb stand
Awesome project
Built from Plan(s)
My Mom's King Fancy Farmhouse Bed
I built this bed for my parent's guest room at my sister's house. It is very similar to a bed mom had been wanting. They wanted a king size so I had to do some modifications to the original plan - primarily adding 16" to all width measurements. I also used 10 - 1x8s for the headboard panels. That made the panels slightly too wide, so I had to rip a little bit off the 2 end panels.
The hardest part of the project was getting it in her house! The legs made it about 1/4" too wide to fit it thru the door. We were about to remove the legs (which would have been a disaster since they were glued, screwed and painted on) when we finally figured out the right angle to squeeze it in. I had to touch up the paint in a few spots once we got it in position, but that was much better than having to remove legs and put them back on. We still need to get plywood for the mattress to sit on and I'm going to add a middle leg for extra support since it's a king. I will probably eventually build nightstands to go with it. Overall, I'm pretty happy with how it turned out since this is my largest and "fanciest" project so far.
Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
~$250
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
Valspar Satin Latex Enamel in White
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate
Comments
Tue, 04/09/2013 - 12:41
How to alter for easy moving?
I really love this bed, however, being military we move quite often. Is there a way that you would recommend I could alter it so that it can be broken down a little to make it easier for moving? Thank you much :D
In reply to How to alter for easy moving? by bran2511
Tue, 04/09/2013 - 14:29
For easy moving
For easy moving I can not recommend the highly enough. You attach them to the side rails and the head and foot of the bed and instead of screwing the whole bed together it just locks into place. They are THE BEST! http://www.rockler.com/m/product.cfm?page=11
Tue, 04/09/2013 - 15:59
Bed brackets R UR Frend
Attach the sides to the headboard and footboard with bed rail brackets so you can knock the bed apart to move
http://woodworking.rockler.com/search#w=bed%20rail%20brackets&asug=&sli…
There is even a bracket for the center rail of a king-sized bed.
Tue, 04/09/2013 - 12:41
How to alter for easy moving?
I really love this bed, however, being military we move quite often. Is there a way that you would recommend I could alter it so that it can be broken down a little to make it easier for moving? Thank you much :D
Sat, 08/24/2013 - 18:31
Moving
I just posted a brag post with this bed in black. I will see if I can upload a photo of how I built this bed for very easy break down. I looked at all the brackets etc.. with this being built out of pine I was not 100% confident in the Rockler / Wood craft brackets. I used a forstner bit and a 4.5" bolt with some washers.
Pallet wood painter's ladder shelf
Made this one with shelf edges/trim just on the sides. Somehow my top shelf didn't span the width so had to add a little shim on each side but it all worked out! We had all the pallets and used 1x3s for the frame because some of my pallet wood was heavy hardwood. It was not without frustration because I was working with uneven/warped pallet wood but it hits the rustic look. I am happy with how it turned out.
Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Time Investment
Day Project (6-9 Hours)
Finish Used
English chestnut minwax stain and matte interior sealant
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner
Comments
centdent
Mon, 01/20/2020 - 18:21
This is just what I am…
This is just what I am looking for.