Community Brag Posts

Modern Outdoor Chair

Submitted by msnook on Mon, 05/11/2020 - 09:10

This is my first project. I loved how easy it was and I loved my husband’s reaction to the completed project.

Estimated Cost
80
Estimated Time Investment
Afternoon Project (3-6 Hours)
Finish Used
Behr Semi Transparent Stain in Sable
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Mobile Workbench with Drawers

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Fri, 03/22/2024 - 08:08

I recently had a workshop built and I have been trying to now work on the furniture for it. My first project was this workbench inspired by the plans "garage workshop workbench". I added drawers on each side and will probably end up adding a shelf in the open area as well after letting my kids finish decorating the top. It's already a nice addition and I may build a smaller version for my garage. I added casters and have the option to roll the table around or have it stationary.

Tonie

Outdoor bar table

Submitted by hueybp on Tue, 07/21/2020 - 20:06

Not quite finished but love the table already. Trying to decide how to stain/paint it. The Kreg jig was a must for this project. It was my first of hopefully many! I used cedar for the 4x4s and 2x6 top pieces. The 2x4s are treated lumber (only because there were no more cedar ones....apparently lumber is getting hard to get lately!!!). Anyway....thanks for the great plans and motivation for this project.

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
Lumber was about $150 bucks (I bought mitre saw and kreg jig, too)
Estimated Time Investment
Afternoon Project (3-6 Hours)
Finish Used
Will probably use semi transparent stain
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Modified Willy Bookcases

Submitted by AhmaNaz on Thu, 09/17/2020 - 09:57

2 bookcases for my family, storage and organization. Left raw for them to customize. Current vision is purple and pink or maybe an ombre stain like we saw on Good Bones. Hopefully I can add update of final decision.

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Time Investment
An Hour or Two (0-2 Hours)
Finish Used
Raw
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Family Heirloom Toy Box

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Mon, 10/14/2024 - 14:25

Dear Ana, thank you so much for your excellent plan! I have now made four of these toy boxes over the last eight years for my four granddaughters. Initially, I was tempted to modify your plan and make it out of thicker material such as three-quarter inch plywood instead of half inch plywood, but I decided in the end to stick with your plan and I’m very glad that I did. It is still just as strong and yet it is much lighter in weight this way and easy to move around, which happens quite a bit with toy boxes over time. I’m pretty sure these will be treated as heirlooms in my extended family for many years to come.  - Chris Kairys, Franklin Park, Pennsylvania. RetiredWoodworker.com.

 

Built from Plan(s)
Seasonal And Holiday

Farmhouse Table with Industrial Hardware

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sun, 01/17/2021 - 11:26

My hubby and I used the tressle table plans to make this awesome table. We changed it up, adding the turnbuckles like a Pottery Barn table that we wanted. I think this turned out way better!

We used yellow pine for the lower portion and poplar for the top.

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
200
Estimated Time Investment
Week Long Project (20 Hours or More)

Comments

A twist on Modular Family Entryway Mudroom System - Pullout Rolling Bench Cart

This is a twist on the Modular Family Entryway Mudroom System - Pullout Rolling Bench Cart . There have been many posts on the net for a mudroom locker set such as the one I have. In our case we had a mudroom with a closet, not much room to move when sliding the doors open, and as well we have kids that need a place to sit in order to put boots/shoes etc on. I took advantage of my husband's work assignment out of the country to rip back the closet,to 20 inches deep and open it up and added a bench for seating, baskets above for out of season/rarely used stuff, and used rolling cubbies below, but in my case I wanted storage bins instead. My thinking was so that I could make it look clean pretty quickly by just chucking every thing in to the bin... These are tall enough for our boots. In the bottom of the bins I put a piece of outdoor carpeting, then a plastic grid, and over that another layer of outdoor carpeting so if the footwear is wet it will drain and dry-no biggie to vacume or sweep out. Best deal: I can simply roll them out of the way when I want to sweep underneath! I measured cubby space to basket size above, and made the bins below after doing the bench and middle supports, to ensure a good fit. The bench top is an old piece of pine board I sanded, stained and used 4 coats of marine varnish so it would take lots of wear and tear.

Estimated Time Investment
Week Long Project (20 Hours or More)
Finish Used
minwax walnut stain, and marine varnish benchtop
behr marshmallow paint
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Comments

Large Old English Style Farmhouse Dining Table

My wife and I were wanting a large outdoor farmhouse table that looked stylish, and like it could have been bought at Pottery Barn or another high-end furniture store. We found this plan that Ana white had made "Small Old English Style Farmhouse Dining Table". We often host groups from our church and will have 15-20 people on our patio or around our pool area, so we needed a bigger table... I just made some modifications to make it longer (7ft) in length to better fit our space and allow for more people to sit.

To make this plan longer, I simply adjusted the cut-list on the long 1x2s, 1x4s, and 1x6; and added a crossbar to prevent the longer tabletop from sagging. I also added the diagonal corner struts to make the table a little sturdier.

Adjusted Shopping List:
4 - 1x2 @ 8ft
5 - 1x4 @ 8 ft
6 - 1x6 @ 8ft
Waterproof 1 1/4" Kreg screws (for outdoor use)
Minwax Weathered Oak
Minwax Vintage Grey

Adjusted Cut-List
• 2 - 1x2 @ 26.5"
• 2 - 1x2 @ 76.5"
• 2 - 1x2 @ ~33.25"
• 2 - 1x4 @ 26.5"
• 2 - 1x4 @ 76.5"
• 4 - 1x4 @ 7.25" w/ 45º miter (diagonal corner supports)
• 1 - 1x4 @ ~28" (Crossbar - I forget the exact measurement)
• 6 - 1x6 @ 82"

For seating we just bought some inexpensive farmhouse weather resistant chairs from Walmart:
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Yaheetech-Metal-Dinning-Chairs-Stackable-Cof…

Estimated Cost
$170
Estimated Time Investment
Day Project (6-9 Hours)
Finish Used
Minwax Early American (base), Minwax Weathered Grey (2nd coat)
(See more on outdoor use of stains: https://ana-white.com/blog/2019/05/outdoor-wood-furniture-finishing-secrets)
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Comments

My first build!

This locker cabinet was my first build and I learned a ton. For example:

1. Use the Kreg face clamps while drilling into the Kreg Jr.
2. Buy straight wood.
3. Buy wood that is not warped.
4. Do not try to buy wood with grouchy kids in tow.

Are you seeing a theme? Yep, your project will only be as square and perfect as the wood you buy.

I modified the locker plan to include apothecary-style drawers for our cell phones, sunglasses and chapstick. I also drilled through the back of one of the drawers to turn it into a charging station for our cell phones.

The locker has been super useful so far and is such a great way to keep my kids' backpacks and lunchboxes organized. The baskets are designated for my purse, stuff I need to return to stores, the dog's leashes, and library books. It's so nice to have all this stuff near the front door and never wonder where any of it is!

Estimated Cost
$100
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
Ralph Lauren "Aged Mint" in flat. Distressed and coated with Minwax Polycrylic in satin.
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Modified Simple Outdoor Dining Table

Submitted by ewood on Tue, 05/31/2011 - 08:04

Wanted a Patio table and when I saw the plans on this site I really liked it; I just changed the plan a bit. Everything was screwed from the underside of the table, also I attached the legs with 2" lag screws.

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Comments

Using Ana White’s Garage Cabinet Plans

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Wed, 04/20/2022 - 09:23

Thank you so much for the two videos we watched of you and your husband explaining and demonstrating how to build garage shelves. We used your plans as a guide. We chose to add shaker style doors to create cabinet shelves. We absolutely love them. We are not handy as you can see we had a living room lamp for a work light and a lifetime table as a work bench. Thank you!
The Paulsons

Comments

Modern Adirondack Chairs

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sun, 04/24/2022 - 12:05

I made these from your plans thanks for sharing your ideas with us.

by Jeff

Outdoor Sectional

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Wed, 06/08/2022 - 12:31

I built the two piece sectional + table and adjusted the sizing so the lengths of the sectionals pieces are the same.

Turned out amazing. So much fun building this and I can’t wait for my next project!

Comments

Seasonal And Holiday

Toddler SIzed Easel

We opted to make this a regular easel (no chalkboard) and just used a sheet of paneling as the background. It's perfect, our toddler loves it. Thanks Ana!

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
$10
Estimated Time Investment
Afternoon Project (3-6 Hours)
Finish Used
unfinished
tray painted with milk paint
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Outdoor chair frames and coffee table

I built a set of chairs and a coffee table for our newly designed outdoor area. These look amazing and people love sitting on them and hanging out outside our house.

Comments

Seasonal And Holiday

Brick Fireplace

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Fri, 03/17/2023 - 18:08

We used Ana White shiplap fireplace tutorial to build the structure and then followed her advice for brick installation instead of shiplap. It all turned out so great. The fireplace has changed the entire feel of our house now. Thank you Ana!

Comments

Fire Pit Swings

My wife saw something like this on Pinterest and desperately wanted one. The one she saw was hexagonal in shape. We didn't need as many swings so we went with just a plain square shape. We used 6x6s for the legs and posts across the top and used 4x4s for the angled support pieces. We built the swings using the plan from this website. All the materials can be picked up at the blue and orange stores. However when it came to the springs for the swings, the blue store was 1/3 of the price of HD. The legs are 12' long and buried 4' under the ground and cemented in for strength. Luckily I am retired military and was able to rent an auger for 1/2 the price of HD or the blue store. You could do it by hand but it saved us hours and lots of back pain. We found our dimensions for the size we wanted and spray painted dots on the ground where the posts were going to go. We dug the holes and stuffed the 6x6s in them. Using a post level we made sure they were plum. We braced them and added the quickrete and left them to setup over night. The next day we had to make sure all the tops were level with each other. This is where having some knowledge of physics paid off. I took clear tubing and screwed it above the height that I wanted on one post and then screwed the other end to another post. Fill it with water until the water level on the first post is where I wanted it (8 feet high) and it will automatically fill it level on the other end. There is a picture of this above. Water will always level itself out. I had to do this because my yard is at a slight down hill grade. We marked it and cut the tops off to make it level. After attaching the 6x6s on the top with 8" lag bolts it was time to paint. After painting was done we built 3 swings from Ana's plans. We shortened them by 6" to give room to walk between the legs and the swings. All in all it was a great project that only took two dedicated weekends. My wife still has to paint the swings though.

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
$600ish
Estimated Time Investment
Week Long Project (20 Hours or More)
Finish Used
We used an oil base Black Barn Paint from the blue store.
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Comments

jkread

Wed, 05/27/2015 - 22:38

It sounds and looks like the top 6x6s are mitered and sit on top of the end of the vertical posts. I'd say at least one lag bolt each way to hold the mitered corner together and then at least one in each piece down into the vertical to hold it in place.

carewarner

Mon, 04/27/2020 - 10:24

WOW, LOVE!!! This is simply gorgeous! What a warm and welcoming addition to your yard. And thanks for sharing your method of finding level for your posts on your sloped yard. I absolutely love it!

Seasonal And Holiday

Modern Outdoor Bench

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Tue, 08/09/2016 - 16:29

Great plans!  I modified the bench by adding a slanted back (which enabled me to put the slats closer together), extending and curving the front of the arms and extended the seat to the outside of the legs.

 

Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Comments

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