Community Brag Posts

BatStool

Submitted by Builder J on Mon, 11/18/2013 - 10:14

Kids Stool. Not the hardest project, but a fun one.

I am so happy with how the paint job turned out. Did the support boards yellow to look like his utility belt. And the Leg have accented Blue like his gloves/boots.

My wife painted the logo on after tracing the pattern. She did an amazing job.

The top isn't one piece, because I didnt have a thick enough piece that was 13" in diameter. So its actually three boards from an old pallet, glued and pocket hole screwed together.

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
$5
Estimated Time Investment
Afternoon Project (3-6 Hours)
Finish Used
Custom Painting
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Modified Modern Park Bench

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sat, 08/03/2019 - 16:06

I used the Modern Park Bench plans and modified the size for our patio space. I also modified the bottom and used 2x2’s to give it a different look.

Built from Plan(s)

Pull-out Cabinet Drawers

Submitted by woodchuck on Tue, 01/03/2012 - 08:32

Inspired by Ana's Pull-out Cabinet Drawer Organizer I made pull-out drawers for all of my lower cabinets and for my pantry cabinet. My pantry cabinet is 22" deep which makes it very easy to eventually come across soup that expired four years ago, or to find three bags of sugar when I thought I was out. The pull-out drawers make it so easy to access and organize everything in the cabinets. Absolutely love them! In the organizing spirit I also made spice racks for the cabinet doors and hangers for measuring cups/spoons. The hardest part for me was installing the drawer slides - they have to line up perfectly!

Finish Used
Minwax Early American, General Finishes Satin Arm-R-Seal. I used Minwax Wood Conditioner before staining to avoid splotches.
Recommended Skill Level
Starter Project

Comments

Kate (not verified)

Tue, 01/03/2012 - 10:10

Looks great! I've been thinking of doing the same thing myself, I just need to get motivated and convince myself that I won't be "destroying" my kitchen cabinets if I screw in a few drawer slides.

Dolores (not verified)

Tue, 01/03/2012 - 13:58

Not only will you not be destroying them - you will be amazed at the increased organization and convenience! Putting away/getting out dishes and pans is so much easier and organizing the pantry is awesome!

claydowling

Tue, 01/03/2012 - 14:20

Just one bit of advice for future projects, concerning drawer construction. It's better to have the sides come out to the front, rather than stop at the drawer front, and run the screws/pins through the side and into the front.

Another option, if you own a router, table saw or rabbet plane, is to cut a rabbet into the fronts and pin or screw through there, so you still show a solid front, but have the security of pinning through the sides.

Cindy from Indiana (not verified)

Tue, 01/03/2012 - 17:02

Great job on organizing! It looks really nice - I'm adding these to my to-do list (which is now a mile long LOL).

dawnkasotia

Wed, 01/11/2012 - 09:22

I have a large pantry cabinet like the one in the photo and I have a cabinet with a foldable door like yours. I've been wanting cabinet drawers for a while. Your photos give me inspiration and motivation to start building.

Teresa Walker

Fri, 01/20/2012 - 22:24

I am so going to do this. But, I need some kind of a plan to go by. None of the links take me to any plans. If anyone knows the link, please post them.
Thanks

claydowling

Sat, 01/21/2012 - 05:00

Teresa, there's no way to make useful plans for this, because your cabinets are most likely a different size than the original builder's cabinets. That doesn't mean you can't build these though.

The hanging hook racks are trivial. Cut a strip slightly less than the width of the opening in the cabinet face frame, attach hooks as desired, and then attack to the doors, making sure to mount them level and inside the opening.

Drawers are slightly more involved, but not much. Buy the drawer slides first, because they will determine how much clearance you need. Typical clearance is 1/2" on each side, for a total of 1", but there's no solid rule.

Once you have the slides, build a set of boxes as deep as your cabinets and as wide, minus the necessary clearance. There are plenty of different ways to build drawers. Any good furniture construction book will discuss ways to do it. There is even a whole book on the topic.

You'll mount the slides and then put the drawers in. Kreg makes a nice jig you can use to mount the drawer glides. You can order the jig and the glides from Rockler.

Teresa Walker

Sun, 01/22/2012 - 20:15

Thanks for the advice. I have just purchased the Kreg master kit and can hardly wait to get started on this. Although hubby has told me first I had to build him a set of corner shelves for his collection. This will be my first project with drawers so I am a bit apprehensive, but still going to try.
I do have one more question though. My cabinet drawers seem to not have alot of support. You can push down on the center and it gives. Should I take those out and reinforce them before I start?
Thanks to everyone here, as there always seems to be someone willing to help out, and also thanks to Ana for this site.

claydowling

Mon, 01/23/2012 - 04:37

A lot of commercial drawer bottoms are made out of very cheap material. You can make better bottoms out of hardboard or luan, and if the drawers are going to be holding heavier items like pans, you can build bottoms out of 1/4" plywood.

It's very hard to change the bottoms out of an existing drawer. For a strong drawer bottom, it needs to ride in a groove on the sides and front. If the existing bottoms ride in grooves on the three sides, you can probably pull the securing nail out of the back and replace the existing bottom, if you have replacement material that will fit in the existing groove. Otherwise, you'll need to build a new drawer with grooves sized for the bottoms you have.

woodchuck

Mon, 01/23/2012 - 21:09

Teresa -
I don't know why the link above doesn't work, but if you will go to Ana's home page and do a search for Wood Pullout Cabinet Drawer Organizer, that is the basic plan that I used, just changing the measurements to fit my cabinets. They were very easy to make, the hardest part being sure to get the drawer slides even on both the drawer and the cabinet, but that just takes patience and adjusting. Good luck with it - you can do it!

woodchuck

Tue, 01/24/2012 - 09:30

@Sarah - I saw where you had a question about the price of making the cabinet drawers. I have seen them priced anywhere from $35 a drawer on up. Most of mine are made of 1x4's and the pricing is as follows. A 1x4x8 at my local lumber yard is $3.29 and that will make one drawer. A sheet of 4x8 1/4" luan is $11.49 and that will make bottoms for 8 drawers. A 2x2x8 is less than $2.00 and that will make rails for the slides for 2 drawers, so that would be about $6.00 for one drawer plus $6.00 for the slides, total of $12.00. On the drawers for my pots and pans or anything heavy I used 3/8" plywood which would be slightly higher. Hope this helps!
Dolores

gale

Sat, 08/10/2013 - 13:34

We're having a modular built and it will have a pantry 18" wide without sliding shelves. I think I want to add at least a few sliding shelves for it like you did here. thanks for the inspiration!

My Fifty-Cent Crate

This is the first in a series of crates I’m building for my Expedit. It’s made from wood from the scrap pile behind our garage, so it cost nothing for the wood. It set me back fifty cents for the handle, which I sprayed with chalkboard paint. I plan to make six, but ideally I would fill all sixteen cubes up. I was totally inspired by Vicki from Made at This Place, with her Chalkboard Produce Crates for her Expedit. Thanks Vicki!

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
Fifty cents for the handle. That's it!
Estimated Time Investment
An Hour or Two (0-2 Hours)
Finish Used
I used two coats of Early American 230 stain from Minwax, , followed by two coats of Varathane's clear diamond coat in semi-gloss. Each layer was applied with a rag.
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Comments

JoanneS

Wed, 11/20/2013 - 01:42

This looks great! I could use some of these in every room! The handle is a great touch, and I like how you did the inside corners - it will be really sturdy! Definitely putting this on my 'to-do' list!

Val Manchuk

Thu, 11/21/2013 - 08:58

Thank you Joanne!

These crates will definitely solve some storage issues! And it doesn't get much better than building on the cheap!

Val
artsybuildinglady.blogspot.ca

My Farmhouse Table

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sat, 08/24/2019 - 17:41

Made using knotty pine.

 

I used HD pocket screws and glued all top pieces except for the breadboard ends, to allow for wood swelling/contracting.

 

 

Estimated Cost
$200
Estimated Time Investment
Week Long Project (20 Hours or More)
Finish Used
The wood was sanded to 180 grit, and stained with a dark walnut stain after applying a wood conditioner. The high grit sanding and wood conditioner lightened the stain considerably, and I'm very happy with the resulting color. I initially tried staining after doing 120 grit sanding with no conditioner and found the stain far too dark.

The top was finished using water based polyurethane. I did three coats and wet sanded between coats. A smooth finish was achieved by using a synthetic steel wood on an orbital sander to buff it to a smooth shine.
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Vertical Shoe Rack

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sat, 05/06/2023 - 14:12

I needed a shoe rack that would work for our limited space and the Laundry Tower that was on the brag post caught my eye. It was modified from the Open Frame Laundry Basket Organizer. This shoe rack is working great for our family now! Thanks for this community!

Comments

Liquor Cabinet from Benchmark Storage/Media Unit

Hallelujah!! Finally, somewhere to store all our alcohol-related necessities :) We adapted Ana's Benchmark Storage Unit to work as a liquor cabinet. We kept the basic design the same, but added some stemware storage across the top (a feature we loved in a Crate and Barrel liquor cabinet that was $$$$$) and some decorative molding to bulk it up a little bit. We lovvvvvve it! Thanks Ana!

PS: everyone please check out our blog for more details on this and other projects!

http://strawbridgestuff.com

Estimated Cost
$100 (using paint and supplies on hand)
Estimated Time Investment
Week Long Project (20 Hours or More)
Finish Used
White semi-gloss paint followed by a thin coat of Minwax stain (Ebony) wiped off immediately after applying (more details on our blog)
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Comments

Reclaimed Wood Bedside Table

Submitted by Ktosaka on Fri, 11/22/2013 - 07:31

I had inherited some bed frame wood from our local Re-store and have been working it into projects here and there. We needed some actual night stands and I loved the look of the Reclaimed Look Wood Nightstand, but they were a little too tall for our bed. The height of the original plan is 28" and I ended up taking out one drawer for a total height of 20". I also found two sets of drawer slides at the Re-store and decided that an open shelf on the bottom would better suit our needs, so I crossed the reclaimed plan with the farmhouse plan to create a shelf on the bottom. The bottom is built the same way that the sides are, but attached so that the 2x2 is on the underside.

I didn't have enough wood from the bed frame to make two full tables, so I used Douglas fir 2x2's for the legs (the best the local big box home improvement had that day for my price) and white board for the table tops and every other board for the sides and shelves. This was my second real building project, so they were really easy to put together, but it was a lesson in making everything super square because of the drawer slides. The finish I used also goes great with a 130 year old dresser that you can see a bit of next to the finish table. The wood only needed one coat to reach the color closest to that dresser and it hid the fact that I used three different types of wood in this project. Overall they are just what we needed in this space. The bed frame is IKEA, but I am thinking about making the Reclaimed Look Bed Frame to match the tables in the future.

Estimated Cost
$75 for two side tables
Estimated Time Investment
Day Project (6-9 Hours)
Finish Used
One coat Minwax Provincial stain with two coats of Minwax Wipe-on Poly. I like the look of the wipe-on, but this is the first time I've used it so I'm hoping two coats is enough. For the application, I went with old cotton socks.
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Shimmering Headboard

My version, with a top shelf added, and the legs made of a 2x6 with a trimmed 2x4 added to make the L shaped leg.

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Time Investment
Week Long Project (20 Hours or More)
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Redwood Adirondacks

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sun, 09/08/2019 - 16:46

Ana's favorite Adirondack chairs made from redwood.

Estimated Cost
150
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
None
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Comments

$15 Cedar Lemonade Stand!

My kid-o's love to sell lemonade. So, we made a trip to the local hardware store. Because I am terrified to use my husbands electric saw, any wood we purchased would have to be cut with a hack saw and a miter box. And since the stand is to be stored in the backyard, we opted to build it from cedar. We ended up purchasing 8 fence pickets for about $15 total. This was also to be a great way for my kids to apply the some of the knowledge they have picked up this year, our first year of homeschooling. My children, ages 7 and 9, measured all of the boards that needed to be cut. It turned out GREAT! We already had some extra boards, spray paint and screws on hand; so, the grand total was $15.00 for the entire project!

Built from Plan(s)

Macie's Day Bed

Submitted by blouden on Sat, 01/07/2012 - 19:28

Wanted to make a Day bed for my daughter. Found the plans and found to be very affordable. Had a great time building it, and the reaction to my daughter when it was finished was the best

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
Cherry Stain
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Comments

Guest (not verified)

Fri, 02/24/2012 - 09:56

This looks great. I was just wondering how much did you end up spending on materials for this project?

Restoration Hardware inspired Maison bed tutorial and finish. Starting with Ana's platform base.

I have wanted a Restoration Hardware bed for so long. Now I have "one" but for way less and we did it all ourselves. starting with Ana's platform bed plans we build on it and walk through the process and even the custom 3 part finish. for a full tutorial please see my blog. http://imperfectlyimaginable.blogspot.com/2013/11/restoration-hardware-…

would love to hear from you and see any projects that are completed.

Estimated Cost
under 400 I think the lumber cost me 175 or so
Finish Used
custom 3 step finish please see blog for tutorial
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Husky farmhouse Table

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Thu, 02/11/2016 - 11:32

This project took me no time at all. If you pick up straight boards and purchase the legs, this shouldn't take more than a few hours to build.

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
I got the legs for $140 on Etsy and paid $40 for shipping. About $40 in additional lumber for the top and sides.
$220 total
Estimated Time Investment
Afternoon Project (3-6 Hours)
Finish Used
Minwax Early American
Brushed on and almost immediately wiped off.
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Cedar shed with green roof

Submitted by R E on Sun, 09/22/2019 - 12:23

I built the shed during the summer of 2018, following Ana's plans but with the addition of a green roof. After almost a year the vegetation -- a variety of native plants from the upper Midwest -- has started to fill in pretty well. (The dangling "vines" are wild strawberry plants.)

My carpentry skills are rudimentary so the project took a long time but was worth the effort.

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Time Investment
Week Long Project (20 Hours or More)
Finish Used
Wolman Durastain semi-transparent natural cedar stain
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Modern Outdoor Chair from 2x4s and 2x6s

After a whole year I finally made a second chair! The first one was made a year ago and now my wife can sit outside with me too 😊. Next for the couch!

Comments

Tryde Console Table

Submitted by Lee8717 on Mon, 01/09/2012 - 17:54

Tryde Console Table. First project undertaken. Decided to make a bottom shelf. Used 4 1x4s and notched the middle two to fit around legs. Being that is was out first project, we had a few problems with keeping everything square and level but with a few minor tweeks it ended up looking really good.

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
$70
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
Semi gloss black. Before painting took sander and sanded the sharp corners off all boards making them rounded and distressed looking. After painting two coats, took 220 grit sandpaper to the edges to take off some paint to expose the wood underneath.
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Comments

Fancy X table

Submitted by skippyjon on Wed, 11/27/2013 - 20:28

We are a foster family which means we have a large family. The Mrs. wanted a large table to fit 8-10 people, so off to ana-white.com i went.
Plans were perfect! Made one long 96" bench and two 42" benches from the same plans. I changed it up a bit by adding a perpendicular plank on the ends and trimmed it with 1x2's for look and strength. 2 coats of stain and 2 coats of polyurethane. Just in time for the holidays! Thank you again for the plans, this is the third thing I have built.

Estimated Cost
$300 total.
Estimated Time Investment
Week Long Project (20 Hours or More)
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner