Community Brag Posts

Krafty Kimmys Shelf

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sat, 02/16/2019 - 17:02

My wife, Krafty Kimmy Paperkrafts, needed a shelf to place in her booth at a local store. Obviously made out of pine, I burned and stained it for her. This weekend I'm making a ladder shelf to match.

Estimated Time Investment
Afternoon Project (3-6 Hours)
Finish Used
Burning and Minwax Golden Oak stain.
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Lisa's 2x4 couch

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Wed, 01/11/2023 - 19:29

This was the first time I made a piece of furniture since I was in grade 8 shop class and it won't be the last. It was so kuch fun. I modified the plans slightly to have the back a bit higher. Love it!

Built from Plan(s)

Modern Craft Table :)

I loved this project the minute I saw it. I was using a cheap'o little computer desk that had metal legs and a prefab top for my craft table, I knew how much better my craft room would look with this as well as how much more functional it would be!
The desk went together rather quickly after all the wood was cut, Assembly time was maybe 1-2 hours.
I love it! Now how to finish it....

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
120.00
Estimated Time Investment
Day Project (6-9 Hours)
Finish Used
None yet :)
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Comments

hoffer5353

Tue, 10/04/2011 - 12:07

That looks great!
That was the first project that I really wanted to do. I haven't had a chance to do it yet but it is on my "to do" list for sure!
Can't wait to see how you choose to finish it!

Spanish Cedar X Base Farmhouse Table with Zinc Top

After craving a zinc-topped X base farmhouse table for our new house's large outdoor space for a while, but not wanting to spend upwards of $1k on one, I asked my husband (T) to build me one as my Christmas present last year. It took us a couple of months to get it done (very spread out over weekends) but I love the result.

I found the plans here for an X base table exactly like the one I had been lusting after, and googling around found several sets of instructions on how to fabricate metal countertops. We ordered the zinc from rotometals.com, and visited our local Woodworkers Source to find a suitable wood. I didn't want to use cheap lumber for a number of reasons.
1. I want the table to be around a very long time, and didn't want to have to stain it over and over
2. I was looking for a high end result that would only look better with wear and tear, which I knew couldn't be achieved with stained cheap framing wood
3. I had heard bad things about how wood wear outside in AZ, and though this is on a covered porch, we didn't want to spend hours making something only for it to fall apart.

We chose a Spanish Cedar, which the helpful guy at WWS suggested as one of a couple of good options. They squared the wood for us and cut it to the exact widths we needed, so T only had to cut to the lengths needed.

Once we were done with the frame, We used a sheet of MDF on a frame of pine to thicken the edges of the top, and wrapped the zinc around this.

We aren't DIY novices but this is the first piece of 'furniture' we have ever built.

We haven't sealed the zinc yet - I want it to patina more before I consider that. I have given the table one coat of oil (no colour) and it's performing wonderfully several months in.

Thanks Ana!

Estimated Time Investment
Week Long Project (20 Hours or More)
Finish Used
Oil
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Comments

spiceylg

Fri, 10/04/2013 - 05:06

Love the mod to this with the zinc top. Beautifully done!

katie0910

Tue, 10/15/2013 - 20:58

I love your table! I live in AZ as well and I would love to build an outdoor table, so thanks for the suggestion of Spanish cedar. I will keep that in mind when we finally are ready to build one.

Above Toilet Cabinet

Submitted by Smokeydog on Thu, 12/24/2015 - 12:58

I built this above toilet cabinet for my son and his wife for Christmas. They moved into a new house and wanted this additional storage space.  Turned out pretty good!

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
$135.00
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
BEHR Satin Paint with primer
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Coffee Table

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sat, 02/23/2019 - 07:56

Used 4x4's for the legs to make it more "beefy" and therefore had to add an extra 2x6 on top. Also used a 2x4 for the upper side trip instead of 2x2. Used a dark walnut stain and several coats of clear gloss polyurethane.

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
$50 for the wood, ~$20 for other materials (i.e. screws, sandpaper, stain, poly, wood glue, adhesive felt pads under the feet, etc).
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
Dark Walnut Stain; Clear Gloss Polyurethane
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Farmhouse Bed

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Mon, 01/16/2023 - 11:35

This was so much fun to build. I couldn’t decide on a finish, so I used three different ones.
Thanks for the plans!

Built from Plan(s)

Comments

Silverware Showcase

Submitted by hoffer5353 on Tue, 10/04/2011 - 09:02

I had finally had it with the generic drawer organizer that we had. I decided that I would spend a few dollars and make it custom made! I took me aboout an hour and $5. It is amazing how little effort can make your kitchen look like it was a custom created space! I love it!

Estimated Time Investment
An Hour or Two (0-2 Hours)
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Comments

oldpaintdesign

Tue, 10/04/2011 - 14:00

That looks great! I definitely envy your organization! I love that the wood on your insert matches the outside of your drawers. Makes it look like it's been there the whole time!

Small Cedar Fence Picket Storage Shed

Submitted by Pembat on Sun, 10/06/2013 - 20:37

Built this in a weekend, took about 1.5 days. I ended us using 2x4's instead of 2x2's, I think it resulted in a much stronger frame. I also built a base for it to sit on. I got pre-stained cedar fence boards, and overlapped them 1" instead of a 1/2". Pretty easy project, I ended up siding the back on the ground, installing it, and then adding the side walls without the siding (just the framing), and then sided them in place. The doors work perfectly. I took my total inside dimension between walls, made sure the opening was square, and then divided that by two to get the width of each door. I then took another 1/4" off that, so each door had an additional 1/8" gap, it worked perfectly. When I set the doors, I put them on a piece of roofing closed as I screwed in the hinges, and then opened them and removed the roofing. I opted to run the door siding horizontal to use up a bunch of waste wood. I'm happy with the outcome. I also found some 6" self starting lag bolts and lagged through the back of the shed into studs (through the siding) into the garage behind it.

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

King Storage bed

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sun, 12/27/2015 - 18:50

Variation using your King Bed Storage plans. Made from pine plywood and solid pine for the trim. Drawers made from aspen with pine fronts and 1/4 inch pine plywood. Took about 60 hours in my garage. Two large drawers (with bottom sliders) and 4 jewellery trays on the end piece. 2 smaller drawers (Custom fit without sliders) plus an open bin space on each side piece. Contrasting teak wood jewellery trays pop out with magnetic push catches. All joinery is with hand cut dovetails. Total of 144 dovetails.

Estimated Cost
$300
Estimated Time Investment
Week Long Project (20 Hours or More)
Finish Used
Pecan stain with 3 coats of polyurithane
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Comments

Modified Grandy Buffet

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Fri, 03/01/2019 - 02:53

I had to rescale the Ana White plan to an overall length of 72 inches. All joints are Kreg pocket holes.

The most difficult component was engineering the barn door slides. I used:
1/8” aluminum flat bar for the door mounts
1/4” aluminum flat bar for the fixed bar
Polyurethane spacers from Lowe’s
Lind Kitchen Mute Pulley block from Amazon.com 4 each

The pulley blocks were disassembled and only the wheels and axles were used. Thin poly washers from Lowe’s were used as shims to take up play after being mounted to the flat bar.

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
$400
Estimated Time Investment
Week Long Project (20 Hours or More)
Finish Used
Top - Minwax dark walnut stain with 4 coats satin Varathane
Base - indoor stain blocking primer then two coats of Antique White paint
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

The Console Table

Please tell me I’m not alone…!! I must admit that I have found myself (on more than one occasion) just staring at a room for what seems like an eternity…trying to figure out why the space isn’t functional or just feels a bit “off”. It was during one of these “I dare you to blink before I do” staring sessions that I decided to build a table for my guest room.

Lucky for me, I can always count on Ana’s plans to rescue me from decorating madness! Well at least when it comes to the furniture part. (For everything else…I probably need lots of therapy!)

But seriously…anyone else get caught up in the time-warp-room-stare?! I can’t be the only one… :-)

My console table's complete story: http://gleeinspired.blogspot.com/2011/03/console-table.html

Estimated Cost
$25
Estimated Time Investment
Afternoon Project (3-6 Hours)
Finish Used
One coat of Minwax Jacobean stain.
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Comments

Guest (not verified)

Sat, 10/15/2011 - 21:49

How did you go about finding the wood that you purchased? I'm a newbee and all i have are Lowes & HD around me, also since I'm just starting out I don't have a saw- any suggestions?

claydowling

Sun, 10/16/2011 - 02:22

Lowes and Home Depot both sell wood. However, it's worth finding a local lumber yard to get a better quality of material. Trying to build a table with material from a big-box store will be an exercise in frustration, because it will warp on you, and your nice flat table will develop some interesting twists that will probably keep all four feet from touching the ground at once. I've been there plenty of times, and it's very frustrating to tear something apart to replace wood that warped after everything was assembled.

If you go to a lumber yard and ask for #2 pine, you should get something pretty stable.

You'll also definitely need to pick up some tools. Anyplace that sells lumber has a saw that they can cut material to length with, but none of them will make cuts accurate enough for building furniture. The only cuts you want made for you are those necessary to get material into your vehicle.

There are hand tools of acceptable quality sold at Lowes and Home Depot (well, mostly acceptable quality: nobody sells a decent chisel). They're cheaper and a lot less intimidating than the power tools, and with a little practice it's easier to do accurate work. The downside is that you'll have to hunt a little more for resources to learn how to use them.

brookieanne (not verified)

Thu, 10/20/2011 - 15:03

I love the table - it looks great!
And the time-warp-room-stare??? Yep. That's why I'm on Ana's site! We just moved into a new house about 2 months ago and I need some furniture to help pull some rooms together!

Sandbox with built-in seats

I modified this a tad from the original plans to suit my needs. I will eventually be adding a platform with attached slide and swing set.

Plans were easy to follow. My store didn't have 1x8's so I stacked 1x4's and used my Kreg jig to join them together and then I added extra bracing.

I had seen this on Pinterest a couple years ago and thought it was the coolest thing! Io excited I was able to build it myself!

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
About $40
Estimated Time Investment
Day Project (6-9 Hours)
Finish Used
None yet. I will stain and seal everything when I get the entire play set finished.
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Rustic X TV Console

Submitted by Rol8701 on Tue, 12/29/2015 - 12:41

Loved this plan, decided to use it for our living room TV console. Planning to add handles to the crates during a weekend when we have some free time. Very impressed with our final product :)

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
$85 for wood, stain, sandpaper and wood glue. $70 for the crates and grey paint. Not sure how much the wife spent on dressing up the top of the console.
Estimated Time Investment
Afternoon Project (3-6 Hours)
Finish Used
1st layer of stain we used weathered oak by Minwax
2nd layer special walnut by Minwax
3rd layer weathered oak
4th layer special walnut

wiped off access stain with a rag, 320 grit sandpaper was used between stains.
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Comments

Tilt Trashcan

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

X frame farmhouse tilt trashcan. 

Estimated Cost
$50
Estimated Time Investment
Afternoon Project (3-6 Hours)
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

outdoor sectional

Submitted by vic b on Tue, 10/11/2011 - 23:51

we put a few bolts in the legs for a bit of added strength, and extra back supports.

Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Comments

christie (not verified)

Fri, 06/08/2012 - 09:49

Hi there! Love it! We built one of these too but cannot find cushions for the back, considering it's rather short. Any advice or did you make them?

vic b

Tue, 07/17/2012 - 23:24

Hi, only just checked messages. I got the cushions from and outdoor furniture supply store off ebay Australia. They are replacement ones for a manufactured style of setting they sold, but worked perfectly for the sectional.

Old church pew makeover.

My church was getting new pews and asked if anyone wanted the old ones so I decided to take one and see what I could do with it! The second picture is what it used to look like. I had to take it all apart and cut it to the shorter size that I wanted. I then recovered it with some fabric I found for about $10. I then made legs out of a 2x4 and supported the legs with some 2x2 across the front, back and sides. I painted them with some black primer/paint that I had. This was so fun to do because I had to figure it out as I went along. It was a bit of a challenge at times and I learned a lot from this project. I really love the finished product.

Estimated Cost
$15
Estimated Time Investment
Day Project (6-9 Hours)
Finish Used
Black primer and paint.
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Easy Vintage Step Stool - Red Alder

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Thu, 12/31/2015 - 15:55

I built this stool for my son of three years.  The wood is from Red Alder trees that blew down on my farm a few years ago.  I milled the logs with a friend and, while alder can behave badly, I always love working with the wood.  The end upright in the image was quite cupped and it cracked when I screwed it down - but it's still rigid and solid.  The wood takes an oil finish beautifully!  Chose to drill and plug the screws, instead of using pocket screws.  Gives it a nice rustic look, and is easy to recoat when a touchup is required.

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Time Investment
Afternoon Project (3-6 Hours)
Finish Used
Polyurethane and Boiled Linseed Oil Blend
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate