Our shoes have always been a very messy area that we couldn't keep clean with not much of an entry area. I saw your laundry basket tower and thought it might work for our shoes. We're very happy with how it's helping to keep us organized!
Crystal
So now that everyone at work found out that I could build furniture I started getting special request. I modified the top of the benchwright table that way my co-worker can use this table to hold their 30 gallon fish tank. This was a pretty easy build once I found a place without warped wood.
I took the Ana White plans for this bed and modified them just slightly. I decided to cover up the top opening on the front, and add some plywood "trees" so that the ned looks like it is being suspended by the trees. I used whitewood from Lowe's, a compound miter saw, the AWESOME Kreg Jig, and a drill. The whole thing took about three days to construct and about two days to paint 2 coats. If you see from the pictures that the side pieces of 1x4 trim are missing, you are right. When I measured the 34" instead of the 34 1/4" it was too short for the sides and wouldn't match up with the front trim. Even if I used the 34', there was a gap so I left it off. I added a fourth step and I also put grip tape on the stairs because my homeboy like to sleep in socks and I didn't want him to slip coming down.
This was my first table, so there were a few hiccups, but I was pretty content with it.
I recently made the bench that you see in the picture as well. I made it to match the table, so I pretended I was making a mini table. Used plywood for the top, padding, and wrapped it with fabric. I was trying to match the charis as much as possible. Finished it by making the buttons and tufting it.
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:
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.
Modern Puzzle Bookcase
So this was a bit harder than I imagined it would have been given it was my first time to try a plan from the site! The hardest thing was getting the middle beams cut correctly.
I shortened the length of the bench to 56" to fit our space and so that changed all of the angles (well, the angles on the center beam). The Kreg Jig is a must here and really helped.
This was my first DIY project and it turned out perfect. Thank you for the plans! Took me about two weekends.
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.
Had a bit off a mate doing this project due to damaged deliveries but looks good and is solid. Used 3 x2 for the rafters and bitumen sheets for the bottom. Two 3x2 strangers on the top rafters has it's seriously open too the wind. Misses loves it.
Welshsmoker
Fri, 10/20/2023 - 08:12
I can see all the work that went into it, looks wonderful! Thanks for sharing.
we have finished my sons room, it has taken us nearly a year but this bed looks fantastic and is much sturdier than the ones you can buy!!!
Slightly changed the plans by adding the exotic wood 'Purpleheart' to the top and drawer fronts.
The tapered legs added some elegance but were very difficult to make, as it was my first time trying it.
I used furniture grade Select Black Label Pine which was costly, but I wanted a good contrast between the white pine and purpleheart.
No stain, just clear lacquer to maximize the color.
The pieces of Purpleheart cost was about $60.00, added to the select pine cost.
This is a great plan that you can modify slightly if you want. We now plan on making a much simpler and smaller one for our bathroom.
This one will probably end up in our living room instead of the bedroom!
Thank You Ana for a great plan!
We built our nesting box from scrap wood we had from an old barn we tore down and other scraps from previous projects. The dimensions were modified based on the width of the wood we had on hand. It's not very pretty, but it was free to make and will be inside a chicken coop. Our chicks are scared of it right now, but they are only 8 weeks old and not laying yet. I'm sure they will like it when they get used to it.
The plans, as always, were very easy to follow. I couldn't be happier with the results. For anyone looking to build this plan, I highly recommend picking up a Kreg jig. For the couple of places you'll use it, it makes a huge difference.
I copied Ana’s fireplace insert design. So easy and looks amazing.
It’s my favorite so far.
Thanks Ana!
Al
I'm fostering two mastiff puppies and they quickly outgrew the old plastic kennel they were sharing. So, I built them a new and improved kennel! It's so much nicer than that old one and looks great in my living room. The puppies appreciate the additional room, too! Now hopefully a family comes along soon to adopt them before they outgrow this kennel, too! :)
Building this kennel was the first time I used a Kreg Jig. I LOVE it! I will be using it a lot more on future projects.
I put a stop plate on the inside of the door frame so that the door stops right where it should to latch it and not swing inwards.
Fri, 09/13/2013 - 20:41
Just wanted to say that I just started fostering and have a German Shepherd/Border Collie mix that came with a large wire crate. If I keep up with this fostering, I think I'll need a small, medium, and large one! Love it, thanks for posting....I'll be buying more lumber again.
I installed the shelves and the center dividers with dados. I suggest planning ahead for your hinges, I had a rough time finding the perfect hinges for some reason.
A big, big, BIG suggestion though, is to stain BEFORE assembly!! I nearly destroyed the piece with the difficult staining in the inside corners. It is very difficult to keep stain even in them. I used General Finishes "Black Cherry" water based stain, the first time using a water based stain. I found it very unforgiving and it left bad blotches, brush and rag marks. I topped it with General Finishes Arm R Seal.
In the end, this came together well enough that I felt a little guilty for not using better lumber than pine. It's nice enough, I think, to warrant spending a little more on quality hardwood.
My birthday present from my hubsand. He built it following Ana's plans, then I stained it in Sunbleached by Varathane. I had him make the top shelf higher than her plans called for, though, so that my KitchenAid mixer would fit.
Have a long wall and this was perfect! I love everything about it! I enjoyed working with miters for the 1st time! FUN!!!!
I made this TV Stand for the family that bought the coffee table that I made before. I loosely based the design from a medley of things on the site, but ended up drawing up plans myself in Sketchup.
This took a while because I had to think through alot of the design things - like how to best do the glass panel doors and how to compensate in the plans for some bowing in the plywood.
It is basically a plywood box, trimmed out like most of the things we DIYers do.
My biggest challenge in this project was cost... I severely underestimated how much it would cost me to build it, so I ended up with only $50 profit on the job... Does anyone have suggestion.. if you are building things to sell them how do you price your products? Just curious.
Mon, 05/21/2012 - 09:42
Love this, really great job! As for pricing, I wish I could give you great advice, but I know there can be a lot of variables, such as cost, hours spent, overhead, etc. I know you should at least price the cost of materials and double it at the very least. If you want to consider your time spent, etc, it would go from there. There are some good articles available on-line.
Mon, 05/21/2012 - 18:35
I will do some research online. For quotes I've been giving since I realized that I was not going to profit on this work was exactly that... take a complete materials cost breakdown and just double it. I'm finding though that I have much more work available to be done than I'm ever going to have time to do....so I think that I will start going a little higher once I start needing more work. Really what I need is more time to do the work. I think I could do well if my son were in school but he isn't yet, so the only time I can work on these projects is during the weekends when he is gone. That means I need to get about $200 profit from one weekends worth of work to pay my bills. :)
Mon, 05/21/2012 - 08:34
Amazing work. I agree, cost is a tough one. I always figure out my materials and charge for full sheets and lengths, then add 20% to cover screws, glue and anything I missed (kind of a OH cover). I figure out my hours, and charge those back at whatever "rate" I would be charging for the piece....try your best to pad these a bit too. I worked in estimating for several years; so you kind of get a feel for it after awhile. Good Luck!
I LOVE the finish on this and your coffee table; mind sharing your technique??
Mon, 05/21/2012 - 18:45
There are more factors than just materials... also have to consider how much money I need to make within the month to pay rent. :)
For the finish, I sand everything down completely working my way up to 220 grit. I used Minwax Golden Pecan with a thin layer using a foam brush. I let that dry completely, without removing the excess. Then I use a cloth and my finger tip with Minwax Red Oak and dip the cloth in my stain, then rub it slowly onto the edges, rounding them out a bit. I go slowly so I can blend it in because I don't want any sharp lines. I also use the darker color to accent some of the knots. My basic idea is that each board has darker ends/edges and is lighter in the middle. This part of the job is the "artistry" - the rest is all pretty straightforward. The poly is the hardest part for me.
By the way, I advertise my work with that coffee table, and I have had a tremendous response to it - in large part due to the finish. Everyone loves the finish.
I got the idea from the 20 second tidy up table here on this site.
What I love about it is that it ties together all the other different wood colors in my living room. You know when you go get a rug with multiple colors or a pattern to tie everything together that would otherwise seem mismatched? THAT is what this finish does for a room. :)
