Community Brag Posts

Rustic x Console

Submitted by BnDRoller on Tue, 08/25/2015 - 05:31

My wife has been wanting this project for months. Had to shorten the size to fit our wall. Thank you Ana for such easy to follow guidelines.  

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
Approximately $75
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Bottlecap Buffet Coffee Liquor Party Super Bar!

Built the project from the original plans. Modified by creating a shadow box style countertop. Also decided to make the shelves movable rather than just being static. Purchased the mini barn door hardware kit from Amazon.

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
$500 total with barn door hardware kit from Amazon and 3/8 inch tempered glass for the top.
Estimated Time Investment
Week Long Project (20 Hours or More)
Finish Used
Minwax stain and wipe on poly.
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

DIY Bathroom Vanities

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sun, 04/24/2022 - 11:18

Perfect vanities! When I couldn’t find exactly what I was looking for, I searched online for vanity plans and thankfully your site and these vanities popped up. I love all the storage with these, so much better than ANYTHING pre built we looked at online. We had seen vanities that I was going to settle for but they were around $3,000, and I didn’t love them, so my husband said he could build something and this was the result using your plans. I am so thankful and the whole project was a fraction of the cost! I stained them with a vinegar and steel wool stain with poly over it. I couldn’t be more grateful for you and your generosity of plan sharing. Thank you!

Built from Plan(s)

Comments

x table and benches

Submitted by kcaldes on Tue, 06/28/2011 - 15:49

Good plans and easy to follow directions.

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
$110
Estimated Time Investment
Afternoon Project (3-6 Hours)
Finish Used
None yet.
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Fancy X Farmhouse Table and Benches

I LOVE my new patio table and benches. They came out great, and I hope they hold up for several years with the waterproofing stain I used.

Estimated Time Investment
Week Long Project (20 Hours or More)
Finish Used
Behr Waterproofing Stain in semitransparent Navajo White
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Farmhouse Queen Bed & Kentwood Night Stand

I built this Farmhouse Queen Bed & Kentwood Night Stand for my Granddaughter. She loves it !

Estimated Cost
$300
Estimated Time Investment
Week Long Project (20 Hours or More)
Finish Used
Minwax water based stain in "Coffee", and then used Minwax white washed pickling to finish.
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Comments

Kids Outdoor Double Lounge Chair

Hi friends!
 

Jen Woodhouse here, sharing this adorable summer project with you! I'm in the mood for all things outdoor, so I thought I'd share this build I created last year. This Kids Outdoor Double Lounge Chair made my kiddos so happy. They spend a ton of time at the pool and this Lounge Chair offers them a little bit of shade, and cup holders too for their drinks! 

 

Be sure to tag me @jenwoodhouse if you share photos of your build on social media.

You can get all the details and the plans for this build on JenWoodhouse.com!

 

Estimated Cost
$155 including cushions and canopy.
Estimated Time Investment
Day Project (6-9 Hours)
Finish Used
Exterior-grade polyurethane
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Craft Table

Submitted by BigBob1211 on Sat, 07/02/2011 - 20:41

This is the first project that i completed. I made a few minor changes. I used a Kreg jig to fix the shelves into the book cases. I also wanted the top of the desk to be thicker so i glued and screwed two pieces of 3/4 hardwood ply together and finished the edges. I then added heavy drawer slides to handle the drawers as i had made them larger.

Estimated Cost
$150
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
I used a White enamel to finish the table, then a few coats of poly-acrylic on the top to make it easy to wash off marker and craft paint. I added two long drawer pulls to make the drawers easier to open.
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Toy Armoire

I adjusted the height of the armoire to 72 inches. It was a little tricky getting the doors to hang straight. I blame the new driveway; we just moved into a new house with a sloped driveway (our old one was super flat). I got the hardware at Lowe's. I also added a block of wood at the top, on the inside, to mount the door catches. I mounted them on the top and bottom on both doors, so four catches total. That really helped with the way the doors looked when closed.

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
$100
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
I used Minwax Dark Walnut with Minwax Satin Polyurethane. Two coats of each.
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Bathroom Vanity

Submitted by stacynabby on Mon, 08/31/2015 - 21:09

I have only one small bathroom in my house built in 1946. I couldn't find a vanity on the market that was big enough or small enough to fit, so I built my own based on a design from the Decor and the Dog blog page.

 

Estimated Cost
~$200 inlcuding vessel sink and hardware
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
Minwax American Colonial
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Narrow Farm House Table

Submitted by RITWood on Mon, 05/28/2018 - 15:38

This is my take on the Narrow Farm House Table.  Only Fifty-two inches by thirty-two Finished with a flat red base and Jacobean stained top with an over coat of oil based polyurethane.  If I were to do this project again I would consider cutting in an arc on the long side stretcher.  I did taper the legs in both directions so it dosen’t appear to be too chunky.  Corner braces were installed and I didn’t add a stretcher since the overall length was shortened.  

 

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
$30-$50
Estimated Time Investment
Day Project (6-9 Hours)
Finish Used
Flat latex paint for the base, Jacobean Minwax penetrating stain and oil based polyurethane top coat.
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

King Size Farmhouse Bed

I fell in love with the Farmhouse bed after seeing Ana's bed on this site and just knew I had to make it. I'll preface this by noting that neither my husband or myself are builders or even owned any tools with the exception of an 18 volt drill. After building this bed, we went out and bought everything we need to build more pieces from Ana's collection of plans :) This project was very fun, forgiving, and the finished bed is absolutely beautiful.

I do have a few notes that would hopefully help people build this in the future. Hopefully you are reading this.

1) As Ana suggested, read ALL of the Farmhouse plans thoroughly, including the comments! Each of the plans are slightly different and might have a modification that would better suit you (I wish I had built the frame using the Fancy Farmhouse Bed. The way you assemble it makes it 7 inches narrower which would have been nice in our small room). There are also very valuable tips in the reader comments, so read those!

2) Read as many brag posts as you can. I saw that one lady used joist hangers for her support beams and side rail brackets so that the bed could be disassembled some day. That's what I did and I'm so, so glad that I did. You can find her post by googling "joist hanger + Ana White."

3) 4.5" screws are hard to find. I wont say impossible since some people did find them. If you use the new method for the posts of using 2x4s, you wont need the 4.5" screws. If you are using 4x4s, like I did, use lag bolts. I think the lag bolts will be more sturdy in the end anyway.

4) I should have made this item #1. In regards to the King size headboard plans, Ana has her mattress turned sideways and posted plans for a bed 80" wide. Since I did not thoroughly read Ana's notes, I missed that bit of important information and made my headboard 80" wide. Oops. Well, like I said earlier, this is a VERY forgiving plan. We just put the side rails on the inside of the 4x4 posts and added a .5 plywood scab to the inside of the side rails before we installed the joist hangers and that solved the problem. 80"-1.5"-1.5"-.5"-.5"= 76"! Since our bed is a platform bed, it worked out perfectly... just a little wider than it needed to be, but no one can tell the difference.

5) You actually need (5) 1x8 boards. I believe someone also posted that in the comments under the king farmhouse headboard plans. You also need (24) 4.5" screws or lag bolts, the plans only call for 20. (Ana calls for 6 per leg @ 4 legs = 24.

6) Really be sure of how high you want your bed before putting it together. Ours came out a little high, and if we wanted to, we could have cut the posts on the headboard a little shorter and mounted the side rails lower, but we just wanted to get the bed done. There is a lot of room to customize things in this plan so be sure to think everything out.

I think that’s it for now. If you have any questions, please let me know. I’d be happy to offer up any information I have learned while making this bed.

Estimated Cost
$100
Estimated Time Investment
Week Long Project (20 Hours or More)
Finish Used
After cutting the wood I took a wood chisil to all the 1x boards so there would be more definition between the panels on the head and foot boards. After the bed was assembled I chisiled all the exposed edges.
Kilz white oil based primer - 1 Coat.
Sanded between coats with 120 grit paper.
Valspar Satin Ultra White - 1 Coat.
Roughed up edges with 120 grit paper for a worn effect.
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Comments

Rekourt table

Submitted by Fancynancy on Thu, 08/08/2013 - 20:40

I modified the size for my table a bit to make it smaller

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
150
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
Walnut
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Comments

Meagan84

Tue, 09/24/2013 - 15:35

Fancynancy, that tabletop is fantastic! That's something so nice that if I had the money, I would buy it! I was hoping you would share the process you used to get it so smooth. I've done a planked top before and it wasn't nearly as pretty as yours. Thanks for sharing your gorgeous table.

stepdiva

Thu, 09/24/2015 - 20:23

hi fancynancy. i want to know what your modified measurements were on the rekourt table? i can only go to 6' long. width. i am not sure. thx

mrshilton

Sun, 04/24/2016 - 11:40

Hello!! I am also curious about how you changed the dimensions. I am going to need to build this a little smaller as well. Thanks for your help!!

Picture ledge

Easy-peasy! Painted in a constrating color for a great look on the wall...

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Time Investment
An Hour or Two (0-2 Hours)
Recommended Skill Level
Starter Project

Farmhouse Table

Submitted by Kkmcbryde on Thu, 07/12/2018 - 05:42

My husband and I built this table from the farmhouse table plans (Kreg-jig). I wanted a farmhouse table for our new patio and couldn’t quit find one to buy-so we made it! We used red cedar because it is an outdoor table and we wanted it weather resistant. 

Estimated Cost
Our cost was higher due to the red cedar we used. It costs $350. Time completed also includes staining time as well.
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
Top table- I used special walnut and dark walnut stain.
Legs I used special walnut stain. Then painted it with Acadia white outdoor paint. I then scrapped with steel wool.
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Magazine files

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Wed, 05/04/2022 - 07:47

My BFF was looking for magazine holders but refused to pay $10-15 for one made out of cardboard. I told her I could make her some from wood and paint them to match her decor. I found the “letter” paper on Amazon but came in a pack titled Vintage Treasures. I decided to do an S curve on the sides to make it a little more fancy. I can’t wait to give these to her! Thanks for the inspiration, Ana!

Built from Plan(s)

Comments

Cedar Boxes

Submitted by drowland on Sat, 07/09/2011 - 07:18

We built these before we saw these plans, but they are pretty much the same... We added the chicken wire to keep the rabbits (and our dog) out of the garden. We added the owl to keep the birds out. We've gotten a ton of tomatoes, onions, and bell peppers so far. Next year, we'll add a few more beds. We also added the verticle garden to take up less space, but its not deep enough. We'll make the next one deeper.

Estimated Cost
$30
Estimated Time Investment
An Hour or Two (0-2 Hours)
Finish Used
none
Recommended Skill Level
Starter Project

Comments

KatieO (not verified)

Sat, 07/09/2011 - 20:11

Wow! LOVE IT! I love the taller posts so you can incorporate the chicken wire! I SOOOO needed to do something like that this year. Also, the vertical garden boxes are BRILLIANT! LOVE IT!

drowland

Thu, 11/17/2011 - 07:59

We ended up getting a ton of tomoatoes and green peppers from the garden boxes. We've actually built a couple more. We'll probably double again before next spring. We're looking at adding more veggies.

We now have ton of stuff planted for the fall...

Guest (not verified)

Tue, 03/13/2012 - 10:46

How did you build the upright planter boxes? Do you mind explaining the building process/design? I really want to plant this in my yard!

colton's mom (not verified)

Tue, 04/03/2012 - 06:19

i love the vertical boxes. I am just trying my hand at the world with a green thumb and could use as much advice as possible about how to make as well as to line the boxes or not to line them. All advice appreciated!

berman (not verified)

Fri, 11/23/2012 - 21:53

Hi, my name is berman. I found you pin from my pinterest and your box garden is so great. I am a newbie in this field and so interested to build garden in my house. If i can ask you some question, could you please to answer that?

cheers,
berman

Seasonal And Holiday

1st Build: Ledge Shelves

I had tons of help from this website and from the employees at Lowe's in deciding what to purchase and what steps to take. I ended up spending around $130 on all the items needed - but if I ever need to make more it will be just the cost of the lumber!

I am the poster girl for making mistakes while learning, no joke. Generally, I make the uh-oh on a step that I’ve done a zillion times, because I am so busy making sure that the parts that are brand new to me go well. Years ago I was trying to impress a roommate and I worked super hard on a lemon spaghetti dish. I learned to zest and juice a lemon but completely forgot about draining my noodles. Hello disgusting! Putting together my Ana-White project was no different. I gently sanded the wood with my sanding sponge and wiped them off with a rag. I then placed two of the 1x4’s together and made sure that they were even. I discovered that it would be next to impossible to have perfect shelves, so I was going to let it go and just have fun. I pre-drilled a hole, then used a countersink bit to match the head of my wood screw, and held the boards together with all my might while I drilled in the first screw. Of course, since that worked out so well… I decided to try something different! Cap had told me that these particular screws practically countersunk themselves. Sweet! Therefore, on the second screw I predrilled and then tried to see what would happen if I skipped the countersink bit step and just put the screw in. Fail! The wood made this groan sound and the screw didn’t go into a nice neat hole, but instead just kind of escaped in like a finger in pudding. No good! I realized that I had forgotten to use wood glue, so I took both screws back out, put the wood glue in, and back in the screws. I returned to the first method of predrill, countersink bit, wood glue, then screw and finished it off. I held the 1x2 into place and used finishing nails to attach it to the 1x4s. Using a nail punch, I made sure there was a little hole atop each nail. I filled all the holes and a few of my mistakes with wood filler. While the filler was drying I repeated all the steps, sans many of the mistakes adding in a few others, and was done with the first step of building shelves! Next I used a two inch angle brush and applied the primer. After it was dried I applied the paint using a two inch roller. When it was all dried I marked my studs and my board, predrilled, and screwed them into the wall! That was it! It was so much fun and completely empowering. I can't wait to do the next one.

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
130 (for every tool and all materials needed)
Estimated Time Investment
Afternoon Project (3-6 Hours)
Finish Used
Kilz2 Latex Primer and Valspar Ultra Satin Antique White. I used a two inch angle brush and applied the primer. After it was dried I applied the paint using a two inch roller. I worked from the back to the front, so not to have weird drips or streaks - just incase!
Recommended Skill Level
Starter Project

Wall Shelf

I built these 2 shelves for my 2 older children to use when hanging up thier backpacks and for a place to put library books so they don't get lost in the pile of other books laying around the house. I didn't have a convinient stud to attach them to, so my husband used 4 drywall anchors. They seem pretty sturdy. It only took me about an hour to cut and assemble both shelves and cost around $20 to make 2. I did find that the screws that came with the hooks were too long and poked through the back of the front board, but I just used a file to smooth out the tip of the screw so it didn't catch anything. Building this really made me wish I had the Ryobi cordless nail gun. I may or may not have hammered my thumb pretty good during assembly.

Estimated Cost
Estimated cost around $20 for both shelves.
Estimated Time Investment
An Hour or Two (0-2 Hours)
Finish Used
Minwax stain in Honey with spray polyurethane and Sherwin Williams Bedazzled in Satin.
Recommended Skill Level
Starter Project

Comments