Easy to build toy center for mine craft figures
I fell in love with the loft bed but thought the stairs stuck out too far for my daughter's room so I revampd the plan just a bit to add three 'stairs' in the platform rather than the standard stairs in the plan.
I got started on the project on a Friday night, got my cuts made, my pocket holes drilled and pieces sanded for an early start Saturday morning, everything went together like a dream - though it would have gone MUCH faster if I had had a second set of hands; I had to balance all of the long peices on other peices to try and get them attached and it took much longer than it had too!
It was all together, the holes filled and first coat of primer on by Saturday afternoon - I used Zinsser primer so the knot's did not bleed through. Sunday morning I was painting and it was in place and decorated by Sunday night!
Great, easy to follow plans (as always) Ana - thank you, I have one VERY happy daughter!
After building my daughter a storage bed, I no longer needed the X Book Caddy that I had built to contain her books. It's taken on a new life as a nightstand for me!! I modified the caddy to be nightstand height, but it can easily have height added to become a console table. If you want, go build the x caddy and then click over to my blog for the tutorial on making it the bookseller's shelf!
Tue, 01/27/2015 - 15:12
Wow I just love how this turned out! Thanks for sharing your talent!
In reply to Wow I just love how this by Ana White
Fri, 01/30/2015 - 19:24
Wouldn't do it if it weren't for you! <3
In reply to This is fabulous! by marenras
Fri, 01/30/2015 - 19:25
Can't wait to see it! I just saw that Ana did something very similar, so make sure you check it out, too! http://ana-white.com/2011/02/library-console-table
Slightly modified the farmhouse table plans to build the top out of 6 inch pine shiplap, its thinner than the farmhouse plans (its 3/4inch), but I liked the rough cut on the top surface, and overlapping edges made for a great fit.
I cut the outside edge boards down to 4inch wide, and then mitred the corners to act as a frame for the 6 inch boards. I will build copper corner protectors.
Finish was: pre-conditioner on the wood, 3 coats of minwax weathered oak stain, 3 coats of polyurethane. Sanded the benches between coats, but not the table, as the table has a rough surface.
benches are 2x6 fir boards, cut the long edges off on a table saw to make them join better, as I dont have a jointer. Same finish applied as the table.
Table is 8 feet long, 38 inches wide. seats 10 comfortably.
It was half finished in my garage for several months, in which time I used it as a workbench - so it has plenty of authentic weathering dings and dents.
It was my first project, as I have only recently moved into a house with a garage.
Loved the construction part, hated the finishing steps.
thanks!
oz
I was looking for a plant table and fell in love with the vintage x plan. And it was perfect to get rid of some of my waste wood from other projects.
I love to work with Ana's plans :-)
Fri, 05/14/2021 - 11:16
Thank you for sharing your build, it looks awesome!
This was one of my first DIY projects - while the "perfectionist" in my is not overjoyed by the final product, I think it's pretty good for a newbie. It's a gift, so I'm sure my brother-in-law will like it. Plus, I learned a lot about what do do in the future!
One main change I made was with the drain. I had a hard time getting a good seal with the plans provided. So instead, I got a smaller hose (1/2-inch OUTER DIAMETER) and put it through the cooler drain instead of on the outside. This still caused a seal issue, but I used rubber/putty cement around the inside of the cooler drain & hose, as well as where the hose entered the wood cooler on the inside. This only allowed the water to exit the drain or stay in the cooler until it passed through the drain.
I skipped the side shelf, but added the little steel bucket to catch bottle caps. And while I live in Texas, I had to give a shoutout to my Wisconsin roots (notice the bottle opener says "Drink Wisconsinbly".
All in all, I think it was a fairly good project for a DIY newcomer. Looking forward to figuring out what my next project will be!
Mon, 02/16/2015 - 13:17
I bet your brother-in-law loves it! That's super fun!
I pretty much just followed the plan. It did not take long to build, but I spent quite a bit of time on the finish. I sanded and sanded and sanded. I was going for a restoration Hardware type finish and got pretty close. This was the first piece of furniture I built. Recently moved to a farm so have been building farm needs projects and finally had time to build some furniture. I purchased the bench cushions.
Thanks for the awesome plans, information and site Ana! I love it!
Janice
I took the plans and modified them a bit to build what we were looking for. - I used 2x8s for the top of the table so that the middle board could have two removable sections that could be used for ice buckets for drinks. I made those out of plastic planter boxes. I also used 4 2x4s across the top for support.
The last major change is that i used corner brackets and bolts or screws to attach all the pieces. I liked the industrial look it gave the table and benches.
Everything was sanded down and finished with a drift gray stain and seal.
The building part was easy, but sanding and staining prior to putting it all together is what took most of the time. It was probably an hour of cutting, an hour of building and the rest was sanding or staining.
I loved the square modern farmhouse table when I saw it, and knew I wanted to use it as an end table in our living room. I had this really awkward space that my couches created when their corners met. It had been filled by 4 TV trays acting as a larger end table--all I did was cover it with a table cloth to disguise what it really was! ;)
I have a coffee table that is similar looking (with a slated top) so I knew it would compliment it! I may still go back and repaint it to something a little more colorful or to make the white more crisp, but overall I love it!
The table is very heavy and sturdy! At the time I built this, I was under the impression our local Home Depot didn't carry pine boards, so I bought Douglas Fir instead (turns out they do carry pine, they just have it in a different section). Definitely increased the cost a bit, but I have no regrets.
It took me about a week to put together, but I also work outside the home. Had I had a whole weekend to devote to it, I think it would have been done in one or two days.
This was my first project from a list of many...so simple, it was perfect for getting started after a long winter's rest.
Thank you Ana for the plan! I really wanted the floating shelves from Pottery Barn, but they were super pricey. I searched out the fancy hardware that PB uses to mount them and it would have cost as much for the mounting hardware alone than to buy them finished from Pottery Barn.
These shelves were an easy solution for the same look, without the hassle of having to build a sleeve to fit over cleats like other more seamless designs.
For my ledges, I chose to use 1x3s instead of 1x4s for the rear and base of the ledges. I didn't want them to protrude from the wall as far, nor did I want the rear of the ledges to be as visible (I'm wierded out by the contrast of the thick, dark line behind the pics. I would have chosen 1x2s for the back, but I didn't think it would be sturdy enough and it might be a little trickier to drill. I measured them to be a little smaller than the length of my sofa and they turned out just right. I built them in an hour or two and brought them in and stained them on my kitchen counter ( placed waxed paper underneath). It was February and too cold to do outside.
The best advice I have is to be really choosy about the lumber you buy. The "top choice," as they call it, should be renamed "crappiest choice." I guess that's what you get for cheap pine, right!
It fit just right for my budget and it was worth sifting through to make sure I wasn't getting a piece that was warped or twisted. I live in an old house and I'm sure the walls aren't exactly even (as you can see in the pic, the floor even slants a little to the right) but one of my ledges is not fully flush against the wall on one side because the board bows out a little (or maybe my wall bows in?).
Whatever. I'm thrilled with the look and love how I can display so many pics at one time. I'm thinking I want to put at least 4 pictures in each frame, and rotate them out seasonally. That way my display will go with the season. Yep, I'm a genius like that, hehe.
Weekend swing project
Tue, 05/07/2019 - 10:42
We don't currently have this plan available, although I'd be happy to draw it with the author's permission.
I have linked a few plans above that could be used to create this plan. Just make sure you bury the arbor uprights underground on concrete pier posts or similar (like building a fence)
My closet system is four separate units that I butted up together and attached to the wall with a "decorative" 2x4 railing around the entirety of the closet. The main unit looks the closest to the real design but is 8 feet long and 8 feet tall to avoid extra cutting of boards. The smaller unit only has one area for hanging up clothes and is around 5 feet long which is just the length of the wall. I also built a unit for holding sheets and towels and another for my wife's shoes.
The plans are really easy to follow but I would suggest a few things:
-Do stain and boards before cutting; this would have been a nightmare otherwise.
-If you use the metal clothing rods (if I could go back in time I would have used wooden dowels) make sure that you put those in before you attach any boards between the support structures. I ended up having a 35 inch gap instead of a 36 inch gap and it killed my momentum.
-I made mine 8 feet tall because it was less to cut and then re-stain; time wise it probably was a scratch cause I had to build it in place and at the end it was very tight to work in the space.
I made this outdoor chair by looking at a variety of plans and designs from Restoration Hardware and other stores. Check out more info on the project on my blog link. Thanks for looking!
This rustic modern version of a pub table has multiple uses - it can rest along a wall to make a 16 foot long bar, or rolled together to form an 8 foot long pub table. It is standard counter height 36" and will accomodate seating for 8-10 counter stools. If you don't have live edge wood slabs, you can also use construction lumber (2x8s or 2x12s) to achieve similar dimensions and versatile use in a more cost effective way.
Fri, 07/31/2015 - 04:10
Awesome idea! I think I will have to try for a dining table version of this table. Do you happen to have a way to lock the 2 pieces together?
I built this twin bed with drawers for my daughter and I LOVE all the storage the drawers provide. I slightly modified the plans it was based off of--you can find more info and see details from the build on my blog House Becoming Home.
Love getting to watch my daughter play with stuff that i made her.
Wed, 12/26/2018 - 13:53
What a beautiful set! Thanks so much for building and sharing a brag post!
Thanks for the plans!
Wed, 10/19/2022 - 08:32
Looks great and perfect space saver and organizer!
Built it for our recently arrived baby !
Modified Farmhouse style bad. Used lighter wood for headrest and footrest. Changed measurements for Lithuanian size of mattress (200x160cm). For headboard panel were used pallets wood so it was necessary to paint it right. Also Added some trims for decorating edges.
Sun, 09/29/2013 - 06:37
I wish I would have seen your plan before I built my bed. Your head and footboard bases make it a lot easier to attach the side rails. Paint color and texture look good too. Did you use a satin finish?
Sun, 09/29/2013 - 08:25
Thank you for your opinion.
I used glossy paint and its over. No final polishing or lacking ant the end if you asking this.
Our local Habitat for Humanity puts on an annual event where they get folks to restore discarded or worn down furniture and sell them at auction. My wife and I participated last year and this year I was asked to build 4 dog houses and then they were going to let local designers/decorators finish them out.
I figured it would be easy to find a good dog house plan, but I was wrong so I had to come up with my own designs. I did not want to use plywood becauase I wanted them to look good. So I used 1x4's and 1x6's. I built them all just a little bit different, but the same basic design on all 3. Since I am not very good with circular cuts, did not do any fancy 1/2 circle doorways!
There are "after" pictures on the Blog. Thanks for looking!
I built this TV console based on Ana’s plan and some modifications from The Turquoise home. Made it 6’ long and a bit lower to fit all my elephants below the TV.
It turned out beautiful and suuuper heavy.
Thank you Ana!
