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My 12 year old son expressed some interest in learning how to build things. We looked for several "kit" projects but they all seemed too juvenile to him. In the meantime his "Grandma" (an old family friend) asked me to find her a tray that she could use to carry her cup of tea on so when it sloshed it wasn't running down her arm. I looked and looked but couldn't find one in the stores that had a handle that she could grip. I was very surprised and relieved to find the pefect project: this wonderful serving tray!
We printed the PDF, drove to the store and a few hours later- her tray was finished and my son was hooked on wood working.
Overall it was a very simple project- the thing that caused the some difficulty was figuring out the process for shaping the handle- that grid diagram was very confusing to us, but it may be because we are novices.
Aside from that- we could not be happier and we are looking forward to completing some other projects together.

2nd project. Made this for me! Love it. I bought 5 towels at Walmart for $2.86 each, extra firm pillows for $3.50 each and made the cushions. It is like sinking into Heaven. Glass of wine and a good book. Set for the day. I added another support half way through since people used it as a seat during parties and I was afraid it would sag in the middle.

The table was an after thought. I had leftover wood and and just gestimated measurements.

FYI, I'm a slow project person, so most could probably finish faster than I did.

This coffee table was a weekend project that turned out quite well.

I took Anna's Narrow Farmhouse table and downsized it to make a bench for my kitchen table. For the bench top, I used what I had on hand to make a comfortable seat.

When it was time to re-do my son's bedroom (past time, really), I decided to build him a loft bed to help maximize space in his small room. A quick search to the internet brought me to Ana's site, saving me lots of hassle on trying to design my own loft bed for him from scratch. My son, who loves everything science and is especially fond of volcanoes, wanted a volcano themed room, and I had the bright idea to make the bed itself into a volcano.

I modified the loft plans slightly to create a bookcase headboard - because I always wonder when looking at loft/bunk beds where the kids put all their STUFF (books, reading lights, glasses, special treasures, etc) - but other than that its just the plans from this site minus the rails and with plywood tacked on to the exterior (the plywood takes the place of the rails). The plywood was cut with a jigsaw after it was put up so I could get all the ridges and holes in just the right spot and height.

Honestly, the painting took much MUCH longer than cutting and assembling the bed did, but I think it really turned out well. The inside of the volcano on the cave's back wall is my favorite part. There's still a few things left to do, but no project of mine is ever really completely finished anyway! On on end inside the "cave" under the loft I built a cushioned reading bench and bookshelf, but the other end of the cave is still empty. Eventually it will house a built-in desk that looks out of the lava holes in the walls.

The cave under the bed is so cozy, I've found myself sitting on the reading bench more than once while working on the project, enjoying some me-time when the kids are at school!

Built this counter height pub table from MAPLE PLANKS. Did the base using 3" * 3" * 36" MAPLE turning blanks (for making baseball bats) and all 3/4" maple 1 * 4's for the stretchers and the top was edge glued 1 * 8 and 1 * 10 planks ( with 1 * 3's glued and screwed underneath). Ran 1 * 3's 360 degrees around the edge .. giving a solid 1.5" surface to attach the 1.75" * 1.75" maple trim pieces. Top is HEAVY ... finished with a light cherry stain and General Finishes waterborne polyurethane. Table turned out better than I had expected. Built over 2 weekends. Used a drill press to do all of the counter sink holes the same depth. Bought the press for $125 at Lowes .. nice tool to have on hand. Makes precision drilling .. especially in hard wood .. a snap.

I started this project so my children could use them at the x-desk art table. But as they came together I decided that I would use them for nightstands in our new bedroom.
They are fabulous as a stool or a table I love them.

I used the providence bench instructions as my base, but made the legs longer and the top 1 board wider. It took a total of 7 2x4's. Cheap, easy, and fun addition to my entry way! Thanks Ana White!

I built this bed for my 10 year old son. I only made a few changes from the original plan. I increased the height so my son could easily fit underneath the bed. I did make the stairs, but we decided not to use them to save on floor space. I also added metal L brackets under the side 2x6's for support. It was a fun project and fairly straight forward. I finished each piece individually and then assembled it in his room. The sanding, staining, and varnishing was very time consuming, but worth it in the end. He absolutely loves it and so do his siblings and friends!

I fell in love with the simplicity of this table. I had been wanting a new table for a good while and when I stumbled on Ana’s YouTube video of this table, I knew this one was easy enough for my husband and I to tackle! Thank you, Ana!!!!

My wife and I decided it was time to give our new TV a home. We began looking on ana-white.com and saw a beautiful black entertainment center. That is where I received my inspiration. It is a very similar design however, I decided to change the color and add inset doorsand drawers.

Everywhere we looked for an entertainment center, it was either too pricey, or the measurements were not right. I decided to come up with a plan for an entertainment center that would fit perfectly into our little niche.

I saw this beautiful tongue & groove beetle kill wood at our local Home Depot and immediately knew I wanted to make a bed with it. I had seen several similar headboards on various websites, but just drew my own. I used wrapping paper that had 1" graphs on the reverse side. This time of year, I stock up on this paper and keep for projects. After we drew the headboard on the paper, we taped it to the wood and cut it out with a jigsaw. Then, we routed the edges to give it a more finished look and lightly sanded it. I didn't want the color to change any, so I just sanded it and used Minwax Polycrylic Satin (water based) for a finish). We just attached the side rails with metal braces. We decided to just use this as a frame on the outside of our metal bed frame, but you could put slats in it too. By making it a frame, it's easier to move the bed. We might eventually put slats in it. Anyway, I love it!

My husband had been using a sawed off dresser as a computer desk for almost year and was in desperate need of something nicer. I wanted to surprise him so while he was at drill one weekend I decided to build him this desk. I took the height up to 34 and decreased the length to 51 so it would fit in our space and his desk chair could fit under it. He was very surprised and LOVED it! 

The Ana White corn hole board plans were straightforward and easy to understand. Building was a breeze. Our boards turned out great!

My wonderful hubby and I have done 4 projects from Ana-White.com (a bed, a chair, a shelf, and some storage crates). But this was my first solo project!!! I had a blast making it. And just an FYI - the storage area holds about 563 Hot Wheel Cars (give or take a hundred) lol. My little guy loves being able to climb into his big boy bed all by himself. Thanks Ana!!