Vintage Step Stools
Our two-year-old daughter's newfound hobby of washing her hands and brushing her teeth really took off a few weeks before Christmas. Santa left stools for her and her little sister to be used in different bathrooms.
Our two-year-old daughter's newfound hobby of washing her hands and brushing her teeth really took off a few weeks before Christmas. Santa left stools for her and her little sister to be used in different bathrooms.
My first build. Wanted something to put in front of my window for my cats to sit and look out on.
We have a wonderful rental cabin in Grand Lake, CO. I wanted to add some special seating outside. These chairs are perfect, comfortable, and even the moose came by to see them. They agree too that Ana’s design is wonderful. My daughter and I worked on these together, from beginning to end. We cut, sanded, stained, and finally put it all together. These are so comfortable, even my husband agrees!! Thank you Ana for the plans and video. I will be adding the table to go with them too. Jennifer
Wed, 07/07/2021 - 10:18
You and your daughter did a fabulous job, thank you for sharing! #mooseapproved :)
I am so so so proud of myself for building this great bench. I can' t wait to do the next project. I wanted something bright and fun to put in my entry way to put shoes on. I thought this was a great first project. I opted for orange, ( ) I wish it had been a different shade, it's pretty bright. When I ruffed up the edges with brown (with a toothbrush) that helped take the brightness down a bit. I chevroned the top to make it funner. Chevroning is a pain in the behind, it takes forever to tape it off but it's cute in the end. I noticed a few people said they did this in a couple hours, I don't know how. It took me two days! It doesn't take more than two or three hours to cut the wood and put it together but then you have to fill the holes, sand it, prime it, paint it, touch it up....
If you have all the tools already... Then the cost is low.
I spent:
$28 lumber @ Home Depot
$20 paint & primer @ Walmart
Now the only problem is I don't have ANY other orange things in the house. I'm going to have to rethink my decorating, or build another bench ;)
Thanks Ana!
Wed, 04/17/2013 - 11:02
I say add some other orange accents to your house. That bench is too cute to change out for something else!
I used the basic plans with two significant alterations. I made the dimesions slightly narrower, and I moved the entrance to the side. Both of these changes were made because of space constraints in the location we chose.
We needed a custom bed to fit a niche. We used the Daybed with storage drawers, but shorted the length by 1.5 inches to fit our space. Our daughter is very happy with her new bed.
Tego needed a raised dog bath. No, I needed a raised dog bath. Specifically, my knees needed a raised dog bath for Tego. So, after looking at Pinterest and Ana's plans, I decided what I really wanted to do was customize something to fit my needs (and knees) and build it myself. Overly ambitious for a first-time woodworking project, but hey, raise the bar.
I started by reading and rereading Ana's beginner's woodworking guide (very informative). I also learned so many other things along the way. There's a reason, besides looks, you need flat boards (they need to screw together tightly). Unfinished basement floors are so not level (especially near the walls). Screw lengths matter (need shorter ones for thinner boards). The big-box store doesn't make precise cuts (but they can make a lot). Planning for the finishes will save you time (know your basket sizes). Just to name a few.
It's going in an unfinished basement, so I wasn't going to tile and add glass doors. I wanted to keep it relatively simple, basic.
The stairs were the hardest to measure and build (math matters) - and I might re-do. I made the steps smaller, dog-sized, but she finds them awkward. I'd stick with typical riser heights, but it depends on the size of your dog.
Plumbing to link the tub drain to the utility sink drain was the most expensive. Probably I could have done it myself, but I decided not to learn both plumbing and woodworking for one project.
Overall, I'm pleased with the result - and Tego is learning to love it.
Thu, 07/22/2021 - 12:38
Love it, you and Tego are AMAZING! Thank you for sharing your custom build:)
My neighbour Bryan challenged me to make it. It was indeed a challenge as there is no strait bit to a wheelbarrow and I had no plans so I kind of made it up as I went along. From far the hardest thing I made so far.
Hi from El Salvador, Central America, this was a realy easy proyect but give this gift to your friends and you will touch their hearts, take the time and effort to build it with your own hands is very meaningfull to everybody. Thanx Ana great site!!
Tue, 03/10/2015 - 16:52
You are so right. People really do appreciate thoughtful, hand-crafted gifts, and yours is beautiful.
All pine 2x4, 2x6, and 2x10 seating for 8 in espresso stain and semigloss top coat
Very easy instructions. I love the way they turned out. I used all 2x4's that I had left over from another project. I burned the top pieces and painted all other pieces. Love your easy instructions. My first time making furniture.
Thanks
Yvette
Thank you Ana and Jenny for this project. After many searches for the perfect bunk bed for our 4 and 2 year old daughters I was ready to spend more than $1500 in a store on something that was not nearly as cool as this. The plans were easy to follow and it took my dad and me about a week to make the bed. My girls love it and have spent the last two days in their room.
We made a few modifications to the design that I highlighted in the pictures. We wired the back of the bed with electricity to include some outlets, a light that is on a timer switch, and an outlet with a built in night light. We also added 2x2s to support the sides to make them stronger when the bed is apart. We move a lot (4 times in the last 5 years) and the design was great for taking apart and putting back together. The light on the timer is great for telling my oldest she can read books for 5 minutes and then go to sleep when the light goes out.
Thank you so much for these great plans!
Tue, 05/07/2013 - 23:39
...and you've got me beat! I still haven't finished the sliding boxes that fit inside the storage boxes. I had better get on that.
Wed, 03/26/2014 - 13:57
I love all of these fantasy bunk/loft beds but as I look at them i wonder how hard it is to take the sheets off, put on new ones & tuck in blankets etc. I love these beds but I have physical limitations because of chronic health problems & I am afraid that if I had a bed like this for my kids that I would have to hurt myself to strip or make the bed... Can someone who has one tell me how hard it is - or isn't???? Thank you... A newbie to Ana-white.com but it's now my new #1 favorite website!!
Loved the look of the 4x4 for the corners another user did so we build it that way with a little alterations. Also used a premade top from Lowes - bamboo - finished with a tung oil finish.
Turned out beautiful, I love it. Would reccomend this project, but found it took a long time with paint involved- paint before u screw together- much quicker!
Sat, 03/14/2015 - 20:22
This looks very nice! You did a really good job on the finish :)
I had a console (or three tiered shelf) that I made with 2x10 and black pipe. At first I was happy with that but when I saw this console and another one on the blog of "Shades of Blue's", I decided to change the designe of my three tiered consol to Emmerson console. I love the console. In new console, I did not use any side pieces. I didn't want to throw away the black pipes because it cost money. So I ended up with this designe. I haven't put any stain or paint. I am not sure what paint or stain to put. So I leave it as it is.
Have been wanting to build these chairs since the video came out for them. Finally found an occasion to build them for a friend of mine. I couldn’t find 1x10’s in cedar, so I used 5/4”x6” cedar deck boards ripped down to 4 1/2”. I also pocket-holed the seat boards in from the inside of the stringers and drilled the back boards in from behind for a clean look on the seat. Overall, it was a really enjoyable build and I’m really happy with how they turned out.
I built this storage crate to fill out space on top of my kitchen table. On my table saw, I ripped 1/2in birch plywood down to 6in widths for the outside frame and 5 3/4in for the dividers. The dividers are 6in wide and so I cut the outside ends to 7in. I attached the whole thing with 1 1/2 finish nails and glue. After finishing, I attached some L-brackets on the corners and drilled 2 holes on either end for handles. For handles, I simply braided 6 strands of jute together and tied knots on the inside of the box. I have more details and photos on my blog link.
Built with most plans from the day bed but grooved the 2x4 a 1/2" and used a 1/4 plywood on back and stuffed it and wraped in fabric then used tack to make a tuck pattern. Still need to install slats but is mostly done here. Was stained with a jacobean stain.
Had a lot of fun making this, and it only took an afternoon! Had all the hardware and finish needed so it was a quick trip to Home Depot for the 2x2's, pavers, and adhesive.
One caution I would give people is check how the pavers lay on the top before applying finish in case some sanding is needed to get the pavers to all lay flat and level. I had one of my cross pieces bow a bit and it needed some sanding to get the pavers laying on it to be level with the others.
Great table for outdoor use and has been a functional table for a lot of BBQ's already, thanks for the great plans, Ana!
- Mike
I used the chicken shed plans to create the coop, with a modification to include two nesting boxes, one on each side.
I slightly modified the nesting boxes, using a U shaped frame and added hinges for the front to swing down and the pine shavings to be swept out.
For the siding, we found it easiest to do the tack and trace method. We tacked each full sheet of siding in place and traced the cuts for the window, roof line, doors, and nesting boxes. We then took them down, darkened the lines, cut 'em, and re-hung them. It made it a million times easier, IMHO.
For the inside, I designed several roosting bars with poop platforms. The water is a gravity fed chicken nipple/pvc setup, which I found online.
The food stations, also gravity fed, are (new) sewer pipes with wye connectors.
I used the roof and siding scraps to make shelves for storage inside.
By sourcing reclaimed materials, I built the coop, run, interior, feeding stations (5), and waterer for $550. I only bought 27 pieces of new lumber (15 2x4's and the 12 8 foot long 1x3's)
Even the paint was free! (We have a drop and swap at the haz mat recycling center run by the county. We have gotten 100's of dollars of free paint, stain, and varnish there. I even used a can of free spar varnish to seal the inside of the coop)
There are still a few pieces of trim to be cut and painted, but the girls are inside eating, drinking, and merry!
I did find that at the Home Depot, if you buy chicken wire, it costs way more then 150 feet x 36 inch "stucco netting". The stucco netting was $54 for 150 feet, and chicken wire is $76 for the same amount. It is the exact same wire.
I built the run out of resourced 1x2 furring strips. They were a pain to work with, very prone to breaking when not supported, but with the entire run costing $25 for wood and $54 (with half a roll left over) for chicken wire, I can handle some extra time and effort.
If anyone has any questions for me, feel free to contact me! I'd love to help!
Mon, 02/06/2023 - 08:12
Hi! Do you still have this coop? It's been about a decade now and wondering how it has held up, if you have any suggestions, or additional pictures of the inside. Thank you!
Inspired from a sign we saw at Home Goods however it was half the size and twice the price! Ask for a how to.