Community Brag Posts

My Bedside Tables

Submitted by kyle_craig on Fri, 05/13/2016 - 07:55

This was quite the project. It was the most fun and rewarding of the handful I've done so far. It took quite a while but now that it's finished I'm very satified. I would like to eventually build an extra large dresser that matches.

 

***The one thing that I am not totally happy with on this project are the euro drawer slides. They are loud and they have a cheap chinsy feel to them. When I build drawers in the future, I will either spend more and get fancy slides, or make some simple waxed wood slides for a more premium feel.

Estimated Cost
$220 for two.

I figure I have a total of $110 in to EACH of these tables. That includes all of the lumber (some quality lumber and some standard), cheap euro drawer slides, primer, paint, knobs, and hardware. Not included in the estimated cost is the wood conditioner, stain, and poly for the tops (I already had this stuff from a previous project. ***Compare at $499 each for a comparable bedside dresser from LL Bean.
Estimated Time Investment
Week Long Project (20 Hours or More)
Finish Used
Kilz old based primer, then three coats of Rustoleum blossom white for the base.

Minwax pre-stain wood conditioner, Minwax dark walnut stain, and three coats of Minwax semi-gloss polyurethane for the top.
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Modified Twin Farmhouse Bed

My wife found this design on your site and set about convincing me that it would be a good idea to replace the (new) IKEA loft beds that we had recently bought.

The loft beds were not such a great idea as they were 7 feet tall in an 8 foot tall room. Needless to say, i didnt need all that much convincing that replacing them was a good idea...so the first step was to list the loft beds on ebay to fund the builds. They sold for nearly 2/3rds what we purchased them for so we were very happy with that!

Armed with our cash we set off for the Hardware store to pick up our timber, drop saw and coach bolts. We purchased all the timber that we needed and the screws and (i dont know what they are called but) the things that you screw onto the post and the rails to allow them to slot into one another and be pulled apart relatively easily (see the image titled Foot).

We made the bed head slightly lower than the plan calls for and made the foot exactly half the size for uniformity (1200 high and 600 high respectively). We recycled the side rails from an old 1980's waterbed (which saved us considerable money and gave the bed the nice chunky feel we were looking for. Additionally, we raised them 350mm off the ground so that we have space for the future trundles that will be built (watch this space!).

To give the slats in the bed head and foot a little more of a framed appearance, we mitre some 19mm x 30mm beading timber to fill around the slats in either end. You can see this from the pics. We then added some non structural pine to the inside of the rails for the bed base to be affixed to.

After some research, we discovered that it was in fact cheaper and easier to purchase the slats already done and tied together with the polyester strap from ikea...(its called the sultan lade bed base if anyone is interested). I then drilled holes in either end of the slats and screwed them to the rails. This helps with both Rigidity and mattress support as it stops the slats from sliding around the place.

The bed was then filled with putty in the knots, cracks, nail and screw holes, sanded, then painted. I used a water based undercoat followed by 6 coats of semi gloss acrylic applied using a mini (100mm) roller. This has given a lovely silky texture to the paint that has to be felt to be believed.

All up we spent a little over $140.00 on material (but if we needed to buy the rails it would have been over $200.00...still a bargain considering we have seen a very similar bed in the retail stores for over $1000.00!

Just yesterday I won a second hand (donor) bed on ebay...watch out as I start my next build.

Thanks Ana, without you putting this out there, my wife would never have found it and I would never have built it.

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
$140-$240 Australian Dollars
Estimated Time Investment
Week Long Project (20 Hours or More)
Finish Used
Water Based acrylic White semi gloss - applied using a 100 mm roller

I have applied 1 coat of a primer/sealer and then 5-6 top coats.
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Comments

Tom Reburn (not verified)

Thu, 10/11/2012 - 20:51

I really love your modifications. Would you be willing to share your new measurements of the head and foot board? Thanks!

Navy plane

Submitted by caffrin on Mon, 02/17/2014 - 03:17

I made this for my 2 year old son who's Daddy is a Navy sailor aboard a Naval Aircraft Carrier. Our son LOVED this when I finished the project.

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
$80
Estimated Time Investment
Day Project (6-9 Hours)
Finish Used
Exterior satin enamel paint in grey and black. And the logos were hand painted with craft paint.
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Comments

7 Year Old Loved Birthday SeeSaw

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Mon, 05/16/2016 - 16:27

Used treated wood.  Stain was BEHR PREM SOLID STN REDWOOD.

Estimated Cost
$40 Treated Wood
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
BEHR PREM SOLID STN REDWOOD
Recommended Skill Level
Starter Project

Barn Door Pet Kennel

Submitted by Ana White on Wed, 02/19/2020 - 14:19

Built by Holli Peterson

Built from Plan(s)

Comments

hodnett1984

Thu, 08/31/2023 - 21:23

I’m looking to make one similar to this but looking to make it a little bigger for two Great Danes. Do you still have the plans and or cut list for this project to help me out. I’d greatly appreciate it if so.

Three Cube Bench

Another build for a co-worker. She wanted a bench for the front of her bed. I got the colors from her bedroom and matched it.

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
25.00
Estimated Time Investment
Afternoon Project (3-6 Hours)
Finish Used
Outside is Glidden Chocolate Brown and Inside is Behr burnt orange
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Comments

BJ D

Tue, 05/08/2012 - 07:33

I love the two tone. Very cool way to make a simple bench a cool new piece in a room.

"Sweet Shop" Play Stand

Submitted by aclayton on Wed, 02/19/2014 - 14:13

I built this "Sweet Shop" for my daughters for Christmas this year. I cut vinyl on my Silhouette machine for the signs and made a couple of extras in case they decide to use it for a library or post office later. It was a fairly simple project and I made it over a couple of days while my youngest was napping. I added some scrap 1x4's to the front to cover my imperfect paint job-ha!

Estimated Cost
$50 for lumber + $10 for chalkboard paint
Estimated Time Investment
Afternoon Project (3-6 Hours)
Finish Used
natural stain
Recommended Skill Level
Starter Project

Dowel Reinforced Pocket Holes

I made my first dining table using pocket holes. About a week after I sold it, I ended up having to go to the lady's house and put one of the legs back on it. I quickly realized pocket holes were great for most things, but dining table legs might not be the best. Ever since then, I've been using dowels to reinforce pocket hole joints on table legs. So far it's been a great solution. Here is a video explaining how it works. Hope you like it. Patrick

Estimated Time Investment
An Hour or Two (0-2 Hours)
Finish Used
Any
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Rustic X Inspired Entry/Sofa Table

Submitted by fallingday on Sun, 02/23/2020 - 20:22

Simple Rustic X inspired entry way table. I was able to build this project in a Sunday afternoon completely from 70% off lumber from a local big box store. All together it came in under $10 without my time or supplies. 
 

Dimensions are 44x12.5x33. 

(2) 2x4x96

(3) 1x4 furring strips 

(2) 2x2x96 

Brad Nails, Glue and a few screws. 
 

Estimated Cost
$10
Estimated Time Investment
Afternoon Project (3-6 Hours)
Finish Used
None
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Barn Screen Door

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Tue, 10/17/2023 - 07:45

I needed a screen door but one on hinges wasn't a option. So I built one as a barn door. The center bottom panel is a doggie door.

 

Lynda Westbrook

Comments

Vintage step stool

Submitted by BeckySmith on Thu, 05/10/2012 - 05:23

This was a really fun little project. I used my Kreg jig to avoid filling/sanding exposed screws.

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Time Investment
Afternoon Project (3-6 Hours)
Finish Used
Very Berry Valspar Spray paint all over and leftover purple paint stenciled on.
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Comments

mg7y26lp06zn

Wed, 06/06/2012 - 10:40

Sitting on the fertile fields,Previous artistic words we can clear,T Einsamkeit this Es ist kalt und lonely child named regungslos Ich weine so cold and quiet leise in die Zeit I at the time of cry Ich Wei ?Always feel the night time is just a fresh.
TV is a Chinese family essential entertainment facilities. that everybody dare to modify the background data type stuff, since the original system BUG lot, my circle of friends topic always inseparable from our old professional, for not familiar with things, leave have!!Like himself, Yang always take me to visit his company, die in the past.htm 3G reflect.

My little man's bed

Submitted by bd on Sun, 02/23/2014 - 18:54

Pretty basic design - I made a few modifications to the published plans.
1) Slightly longer guard railings
2) Made the cleats flush with the bottom of the side rails so that the guard rails are elevated above the mattress.
3) Added "slat" design for the headboard.

Overall a pretty simple project, but like everything, takes time. Best of all, my little man loved it at first sight and is already using it!

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
$40
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
Minwax English Chestnut and Minwax Polycrylic
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Comments

pde00311

Wed, 02/26/2014 - 06:49

Right before you posted this, we were just looking at this plan after coming to the realization that our little lady is going to graduate from her crib soon. I love the modifications that you made and stain that you used. Awesome work!

Z-Man's Castle Bed

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Tue, 05/24/2016 - 08:15

Awesome plans!  Followed everything and it came out great.  Thank you soooo much, my son loves it!!!

Estimated Time Investment
Week Long Project (20 Hours or More)
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Kendal Extra Wide Dresser with Dovetails

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sat, 02/29/2020 - 12:47

My daughter recently threw out a lot of her things because she wanted to have a grown up room and not a kids room. So she asked if I could make her furniture and wanted a dresser as her first piece. So I couldn't say no!

This was my second project from this web site and my first dresser. Boy was it tough, but I loved every minute of it! Even though the plans were marked Advanced, I made it even more so by trying out dovetailing for all the drawers. By hand. With just a Japanese pull saw and chisels. That added about 10 hours onto the total build, but it was for my daughter, so it was worth it!

This is how it turned out.

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
Roughly $200
Estimated Time Investment
Week Long Project (20 Hours or More)
Finish Used
White Paint (3 coats) and Classic Black PolyShades wood stain and polyurethane by Minwax. Because the wood stain has polyurethane in it, it can get really messy really fast! If you get it on you, soap won't help for clean up. Try olive oil.
Recommended Skill Level
Advanced

Deck Box

This was our second build. Seemed easy enough, but definitely a 'learning experience' here! Most importantly, we learned the value of a straight board and how furring strips are anything but. Thankfully, I got my main squeeze by my side through it all. Even if he is mirroring that same confused expression I get when things don't quite pan out the way they should. LOL!

Estimated Time Investment
Day Project (6-9 Hours)
Finish Used
American Accents Colonial Red
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Bunk Beds, Twin Size with Raised Panel

We are currently in the process of making the plans for these bunk beds, but we wanted to share them on Ana White! I spent quite a bit of time designing the bunk beds, and then my awesome husband helped bring them to life. This project took us a few weeks, but a lot of the time was spent painting. As far as building the project, we wanted something a little bit bigger and grander than most bunk beds you find in the store. I also wanted them to look mature enough that they would grow with my young girls. When they are older, we wanted them to be able to separate the bunk beds and have a beautiful twin bed set. We designed these bunk beds to have a taller headboard (which ends up being the bottom bunk) and a shorter footboard (that is the top bunk). Then, we you separate the bunks, you use one headboard from the bottom, one footboard from the top, and one set of rails. That becomes one twin bed set. To make the bunk beds, you make two headboards and two footboards. We wanted a raised panel look, so we used plywood and 4x4 posts. We used the kreg jig to attach the plywood to the posts. Then, we used the trim to cover up the holes from the kreg. For the top, we used crown and then an mdf cap piece. We just repeated these steps four times for all headboards and footboards. We wanted to really dress these bunk beds up, so we added bun feet to the bunk beds. We also ordered extra and put the matching bun feet on their dresser, so it looked like a complete set. We finished the project by making the bed side rails, the guard rails, and the ladder. We put it together to make sure it fit, then we took it apart and began the painting process. We did about 4 coats of paint: 1 coat of primer, and three coats of latex paint. We sanded lightly between each coat for a nice smooth finish. Check our website for the detailed plans: http://www.jrlwoodworking.com/2014/03/furniture-plans-twin-over-twin-bu…

Estimated Cost
$400.00
Estimated Time Investment
Week Long Project (20 Hours or More)
Finish Used
White Latex Paint
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Comments

Walkerswoodworks

Mon, 01/01/2018 - 07:36

Why is it that when I click the link for these plans, I get sent to an index of links from jrl but can't find the plans?

3 tier planter hand made from your plans

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sat, 05/28/2016 - 19:37

Easy 3 tier planter.  Made from Ana White's plan  Made for free from scrap wood  that I pulled out of the trash and portions from a pallet, ripped 2x4 and shipping container.  #ForMereMortals #planter    

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

Custom desk

Submitted by Aggiegirl on Thu, 03/12/2020 - 04:35

I started with the Cindy Wood Console Table and made some modifications. A friend wanted a desk that had colors added to the top. 

Estimated Cost
$150
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
Mixwax Early American stain
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate
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