Easiest Upholstered Western Bench
The nailheads were finally restocked, and I finished the bench. Thanks for all the responses!
The nailheads were finally restocked, and I finished the bench. Thanks for all the responses!
Had to adjust the measurements to fit the space I had to use it in my tiny kitchen but it turned out pretty well.
I recently started a refinishing business and needed a work surface where I could use the computer, print, and write down inventory and have some storage for receipts, etc. I couldn't find anything affordable and big enough for my home office so I decided on building something myself. With help from my wonderful husband, I built the Narrow Farmhouse Table. I beat up the top with any tool I could find, then sanded, gel stained the top (java) 2x, and I painted the legs a sagey green with homemade chalk paint. Its big and beautiful and perfect for my home-based business.
We have a smaller house and wanted a dining table as well as a table behind our couch. So, we got the best of both worlds with this minor customization. I simply split the two legs and tabletop in half, added additional feet, and built two supporting braces instead of one. For an added touch, I welded tubes to steel angle iron to make a hinge-style locking mechanism with steel pins. This locks both halves together (when using as a full table) and adds a little rustic black metal to the overall look.
For the tabletop, I cut the sides off the lumber to get the square look. I then bent one tooth in my tablesaw and quickly cut the face of the lumber to give it a rough sawn look. I then belt sanded it all to smooth out the really rough spots. Then I shou sugi ban (burned) the top to burn off the splinters and make the grain really pop. I added a little stain to smooth out the light spots. Lastly, I put about 64oz of epoxy and lightly sanded with 0000 steelwool after it set.
Please excuse the floor trim or lack therof. I just installed the new floor and decided our table was the higher priority. :P
Hi Ana, I recently made two of your posts. First, the 2”x4” hall tree and then the house number planter. We found some unique hooks at Hobby Lobby for the hall tree. This is great to keep the kids’ backpacks off of the floor. On the house number planter I stained it with Antique Beige, but is more gray than beige. I then put 3 coats of spar urethane on it to protect from the TX sun.
Sun, 12/26/2021 - 17:58
Those are both great, thank you for sharing! I will need to check out that Antique Beige finish, just gorgeous~
I love the C&B Big Sur dining tables and was excited to come across these plans. I tackled making a copy of the Big Sur dining table using Ana's plans as a starting point with some modifications and custom dimensions (4' x 4' x 31"). This was my first major woodworking project and I wanted it to be as nice and strong as possible so I tackled joining the rails of the frame to the legs with mortise and tenon joints. The main reason I did this was because I used 1 1/4 and 1 3/4 red oak for the entire table and I just wasn't convinced screws could handle the weight of the top on the frame. I also wanted to learn how to make those joints. I used my plunge router to cut both the mortises and the tenons and it worked out reasonably well. Now that I have a table saw I will be using that with a dado blade for tenons in the future. I sanded to 320 grit and finished with four coats of General Finishes Gel Stain in Java followed by four coats of Minwax spray on polyurethane. The last step was to apply paste wax using 0000 steel wool and then buff with a clean rag. I love the way this came out and am now planning on making a bar cabinet with wine bottle holders in the same style. The total cost of the table was on the higher end than I'm used to because the wood was pricey but it was still so much less than the C&B Big Sur price tag. I'm lucky that I have a hardwood lumber supplier just a few minutes down the road that does custom milling of 100's of different species.
This plan was pretty easy to follow. Apart from having to make some minor adjustments to the notches for the rafters across the top, and needing a couple more seat support boards than the cut list called for, everything went as planned.
I used green treated lumber and stained it with Minwax Walnut. I also sealed the entire piece with Spar Urethane.
I didn't use lattice work on the sides, but went with some horizontal lattice work on the back (a mix of stained and unstained 2x1 and 3x1 boards). I may install a couple of 2x4 for arm rests on each side.
The morning glory vine I planted behind the bench has almost reached the top of the lattice work. All in all, I'm very pleased with how this project turned out.
Thanks Ana!
Sun, 06/21/2015 - 11:11
This is awesome. I really like the horizontal slates on the back.
Wed, 06/24/2015 - 10:27
Thank-you. It was a fun project to work on. Lots of opportunities to tweak the design to suit your own preferences.
Thanks for the plan and the inspiration to do the job, it turned out great! Luckily, I didn't put the new bedding on yet, as the little ones needed some wrestling time.
Thanks!
This is the cabin single bed. The bookcase/drawers and desk are almost done and will be posted soon. This was a great project, very easy and my son is so excited! Thanks again Ana :) We used a green milk paint with Federal Blue milk paint over it, distressed it and then used a brown glaze and polyacrylic.
Wanted to utilize my daughters small bedroom, and give her a custom bed without a huge price tag.
Supply list...required an additional 2x4
Used a bunkie board bought at local furniture store ($50) instead of slats for mattress.
Cleats that were 2x2 weren't wide enough to keep bunkie board in- it kept falling out. (standard is 38 " wide) so I replaced those with 2x3s. Decking on platform is very sturdy- maybe a bit overkill for a 40 lb kid.
Overall a quick project. My mom and I built it- Lowes did all cuts for us (no charge!) except the angled stairs- which mom did.
Turned out great- were were brand new to this- so struggled a bit as instructions are somewhat vague (where to drill holes- step by step process out of order) Drill all your pocket holes in all pieces prior to assembly. I would have sanded and stained prior to assembly too- doing in a tiny bedroom was tricky. Staining and sanding took the most time.
Overall alot of fun- ready to do next project. Thank-you for the inspiration!
Sun, 07/07/2013 - 20:58
The bed looks great! It really caught my eye as I made this bed for my daughter Annika too. I am sure yours will enjoy it just as much as mine does.
Mon, 07/08/2013 - 14:00
Ha! I'm building one for my daughter Annika as well! :D I feel like I'm part of a secret club now.
My daughter loves her new bed! The plans were easy to follow and didn't take very long to build. It took me about 2 weeks to finish. I suggest measuring your mattress first and adjusting dimensions accordingly. My daughter's mattress is a bit longer than usual, so I added about an inch to the length. I added drawers to one side and left one side as open cubbies. I also added a 2x4 base below the storage boxes for support. Ana has plans for this in one of her kitchen cabinet plans. I'm so glad I did, as I've already found 3 kids hiding on the cubby side, and one of them is 14! I didn't run the 2x4 base all the way to the head/footboard, so it wouldn't show. This changes the height where the storage boxes attach by 1/2 an inch. The bed may suprise you at how high the mattress sits, but I think that is normal with a storage bed. My daughter loves sleeping up high. Thank you so much for this wonderful plan! I love Ana's website and have learned so much!
Made from Ana White `s plan. Thanks for the help.
We bought a vacation home that has such a small kitchen. I knew we needed more storage. So I checked out Ana's plans and made this bad boy based on the Simplest Armoire plans.
The home is in the mountain/lakes area of northern New Hampshire, so I wanted to bring the outside colors in. I used Valspar Cabin Red paint and the Valspar Antiquing glaze over the top after distressing it a bit.
My husband and my boys built it, painted it, and stained it in a weekend. Great father and sons project. I used the same black paint and stain that Shanty-2-chic used. I LOVE it.. now on to the benches.
These chairs are easy to build and the kids love them. I wanted them to be colorful, fun, and personal. My son has been using his chair before it was finished for two years now. It was supposed to be used temporarily for a dinner party one night and we didn't want to part with it long enough to finish it. I built a second chair for my one and a half year old and decided to finish both chairs at the same time. With a little bit of planning and some painters tape this is how they turned out.
Sat, 06/27/2015 - 22:14
Love the finish here, so cute! For the circles, did you use those circle stickers? I may need to do something like this for a very special little girl :)
In reply to love the paint! by ladybug'13
Sun, 08/02/2015 - 18:40
I used a stencil to draw the circles then just painted them in.
I modified these plans to be a bit smaller and also added an upper shelf area. Overall dimensions for my finished product are 74” long by 21” wide by 37.5” tall. I stained the top, upper trim pieces, and shelves dark walnut. The rest of the project is painted in “Summer White” by Sherwin Williams. To complete this project you will need barn door hardware *plus* an extra door set. I did my best to provide sketches and dimensions, but all wood was cut to size by measuring its space first, so “cut list” may not be exact. In this project it is key to measure as you go and maintain a level workspace so that the furniture remains level. I also added 3/4” by 1/2” trim pieces to the shelves because I did not like the gap in the shelving pieces. I also drilled 1.5” holes in the back in order to accommodate electrical cords.
Upper and lower frames:
4 - 2x3 @ 65”
4 - 2x3 @ 17”
4 - 2x3 @ 14”
Sides:
2 - 3/4” plywood @ 36”x17 1/4”
Face Frame:
2 - 1x4 @ 70.5”
2 - 1x4 @ 29”
1 - 1x4 @ 63.5”
2 - 1x4 @ 18”
Shelves:
3 - 1x8 @68”
3 - 1x10 @ 68”
3 - 3/4”x1/2” trim @ 68”
Shelf Supports:
6 - 1x2 @ 10”
6 - 1x2 @ 7”
10 - 1x2 @ 17”
Trim:
1 - 1x2 @ 71.5”
2 - 1x2 @ 17 1/4”
1 - 3/4”x1/2” trim @ 71.5”
2 - 3/4”x1/2” trim @ 17 1/4”
Top:
1 - 2x10 @ 74”
1 - 2x12 @ 74”
Doors:
1/2” plywood approx 16”x20”
1x2 creates border and diagonal piece
Back:
1/4” plywood approx 36”x69”
Needed a new console that would match other living room furniture. We had inherited the electric fireplace and previously didn’t know what to do with it. I adjusted the plans slightly to fit it in and am happy with the results
This was my first try at making a picture frame. I've used this same principle to make single framed picture frames numerous times since then. Thanks Ana! Such an easy build!
Second Project! Although the storage capacity of the Modular Bar is awesome, we needed a good workspace for pouring the drinks :)
I modified the "Simple Kitchen Island" plan a little:
1) Instead of using a 2'x4' project panel for the tabletop, I used the jig to put together two 1x12s, this made it a little bit narrower, but since I was staining I prefered the look of the edges of solid oak.
2) I didn't need the storage of the bottom shelf (and the dogs would get in anything I put there), however I knew people may put their feet on the bottom rails so I beefed them up to 1x4s instead of 1x2s and added a middle beam to stabilize them some.
3) I increased the total height some so we can pull the island up to our current 36" high dining room table to accomodated two extra people.
I originally planned to make the Lydia daybed as is, but we decided to make it with reclaimed materials after being inspired by redwood we found that had been salvaged from old pickle barrels. We ended up with chunkier posts for the legs (3 1/4" by 3"), and used a thick solid piece of wood for the front (2"x 7 1/2") , which did change the dimensions of our project a bit. We attached an old shutter to the plywood for the sides, and found salvaged bed post tops for the tops. We left off the scalloped edges because they seemed too delicate for the look we had going. Also, my husband had fun with his new router on the edges. We decided to use 1x8's for the slats under the bed b/c we thought it would give more support to the latex foam we had used instead of a traditional mattress. Because we move a lot, we wanted to be able to take the daybed apart if necessary. We attached the sides to the daybed with bed rail brackets. I posted more about the daybed on my blog. Sewing the cushions/pillows took much longer than making the actual daybed!
I built these sofa tables for my wife’s client. She has a interior paint business. Her client was talking about wanting she sofa tables, so she volunteered me to build the tables. I didn’t have a design for the tables, so I looked at several different designs and talked to the client on what she was looking for. So I just did some rough sketches and got some ideas from my wife. I used mostly 1 bys for the build, just depends on the size on what width and length of board you are going to need. The top of the large table is a 5/4 preglued board that Menards has in store, again depending on width and length on the size of board you use. I used the 5/4 board for better stability and strength. I used a red oak stain then applied several coats of poly to finish. On the top I used a 200 sandpaper after a couple of coats of poly to get the top smoother for more coats of poly. Over all the build was pretty easy if you have good woodworking knowledge. Used pocket holes (Kreg) to attach sides and frame to top. On the large top side I used two 1x8’s to get the width i needed. Joined them with pocket holes (Kreg). If you can dream it, you can build it.