My Adirondack chairs and table. Ready for the summer.
Thanks for the plans Ana.
Thanks for the plans Ana.
I have been dreaming of building a bed since I found Ana's website over a year ago. I bought the wood in January and slowly worked on it over 3 months, mainly because I was uncertain that I could actually do it myself! After spending about 3 hours in a row to finish it, it is finally complete! I am so happy with how it turned out and friends of mine cannot believe that I did this BY MYSELF! View more on my project at http://thevpfamily.blogspot.com/2011/05/lumber.html or http://thevpfamily.blogspot.com/2011/06/did-you-guess-bed.html
Fri, 06/10/2011 - 11:45
The bed turned out just beautiful! Love the finish, and $75? Wow! Thank you so much for sharing with us!
This was my first project. I learned a ton through the process. Ana's directions were very easy and straightforward.
I purchased the wood (Doug-Fir) from Lowe's and cut it at home with a circular saw. I filled the gaps in the table/benches with a crystal clear silicon caulk - I have mixed feelings about this, since it dried kind of shiny. The coats of polyurethane helped to dull the finish a bit. For the stain, I used Rustoleum Kona, and Minwax Helmsman Spar Urethane Semi-Gloss for the finish.
Like others have suggested, I built the benches first, then the table. This was a great tip, since you can learn the design on a smaller model before tackling the beast of table (it's heavy). I also added some horizontal supports on the ends of the tables/benches, not in the original plans. I just duplicated the end aprons of the table and countersinked/screwed them in at an angle.
Cutting and building the project didn't take nearly as much time as the sanding, staining and finishing. The back-end part of the project was very detail-oriented and stretched out over several days.
Overall, very pleased with the finished project. It was very empowering to know that I can build something like this. Thanks Ana and all of the others with their tips and suggestions! My wife and I know have a long list of other projects to tackle :)
When I first saw the outdoor sectional plans from Ana I had to build this! The sectionals at potterybarn cost at least $1500 and that is without the cushions. I chose cedar for the lumber because I wanted a high end stained wood look that would stand up to the pacific northwest weather. I purchased most of the lumber from Orange and some of the smaller boards from a local lumber yard. Every board was cut first then sanded and stained before assembly. This made it look a lot more professional and no drips! There are just too many tight areas to do this after it is assembled. I made 2 Weatherly outdoor sofas and used the plans from the Weatherly loveseat to leave the end off of one of the sofas to make an L-shaped sectional. This fit perfectly for my narrow deck which is the beauty of DIY and Ana's easy to modify plans. I followed the suggestion of another brag post to attach the 2 sofas together with carriage bolts and nuts. It is important to be very accurate with all of the cuts because they have to fit together perfectly for the final product to look straight and measure correctly. Because there a about a million repetitive cuts in these plans I took the idea of another brag post and youtube and created a stop out of leftover lumber which really helped me keep my cuts accurate and saved me a lot of time. I really enjoyed using my new Kreg K5 pocket hole jig on this project which saved me time and my new Ryobi brad nailer that I convinced my husband I needed. I plan on using it on several projects which "require" a brad nailer! I bought six 25" cushions in turquoise from Pier 1 in mid-July which were on major sale and several pillows to match the color. I am somewhat of a beginner so I didn't adjust te plans to fit six 25" cushions so I had to have one cut down to 22" by a local upholstery shop (I could have purchased a 22" cushion but of course they were all sold out). I suggest at least a 3-4" depth cushion that is fairly firm, which Pier 1 cushion were.
I love the outdoor coffee table with built in beer cooler idea that another brag post had suggested.It uses a planter box as the cooler. I used the same stain which worked well and adequately waterproofed the table. It also has a cover for the cooler when it is not in use. I thought it was a nice addition.
I loved this project and how it turned out! Thanks for the plans and inspiration!!!
I made a window seat, it was fun. It has these 27 Inch soft close drawers , a custom extended vent, and an outlet port with usb on the right end. It was fun thank you (and my wife loves it! (Still waiting for our seat pad for it)
by Glen
My 5 year old grandson, Trevor, came for an overnight and we worked on building Ana's Big Kids' Picnic Table. Grandpa cut the boards the day before and Trev easily helped me drill all the holes and place the screws, then painted the table his favorite color. He was so excited to have built something so useful that he could take to his home and share with his new step-siblings.
This project took about 3 hours with painting, but was really easy to follow. Trev enjoyed learning how to use the drill safely, wearing his own work gloves and safety glasses and learning the art of painting! It was the PERFECT project for the two of us to keep us busy.
Thanks for another great plan Ana!
We made the woven back bench this weekend for our front porch. We modified the back to not have the bend in it, and we added supports to the slats underneath as we felt it needed that. It was a great plan and we love the end result of the bench! One tip, if you make, you'll actually need TWO 1x4x8's even though the supply list says you'll only need one. We used the kreg jig a lot on this project. Highly recommend this plan! Bonus, it only cost about $25 for the wood for this project!
Mon, 07/29/2013 - 17:18
Good work! I have been planning to make this bench but was unsure of what finish I wanted. After seeing yours I am definitely painting it black. Thanks for sharing!
Sun, 08/04/2013 - 08:38
Thank you! I think this would be very cute in many colors! I'm a painted wood kind of girl and love black. We just painted our front door black and I wanted the bench to coordinate with that. It turned out fab! If you make this though, I suggest painting the slats and back pieces before assembly! It was pretty difficult to paint once all together. ;) We used exterior satin black paint from the blue store.
We used the Fancy X Farmhouse Table plans to create the table then stenciled the game boards onto the sanded tabletop with a pencil. After that we scored over the pencil tracing to prevent stain bleed over, then carefully polyurethaned over the sections we did not want stained. After the poly dried we used a small craft brush to paint the stain in one color at a time.
I have been dreaming of getting a tufted bench that I could place at the foot of my bed for years now. The only problem it was always ridiculously priced out of my range. Home decorations may just might be the most expensive part of home ownership, Hahaha. Inspired by all of the fabulous plans provided by Ana White I set out to develop plans of my own using the principles I learned in her book The Handbuilt Home. This is one of my favorite DIY projects to date. Here’s how I did it.
For this, I actually did a lot of the cutting as I went along. To be perfectly honest, I wasn’t entirely sure I had measured the bottom shelf and storage areas correctly. To reduce the likelihood of mismeasurements, I measured liked 3 to 4 times before cutting every piece.
I used square wooden dowels for the ledges because I didn’t have to worry about ensuring that the boards were straight. Also I didn’t want to go through and make a ton of repetitive cuts on my circular saw or miter. You can easily use scrap wood for the ledges as long as its straight and creates a flat even surface for the boards to rest on. I didn’t cut the ledge the entire length of the rails. It’s just important that there is enough support to hold the plywood base in place as you secure it to the rails or aprons to the legs.
Click here for more details and the complete Free plans and Cut list.
I thought I would make one just for fun.. now I don't know who to give it to.. But I did have fun making it
Fri, 04/22/2022 - 11:24
That's awesome, I am sure you will come up with the perfect recipient! Thanks for sharing:)
When I first saw Ana's $10 ledges - I knew I wanted to do them, with a twist. I have this random nook in my house - and I knew they would be perfect. I wanted a feature wall there. And a feature it is.
I posted more pictures and how I framed everything out on my blog.
Thank you Ana for your continued inspiration! I wouldn't have been able to do any of it without you!
Tue, 03/06/2012 - 11:55
I love this! I love the area of wallpaper framed out. Can you tell me how you did that? Did you attach the wallpaper to the wall? Or did you attach to plywood or something and then attach to the wall? I have a perfect spot in my hallway to do something cute like this! LOVE!
Tue, 04/17/2012 - 10:28
This is absolutely gorgeous!! I would love to something just like this...so creative! By any chance, can you tell me what wallpaper you used??
Tue, 04/17/2012 - 10:29
So beautiful! Can you tell me which wallpaper you used?? I love it!
Sat, 04/21/2012 - 05:44
I'll look to see if I can find the name and brand of wallpaper. We actually wallpapered the wall. It was super easy the whole thing. We lined out where it would be centered. Then put up I think 4 sections. When it was done it was super easy We put a decorative block in one corner - cut the next molding piece to line up with the next corner, and continued all 4 sides. No mitering cuts - super easy!
Sun, 04/22/2012 - 19:24
Wow! Thank you so much! I cannot wait to start! I really appreciate you trying to find the wallpaper pattern. It just so happens i have the same color carpeting, banister and paint already in my upstairs hall, so as soon as i saw your picture i knew it could work. Hopefully you will be able to find it..if not, i can't thank you enough for your detailed instructions. That will really help being i am not that handy! Hope to hear back from you.
Thanks again,
Erica
I changed up the plan by making 3 pedestals, adding drawer slides and creating flute work on the pedestals.
I had some left over Walnut wood, so I decided to make some more Beer Tap handles. This is a fairly simple DIY that doesn't take that long to complete. I have already written a full tutorial on my blog:
This project was so fun! I am a beginner in the DIY world and so excited with how this turned out. the plans were super easy to follow (thank you for the video too)! Lowes cut all the lumber for me so I really only needed the drill to put it all together. To put the table together it only took us an afternoon but in total it took us several days, once it was put together, to get everything sanded, primed, painted, and stained-overall VERY VERY pleased!
Cedar Planters!
We've been looking for some saddle back stools for quite a while that would fit snug under our kitchen island. I couldn't find any, so I checked Ana-White and found the perfect building plan. I used scraps to build two matching stools and so I altered the plans to fit what I had. Other then the dimensions being different, I also used a 2x12" piece of wood cut down to 9x15" for the stool top.
I've documented the process as best as I could at; http://www.tommyandellie.com/Site/Home/Entries/2011/6/13_More_Seating_f…
Thu, 06/30/2011 - 04:50
I skipped a step that I might redo. I'd recommend taking some wood filler and spreading over the knots and imperfections before painting it. Sand it down, smooth it out, and it'll be Looking flawless.
Thu, 07/07/2011 - 15:02
I've been looking for some stools like this, so I followed your lead and just finished making some. Thanks so much for sharing!
We adapted these plans to build our tree house, I hope it's not too much of a stretch for brag posts! Every kid seems to have two wishes: a fort or tree house and a secret passage way. Or is it just my kids? Turns out we live in the desert and trees are hard to come by. Our solution? Build a tree house in the house. Why not!? Our magic tree house is well used and well loved. This is one of those projects that simmered and in my mind trying to think of the perfect way to build the thing. The stuff our parents built and played in was a hodge podge of left over wood and their own creations, crooked construction and messy paint. So, I set the perfect aside and dove in. The only things our tree house really needs to be is safe and fun. Most families try to find indoor activities for the winter, but in the desert it is so blazing hot we need indoor retreats in the summer. This tree house is the solution a gagillion times over! Thank you Ana!
Sun, 08/18/2013 - 21:32
Thank you! I just was elevated to cool mom and i love it :)
Modified from the original plans to make it longer and thinner to fit the space/need.
For the "X" cuts I just built the frame, clamped on a rough length of 2x2 and drew lines where the cuts should go. I ended up cutting those by hand since they were well over 45 degrees. Next time I will make a jig for my miter saw to handle those angles.
Finish is just vinegar and steel wool. The picture with the clamps is before the top coat was applied. Once the poly was put on it gave it a nice gloss and nice, rich colors.
Now it just needs some decorative pieces sitting on it :)
Fri, 08/21/2015 - 20:53
Your console turned out great! I was curious if you still have the dimensions you used?
Thanks
Nice, fun project!
Thu, 07/02/2020 - 19:28
Very nicely done! Love the wood grain showing through on the desk top.
Great adaptations to the adirondack chair plan!
by Kevin
Comments
Ana White Admin
Thu, 04/21/2022 - 15:07
Ready for summer is right!
These look amazing, love the finish choice! Thank you so much for taking the time to share:)