Community Brag Posts

Rustic Table

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sun, 10/15/2023 - 18:55

Rustic modern table I built out of 2x4’s and 2x10’s.

Wall Shelves Ledges for Children's Books

Using Ana's Ten Dollar Ledges project, we created these shelves for our children's rooms. They were so easy to make and paint and hang. We absolutely love them and so do the kids! Our shelves were 32" long to fit in a particular spot. The shelves also cost a little more than the price listed in the plans. Perhaps my husband bought a higher grade of wood. I'm not sure, but it was worth it regardless. You can see more of our kids' rooms and our old house renovations at our blog Lovely Chaos.

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
$80
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Built In Storage Bench

I wanted to make a built in storage bench for the breakfast nook in our eat-in kitchen, but wasn't entirely sure how to go about the process. After seeing Ana's "Mimi's Storage Bench" I thought the plan could be modified to fit our space, so I convinced my husband to give it a shot. We've done a fair amount of carpentry in our house, but this is the first piece of furniture that we have ever built. Thanks to Ana's plans and our new Kreg jig, it turned out better than I ever imagined. We absolutely love the new bench, where my toddler spends every morning eating his breakfast while staring out the window and giggling at the squirrels in our backyard.

Estimated Cost
$300
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
Benjamin Moore's Satin Aura paint in White Dove
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Comments

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

Nice day build for a friend!

Submitted by jwalt66 on Sun, 02/23/2020 - 16:48

All in all, I'm pleased with the way it came out. The person that I built it for wanted a weathered gray stain. It wouldnt have been my choice, but ince applied,  I really liked how it turned out 

Estimated Cost
$100.00
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
1 coat of Varathane premium fast dry wood stain - weathered gray
3 coats of varathane water based satin spray polyurethane
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

DIY Farmhouse Bed

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Mon, 10/16/2023 - 20:02

Turned out beautifully for our master bedroom!

Built from Plan(s)

Comments

Upraised garden beds

Submitted by sarahg on Thu, 05/10/2012 - 08:57

This is the first of 3 raised garden beds based on Ana's plan found here: raised garden beds. My and our twin 5 yr old daughters' job this weekend is to fill them. CAN'T WAIT!

MODIFICATIONS
He added a board to the top to make them a little higher. Our first set of boards came from Home Depot, and this box came to around $30. The boards are really rough, so we may sand them a bit as we have little kids and don't want TOO many splinters. Our next 2 boxes will be made from materials from another chain here in Minnesota, Menard's, and they are much smoother (and cheaper - on sale this week for $1.50 a board!)

We also had a really hard time finding outdoor 1" screws, so he used 1 1/4" ones and didn't countersink them.

I am also planning on putting in some landscape fabric inside to help keep weeds out and water/dirt in, since the seams are porous.

Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
N/A
Recommended Skill Level
Starter Project

Our new storage bench.

Submitted by cherwoods on Sun, 02/23/2014 - 20:29

We followed Ana's plans to the letter and every cut, every corner, everything turned out perfectly! We put about 3 hours into the bench on day one, and finished up on the second day with stain and polyurethane. The only change we made was to make it slightly shorter and have less overhang on each edge.
Thanks Ana!!

Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
Jacobean stain with a semigloss poly.
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

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

Rustic Side Tables

Submitted by zawatkins on Sat, 02/29/2020 - 08:04

Simple to build rustic end tables/side tables. These were stained in a red mahogany stain and satin finish polyurethane top coat. 

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
$115/set
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
Red mahogany minwax penetrating stain
Satin finish fast drying polyurethane
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

A swing for bebe

This is basically just a scaled down version of our porch swing, with a few adjustments for safety. The best part? Its baby approved! She swings away happily watching her sibs playing in the yard, She likes it so well, in fact, that I frequently find myself carrying a sleeping baby from swing to bed. :)

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

Comments

Robinwood

Mon, 05/14/2012 - 16:48

This is wonderful, and it looks very safe. I don't have any little babies around, but it would be a nice gift for someone.

Farmhouse style picnic table

A friend of mine asked me to build him a picnic table for his dining room. I picked out the plans from here and decided to do a farmhouse style picnic table. We all think it turned out great and their kids love it. The table is built straight off the original plans except I used pocket holes to attach most of the boards and also decided to add bolts instead of screws in the supports for the seats.

Estimated Cost
$100.00
Estimated Time Investment
Day Project (6-9 Hours)
Finish Used
Miniwax pre-stain, Miniwax Dark Walnut and water based clear coat. The table top had 3 coats of clear coat and the rest had 2 coats.
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate
Seasonal And Holiday

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

Changing table/dresser

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Wed, 03/11/2020 - 16:51

The changing table/dresser came out so much better than I ever thought I was capable of! Thank you for the plans and courage to try!

Estimated Cost
$300
Estimated Time Investment
Week Long Project (20 Hours or More)
Finish Used
Primed with Valspar primer and finished with Valspar semi gloss paint
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Small Truss Farmhouse Table

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sun, 10/29/2023 - 18:54

 

A smaller version of the farmhouse 4x4 truss beam table. Made with inexpensive Douglas Fir construction wood. My biggest woodworking project yet. Very satisfying!

Deb B

Built from Plan(s)

Media Console - Revised Ana White Design

Submitted by Indydil on Wed, 05/16/2012 - 10:27

What a fun project. Based on Ana White's Media Console that was very close to what I wanted. I changed up the size to work in my room. I needed a shorter length to fit the space I had. I did not use the doors or drawers. For my first project they intimidated me a bit. I also needed access to the TV box.

I subtracted for the legs so they ended flush with the bottom of the console and used some fun wheels to be able to move it around. Finally, I did not like seeing all of the cords behind it so I added a back with cutout for the cords and painted it the same color as the console.

As it was built "on the fly" I did not keep detailed measurements to share. Can't wait to pick out my next project! Thanks Ana for all you do.

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
$150.00
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
TV Console. Paint was Find Paints of Europe Hollandlac Brilliant in one of their purple colors.
Recommended Skill Level
Starter Project

Impossible Staircase

Submitted by mtairymd on Sun, 03/02/2014 - 12:37

The Penrose stairs, also known as the impossible staircase, is a two-dimensional depiction of a staircase in which the stairs make four 90-degree turns as they ascend or descend yet form a continuous loop. Although the staircase is conceptually impossible, it does interfere with your perception since it looks like a person could climb forever and never get any higher.

Watching the video is the easiest way to see how it works. I’ve included a drawing which is linked in the video description.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VAAZBhA8Pfc

See my Youtube woodworking channel for additional projects

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLcLIJdluqiyiI7J9qp5VAXrALMOftr0RT

Estimated Cost
$5
Estimated Time Investment
An Hour or Two (0-2 Hours)
Finish Used
None
Recommended Skill Level
Starter Project

So comfortable!

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Tue, 05/31/2016 - 09:28

This was my first BIG project that I have ever attempted.  Would I do it again?  Probably not, it definitely was a "bite off more than you can chew" situation.  Many adjustments had to be made to fit our needs, however it turned out wonderful and I am happy with the results.

 

I tweaked the plans for the folowing reasons:

  • Twin XL mattresses - I wanted something thick and soft, as well as supportive.  I was able to find memory foam twin xl mattresses (thank you amazon) and they delivered right to my door.  This was the first factor in changing around all the measurements (to fit the mattresses).
  • L shaped couch - The husband wanted an L shaped couch.  I wanted two identical couches, since it seemed a lot more simple to do this.  I lost that battle, perhaps I gave in to the notion that I could take on the added challenge.

The framing was easy as pie.  We opted to not do the storage concept- we have enough as it is.  We bought fabric online from a fabric wholesaler based out of Chicago (found them on Amazon).  This was probably the most costly out of everything, and with two cats and a dog I deeply regret going with blue-grey canvas.  It looks great, but shows stains very easily.

 

The padding was relatively simple to do.  I should have done more than just one layer, since it seems pretty hard on the corners and edges.  Again no big deal, I don't lay on the arm or backing.

 

For the pillow cases and mattress covers, we found a woman who sews in her spare time to make zipper cushions, so we could easily take the cushions on/off to clean them.  This was a little pricey, and I wish I could sew, but sadly I do not have the patience (or sewing machine for that matter).

 

Stapling the fabric and assembling the couch together... oh what a nightmare and test of patience that all was!  Again since I caved on the L shaped approach, I wanted an arm rest for the "chaise" portion of the couch.  Seemed pretty simple and straight forward, right?  NOPE!  I had to strategically assemble and staple the fabric, so the last part to staple down wasn't in a visible area.  And to top it all off, the framing was too large to just assemble in the garage and bring inside.  Assembled, this five thousand pound monster couldn't even fit through my doorway!  So assembling it all together, and uphostering was done in the living room.  I must say that this is the most solid (and heavy piece of furniture) that I have ever encountered.  If a tornado came ripping through my neighborhood I would probably try to find refuge and hold on to the couch- I can barely move it, it's so heavy.

 

It was so much fun doing this project.  The fabric portion was a challenge to say the least.  It was a fabric rubix cube, but we got through it with patience and planning.

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
1500
Estimated Time Investment
Week Long Project (20 Hours or More)
Recommended Skill Level
Advanced

Rolling workbench for a tiny garage.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sun, 03/22/2020 - 18:47

My wife and I just bought our first house and I've been planning out my workbench since we made the offer. I got to finish the table saw rolling cart today. Thank you so much for these plans, I could not be happier! Next up is outdoor furniture!

Estimated Cost
$150
Estimated Time Investment
Day Project (6-9 Hours)
Finish Used
My garage floors are really uneven so I added adjustable feet to even things out. You can find mine here - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07C6143YN/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Floating Shelf

Submitted by sophie on Mon, 05/21/2012 - 00:09

I took the building ideas from Ana's shelf but made mine a lot bigger so that it snaked up the wall as boxes.
It was a really easy project to do - the most complicated parts were measuring out exactly where to make the cuts and keeping them straight with the jigsaw.
I attached my shelf to the wall using keyhole hangers rather than L brackets as suggested, as I wanted floating shelves where you can't see the hanging hardware.
Have a look at my blog for photos of the hanging hardware and more photos of the shelf.

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
€50
Estimated Time Investment
Afternoon Project (3-6 Hours)
Finish Used
High gloss white paint
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner