This was my first solo project using Ana's plans. I did the whole thing while my husband was out of town, with my 4 kids (including a toddler and newborn) milling around. We surprised him with it for his birthday when he got home. He was shocked.
The plans were straight-forward and easy to understand. I had everything cut at the hardware store, because I was afraid of the miter saw, but I ended up using it anyway to fix an incorrect measurement. (It wasn't so bad.)
I painted the bottom and stained the top separately, before putting them together, so I could get the finishes everywhere, and there wouldn't be bare wood showing through when you open the top.
I used narrow profile hinges, just like in the plan, and they work beautifully. Three was the prefect amount. The trickiest part was screwing the top on, because I was afraid the screws would protrude into the storage compartment. But I measured carefully (several times) and used clamps to keep everything in place. Then I marked where the screws would go with chalk. It worked perfectly.
This bench is the final step in reworking our entryway. We have a small house with lots of kids, so we need our spaces to work for us. Having a bench that also keeps up with our library books is a perfect addition. I can't wait to use Ana's plans to make the rest of the house work for us too!
More details on the blog post.
http://lassothemoon.typepad.com/lasso_the_moon/2013/06/entryway-flip-to…
Thanks, Ana!
ps. The time estimated is total time--including working around the kids, and trying to figure out how to turn on the miter saw (20 min!).
The money is my estimate of what it actually cost, even though my hardware store bill was a little more--but I'm using some of the screws, stain, etc on other projects.