Community Brag Posts

KID'S STORAGE STEP STOOL

Submitted by popeicus on Thu, 02/13/2014 - 17:33

I undertook this project for my daughters new twin bed so that she could climb up into it. It actually went really smooth for my first project, the only issues we had was a little paint peeling at the end.

What I did was sand and primer the steps, then when that was done the entire thing was painted pistachio, after that was done and dry we attacked vinyl stickers for our daughters name and little tinkerbell characters and starbursts, the final step was to paint the entire thing purple and when it was dry we peeled off the vinyl stickers and the pistachio underneath showed the designs through and we like to think it was a success.

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
$20
Estimated Time Investment
Afternoon Project (3-6 Hours)
Finish Used
Krylon spray paint
Recommended Skill Level
Starter Project

I did it!

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Wed, 05/11/2016 - 13:49

After looking on Ana's homepage for quite some time and dreaming about building my own furniture, I finally took the first step and ordered myself the small Kreg Jig. I am so happy with the outcome!

Living in Switzerland, I had to do some calculations as the wood available has different sizes and of course, I am used to centimeters... And math is not my strongest skill! But apart from some minor miscalculation with the back of the sofa, it all worked out - luckily I the slats were too long and not too short :-) 

Thank you Ana for sharing your plans!

 

Estimated Time Investment
Week Long Project (20 Hours or More)
Finish Used
Wood primer, followed by Acrylic paint white
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner
Seasonal And Holiday

Rustic Food Drying Rack

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Wed, 10/04/2023 - 08:19

I followed the plans mostly. My wife really liked the design. I spaced the drawers out 4 more inches I believe and I made a removable top ,not pictured, so I could stack on top of it. It came out great. Cool idea thank you!

Mike

Comments

Upsized

This is the first thing I've ever built and with a few minor imperfections, it turned out great. I wanted a rolling table for my laptop, but needed a larger one than the plan for my big laptop and to use a mouse. My table is about 26" x 18". Since I don't have the proper saw, I bought a sheet of MDF at Home Depot and had them do the cutting for me and it cost abut $35 bucks total. Casters were about $8 & paint was $11. I decided to do mine with the shelves so I'd have storage for laptop peripherals like usbs, external hard drive, and cords. I was really scared to get started screwing stuff in, but once I did it was pretty easy. I did slightly crack the wood on my first screw and read up about it and figured out I screwed too close to the edge. It only took a couple hours to put together, the painting was the long part.

Estimated Time Investment
Day Project (6-9 Hours)
Finish Used
Glidden interior semi-gloss & minwax poly clear coat
Recommended Skill Level
Starter Project

Rolling Kitchen Island

The main modification on this project is the locking casters that allow us to use it as an island or a side counter. The legs are also 4x4's rather than 2x4's. The tabletop is five 2x6's at 48" (just cut 8' board in half) joined with glue and pocket hole screws. I attached the top to the frame with three support planks and pocket hole screws (pic attached). The frame and legs are painted white and the top and shelves are stained with Minwax Ebony and three coats on Poly.

Ana, thank you again for such a great service to all of us novice builders. This was a blast and extremely useful for our family. We are most grateful!

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
$125
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
Minwax Wood Finish (Ebony); Fast-Drying Polyurethane
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Expanded Parson Tower Desk

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Fri, 05/13/2016 - 16:42

I needed a big space for my two kiddos to do art projects.  I also needed to get rid of an old dresser we were using to store games, puzzles, and art supplies.  The shelves underneath provided the space for all the things previously housed in the dresser and gave my girls 9 feet of glorious work space.  Now we don't have to interrupt their creativity to eat dinner.

 

I modified the parson tower desk by adding a third shelf beneath to hold the longer (9 foot) desktop that I needed.  Instead of MDF I used paint grade pine panels.  It was only a little more than MDF for the pieces that I needed (1 @ 3/4 x 16 x 96 and 2 @ 3/4 x 16 x 72) and didn't come with the toxic sawdust.  

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
$100 including polycrylic, but I used stain and white paint that I already had.
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
Primer (1 coat) then Behr Ultra Pure White Semi-Gloss Paint on base (2 coats). Minwax Water Based Wood Stain in Terracotta (2 coats). Minwax Polycrylic Protective Finish in Clear Gloss. I did 3 coats of the poly with light sanding (500 grit) between each coat. Then I wiped down with cheesecloth before applying the next coat.
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Bathroom vanity

Hand made bathroom vanity check us out on Facebook marney Marie 

Estimated Cost
200
Estimated Time Investment
Day Project (6-9 Hours)

Comments

Cedar Planter DIY

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Wed, 10/11/2023 - 10:29

Followed your plan for cedar planter had fun building it thank you so much I added my touch to it of the burn look

JR Lopez

Built from Plan(s)

My Bristol BBQ Table

Submitted by tracysmith on Fri, 05/04/2012 - 15:27

This is what I hope to be the first of a whole outdoor set. This is the BBQ table for our patio. We had one of those large BBQ's but with many years use, it's fallen apart and we can't get parts for it anymore so.. back to the small BBQ and the need for a table.

Built from this plan only modified to suit our needs!

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
$125
Estimated Time Investment
An Hour or Two (0-2 Hours)
Finish Used
Clear polycrylic in satin
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Large Rustic X Bench

Submitted by strouse6 on Mon, 02/17/2014 - 19:21

This was project number 2 for the wife to replace some kitchen chairs the dogs chewed on when they were younger. I didn't have a jigsaw so the cutouts in the legs were done with a small hand saw and chisel - i recommend the jigsaw. Cutting and fitting the "x" beams was interesting. After struggling for a bit with remembering basic geometry they came together without too much trouble. I went with three pieces for the top joined with pocket hole screws and seated on top of some left overs from my fancy x desktop boards to beef it up just in case. Staining is always a bit discouraging until the poly goes on then bam!, grain comes out and it looks great.

Estimated Cost
$100 - (a few initial tool purchases in there too)
Estimated Time Investment
Day Project (6-9 Hours)
Finish Used
Minwax Espresso and Minwax Polyeurathane Clear Gloss (oil) (very shiny)
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Outdoor Sofa and Loveseat set

Submitted by Vineta77 on Tue, 05/17/2016 - 11:41

I couldn't believe how easy this project was to make. I'm so glad I made my own outdoor sofa and loveseat rather than paying big bucks for a set at the store!

Estimated Cost
$200
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
Behr exterior stain in Coffee
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Closet Organizer for two!

Submitted by tannisg on Mon, 05/07/2012 - 11:51

My two girls (9 and 12) share a room and their dressers (cheap from Ikea) were not only taking up too much space, but also falling apart!

I used Ana's closet organizer plan as inspiration for this, adding more shelves since they won't have any drawers to use.

All of their clothes fit (though its tight!) and they each have their own space, plus much more space to move in the rest of the room.

I made a google sketchup file to work with, but I'm not sure how to upload it?

Basically, I just bought 7 1x12 boards (6' length).

I used 4 of them as uprights: one on either side wall because I couldn't find any studs!?

Then one more is the top shelf (for storage of things they don't use often)

Then the final three were cut to make the shelves - I had very little waste.

One 6' wood dowel (1.25" diameter) for the closet rods. I screwed them directly into the vertical supports instead of using a bracket.

Additionally, I used a couple small 1x4 scraps to make a toe-kick for the middle bottom shelf and a brace at the top. I was going to use the top brace to attach the whole unit to the back wall, but it ended up being too tight a fit and too heavy to pull out to drill into it :) So I think its stable for now at least!

I chose to leave it unfinished because I was in a hurry and the boards I got (at Lowes) were really clean and smooth to start with. The girls have been using it for a few months so far and I don't see any problems with it (splinters, etc.)

I managed to get a picture while it is tidy (hardly ever) and also a picture of the curtains I made to replace the doors - much easier to see the whole space now, and still close it up when (always!) its not tidy.

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Time Investment
Day Project (6-9 Hours)
Finish Used
none
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Comments

Altered Factory Cart Coffee Table

Submitted by KMister14 on Thu, 02/20/2014 - 13:53

I absolutely had a minor design change. But there was not a single plan I found with measurments! Can always count on Ana White's blog! I found FREE unfinished hardwood being scraped and I was able to use it as my table top. I found the large wheels on ebay for around $20, they are old heavy duty 10 inch lawn mower wheels. I bought the frame wood and plumbing hardware from lowes, and the 4 inch casters from a tractor supply company! I also used a finish from this blog. Had an amazing time building this table, can't wait to DIY some more!

Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
Golden Pecan Minwax Stain, and a Dark Walnut Minwax Stain. The Finish on the blog called for espresso but I was not able to find it.
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Truss shelf

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sat, 05/21/2016 - 14:21

Easy to follow plans.  Took about 3 hours to complete.  

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
$50
Estimated Time Investment
Afternoon Project (3-6 Hours)
Finish Used
Dark walnut
Recommended Skill Level
Starter Project

Miter Saw Cart

Submitted by Tandi43 on Mon, 02/24/2020 - 06:10

I desperately needed a cart and working space for my new sliding saw and other tools.  I built an extra shelf to store the Kreg Jig!  Awesomeness.  My friends at the big blue box cut the plywood to spec for me!  I am enjoying already!   Most of the cost came from the brackets and casters - I chose heavy duty!  

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
$115
Estimated Time Investment
Day Project (6-9 Hours)
Finish Used
No finish
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

Michael Collection: Twin platform bed

Submitted by AlexE on Thu, 05/10/2012 - 16:40

We made for our two oldest. This is our first couple project
Or rather a family project.

Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Comments

Barnwood Frames - $1 and 10 minutes

Submitted by pde00311 on Mon, 02/24/2014 - 21:56

With some extra scraps of wood and paint, I tested my new miter saw by building this frame. I also finished it to match the green in the rustic media console cabinet that I had just built.

Estimated Time Investment
An Hour or Two (0-2 Hours)
Finish Used
Behr scotch lassie and Martha Stewart vintage gold specialty finish paints with a couple of layers of Minwax polycrylic
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Rustic X end table

Submitted by Mr47930 on Wed, 05/25/2016 - 06:26

Built both using the rustic x end table and console plans. Wanted the shelves stained and inlaid so that took some thinking on how to assemble. Used valspar "white rose" paint and jacobean minwax stain.

Estimated Cost
$150-200
Estimated Time Investment
Week Long Project (20 Hours or More)
Finish Used
Jacobean minwax
Valspar "white rose" latex
Semi gloss stain
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate
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