Community Brag Posts

Improvised Modern Patchwork Dresser

Submitted by andrea6 on Tue, 08/06/2013 - 14:56

We used MDF board for the frame, and covered the cut edges with veneer. We used Poplar premium wood from Lowes's for drawer fronts and cabinet door. We shortened the length by about six inches, and replaced the three drawers on top with one large drawer so that it functions better for us.

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
$250
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
Top drawer- Dark Walnut, middle drawer- Red Oak, bottom drawer- Golden Oak, cabinet door- Special Walnut, frame- Bay Mist Valspar Signature satin finish
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Comments

moira

Fri, 11/22/2013 - 08:20

Hi Andrea. I love your dresser. I wanted to ask you about staining the poplar. I have read that poplar does not stain well. Did you condition the wood first, or did you just wipe the stain on the bare wood?

Deck Table and Eight Chairs

Submitted by Adevney on Sat, 05/05/2018 - 11:45

The plans for the table and chairs started with your designs and then evolved. The chairs are 2x2 an upgrade from 1x3s. We find them to be much sturdier. The total cost for the table and chairs is @$600 without finish. 

Estimated Cost
$600 in wood and fastners.
Estimated Time Investment
Week Long Project (20 Hours or More)
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Comments

Wine Caddy

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sun, 04/24/2022 - 19:23

Octagon Wine Caddy!

by Marc

Laundry room closet shelves

Submitted by tashmoore on Mon, 07/04/2011 - 10:05

Our house came with a laundry room (yeah! : ) ) that had a small closet with a basic wire shelf and a door. I thought "how silly" and I knew there had to be a better use of the space. Inspired by Ana's laundry dresser I decided some shelves for dirty laundry would be better then putting it on the floor and the other shelves are nice for other things.

It took me weeks to complete because I have small children and needed them to not be near the saw or paint and I needed time for the paint to dry. Actual time was not long though. Could probably be done in a weekend (allowing paint to dry).

Materials-
2 sheetes of plywood. I got 4 shelves from one sheet so I have a large leftover piece
primer
paint
braces
self tapping screws

I cut the shelves with a circular saw to fit exactly then primed and painted. I found the studs and marked them at 13, 26, 39, 52, and 65 inches and then put in braces and put in a shelf. I had to do one set of braces and a shelf at a time or the next shelf wouldn't fit since it was a tight fit.

The 12" between each shelf is perfect for laundry items and other things we store there. It has made the whole laundry room feel much bigger and more organized.

Built from Plan(s)
Finish Used
Shelves- Warm Mahogany C31-6 Olympic Premium from Lowe's. (looks brown online, much redder irl)
Wall-Spring Bud by Benjamin Moore, similar to the lighter C11 from Olympic. A very light yellow/green
Recommended Skill Level
Starter Project

Comments

Ikea Fort Bed

It was a fun project to work on. The hardest part was painting it and being patient enough to let it dry and giving it a second coat! It cost right around $100 to make!

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
Paint
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Rustic X Coffee Table (Minus the X)

My sister came to me with a picture of a coffee table.  She wanted to build it!  Together we spent a weekend building the Rustic X Coffee table.  She is a little disappointed with how dark the stained turned out, but I actually really like the color!  She has found a new hobby in woodworking and I really look forward to building new projects with her.  Next up, she wants a new tv stand. :)

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
$65
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
Minwax Wood Finish (Jacobean), Vermont Natural Coatings PolyWhey (Satin)
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Toy Chest

Toy chest made for grandson. The core made from tongue and groove boards. Lid supports hinge middle with two 90 Degree Stop Hinge on both sides.

Based off of this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2bnEs0qjW-A&t=24s 

Estimated Cost
$100.00
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
Blue stain and clear coat polyurethane
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

King Farmhouse Bed

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Wed, 04/27/2022 - 20:52

Easy build. Turned out beautiful

Comments

DIY Kitchen Island

Submitted by pamreagan on Thu, 07/07/2011 - 08:39

or maybe I should say DDIFM?
Dad, do it for me?

I really needed a place to store my cake plates...
other than their current home on top of our fridge.
The rattling and shaking that went on every time we opened the freezer
was about to give me a heart attack.
I found this beautiful table that was constructed DIY
from plans on the anawhite website and fell in love.

So my dad got to building, and sanding, and building, and staining. Then he brought me this gorgeous table last weekend. I can't stop staring at it. I am obsessed with the wood grain. The slats. The perfect handmade storage solution. The contrast between the dark wood and my mostly white serving pieces. The height. The endless entertaining possibilities.
I promise the pictures do not do it justice...

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Time Investment
Day Project (6-9 Hours)
Finish Used
stain, maybe polly later
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Comments

child's airplane swing

Thank you for the great idea!

I built this for my nephew's birthday.

I took the child's airplane swing and modified it to look like the character from Disney's Planes.

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
$40
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Comments

JoanneS

Sun, 08/11/2013 - 05:55

This is soooo cute, your nephew is going to love it!! I love how you gave it a Disney character's face!

Twin Farmhouse Bed with Trundle

Took the farmhouse plan and added a Trundle.   Was initially going to build two farmhouse beds for my two girls, but thought adding the Trundle would free up some much needed floor space.  The girls love it!

Estimated Cost
$150
Estimated Time Investment
Day Project (6-9 Hours)
Finish Used
Latex paint
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

DIY Oversized Pegboard Shelves

Hi Friends!

Jen Woodhouse from The House of Wood here. 

I'm going to share with you how to create these Oversized Pegboard Shelves.  If you’re short on cabinet or drawer space in your kitchen, this wall-mounted oversized pegboard shelf is a clever and stylish solution. It’s renter-friendly too! What more could you need?

Be sure to tag me @jenwoodhouse if you share photos of your build on social media. I'd love to see it!

You can get all the details for this build on my website jenwoodhouse.com 

Estimated Time Investment
Afternoon Project (3-6 Hours)
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Nicole’s Garden

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sat, 05/07/2022 - 14:27

A vegetable garden with an outside ring to plant marigolds to keep deer away.

Built from Plan(s)

Comments

Board and Batten Fireplace

Our fireplace wall was quite plain to say the least. We thought about stone, tile but then ended up doing a simple and inexpensive board and batten wall.  This is a simple DIY project, we kinda made up the pattern as we went.

 

More details on my blog - http://www.woodworkingfourdummies.com/blog/board-and-batten-fireplace

 

Cheers,

Ian

Estimated Cost
$100 - I ran out of white paint, the rest was for mdf boards
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
satin white paint
Recommended Skill Level
Starter Project

Garage shelves

Submitted by senlo1970 on Sun, 07/29/2018 - 23:24

Another wonderful accomplishment.  Very easy to build, just took some time measuring and measuring again.

Estimated Time Investment
Day Project (6-9 Hours)
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

We Love our Sectional and Tables

Submitted by Mrs.F on Sun, 05/15/2022 - 09:33

We love our sectional built from the modern sectional plan. We also made the tables from an Ana White plan but we adjusted the size. My husband and I love projects.

Comments

Operation: Electric Panel

Submitted by loniwolfe on Wed, 07/13/2011 - 10:43

It's an awful eye sore builder's always seem to put in the most obvious places even when there's an attached garage, or a basement, or even a large closet somewhere.

Solution: Build a frame out of 2x2's around the panel. Build a smaller frame out of trim (or whatever you like as a picture frame). Attach the smaller frame to the frame on the wall with self closing hinges (ok, maybe paint everything first, lol) and insert a photo or painting of your choice.

Unfortunately you can't do anything about placement, hello 1 inch from my countertop and cabinets (also preventing me from building more upper cabinets on that wall)
But, it's better than staring at that ugly gray box :)

Estimated Cost
Less than $20
Estimated Time Investment
An Hour or Two (0-2 Hours)
Finish Used
white gloss paint (same paint as the window trim) But you could stain it to really look like a picture haning on the wall
Recommended Skill Level
Starter Project

Antique quartersawn white oak buffet

I found this buffet on Craigslist. I bought it from a young lady that told me her grandmother owned it prior to passing. It had obvious water damage, especially to much of the veneer.

Starting with the top portion, the mirror was removed. The silvering was shot and I shipped it to Madison Glass in Nashville, TN. I stripped it and repaired the cracks and splits it had. The appliques were all broken and brittle. These were replaced with four new oak rosettes. It was stained and polyurethane was applied. I made a new back to cover the mirror when I got it back.

The bottom section was in really bad shape. The water damage had ruined all of the veneer on the top of the bottom section. It also had an obvious sag. I took the top of the lower section off. I used a plate joiner and wood glue to put these back together. I then flipped it over to fix the sag. A 3/4" section was missing. So I used some oak rope trim to make up the difference.

I rebuilt all of the drawers which included new bottoms. I replaced the drawer stops. The cabinet door were all broken so I made new ones using 3/4" oak plywood. I put the nicest side facing in and put new veneer on the door front. In fact the fronts to all of the drawers received new veneer. I also rebuilt the entire inside with 1/4" oak plywood and oak trim. I also put new casters on the piece. I then stained and applied poly to the base.

Estimated Cost
$300-$350
Estimated Time Investment
Week Long Project (20 Hours or More)
Finish Used
The stain is Minwax Dark Walnut. The polyurethane is Minwax Fast Drying (oil based). I used two coats of stain on the veener and original oak wood. I used three coats on the new veneer and new wood used. I still couldn't get the new wood and veneer to match that century old patina. Used three to five coats of polyurethane depending where I applied it.
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Media Console

Submitted by kaileelev on Sun, 09/13/2015 - 19:15

I based this off of the farmhouse media console plans, but made a lot of changes with dimensions, doors, etc. Originally we wanted the doors to slide sideways instead of opening outwards... but we couldn't figure out how to do that and still make it look nice! Very easy to build. I am happy with the end product!

Estimated Cost
$60
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
Minwax Provincial stain. Polyurethane coat over the stain.

An off white paint I found in the basement. Polyacrylic over the shelves for protection.
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Farmhouse Doll Bed for 18” doll

Submitted by ehrobson13 on Sun, 08/12/2018 - 10:54

Wow!  I’m so pleased with how this turned out!!  Super easy and mostly done with scraps left over from other projects. Was able to get the bed and bedding completed for under $30.  Smaller (and cheaply made) beds on the AG website cost well over $100.  Thanks to this plan, I’m able to give my niece a birthday gift that will last her for years...maybe even generations.

Estimated Cost
$30
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
Rustoleum Primer/Finish Gloss Spray paint - light purple
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Comments

ehrobson13

Sun, 08/12/2018 - 10:57

The only reason I listed this as an “intermediate” skill level is because of the sewing portion of the project.  Covering the mattress and sewing the bedding (since there’s no plan for that part of the project) isn’t really a no-brainer sewing project.