Community Brag Posts

Finally having a house meant that we could finally have family over for holidays, parties, etc. The problem was that we didn't have a table large enough to accommodate more than 4 people comfortably. When I saw the plans on here, I knew it would be the perfect fit for our home which is turning out to be a little bit rustic, a little industrial and very eclectic. While my dad has done some woodworking projects, they have mostly been easy shelves or home construction, nothing like this project. We built the table and built the matching 8ft bench out of approx. $95 of construction pine lumber. We changed the table lumbar from 4-2x10s to 8-2x6s (cut down to 5" width for cleaner edges). My dad did most the construction and I completed the finish. I sanded to 220 grit. We used SamaN Water-based stain in Black (I love that stuff, so easy to use and re-wets so I didn't have any lap marks, although it did wipe off some when I applied the poly) and ZAR Ultra Max waterborne oil-modified polyurethane. The grain raised even more after I laid on the poly. I love how the pine created a reverse grain and has such great texture. We made some modifications, one being that we did not attach the table top to the base. Instead, we added some wood to the bottom of the table to brace against the brace and legs. The table top is so heavy that is never moves and will make it easy to move since together, the table and brace are too heavy for 2 people to lift. Some of the things we learned: always double check the measurements (the base braces were about 1.5" to tall), if at all possible, create a jig to keep the leg pieces square, be careful assembling the base (we cracked one of the braces), and let poly cure for at least 24 hrs even if none of the literature mentions it. If we had the equipment, we would have loved to use a planer and a joiner, but even so, I think it came out awesome. It only took 40 years, but I think that our first father-daughter woodworking project has been a great success. Can't wait to work on our next project!! Thanks Ana-White & Shanty 2 Chic for some great plans!

Modified the simple outdoor chair plans and made it into a loveseat.

Mike T.

After discovering Ana White, my husband and I have been slowly creating our dream guest room. I had the vision of a modern striped bench at the end of the bed and using the Easiest Upholstered Bench plans, Ana made it easy! I love how this turned out. It was actually my first sewing project ever and I love how it turned out.

The foam is what spiked the price in this project.

This bed was built completely out of necessity. Our old 30 year old bed (including mattress) had given me my last backache. A new bed and mattress set was too expensive so I decided to build the bed and spend the saved money on a mid class mattress. So glad I did! What I built seems waaaay better than what we could have afforded. And it only took me a long weekend plus a few days waiting for stain and polyurethane to dry. Plus the return trips to HD to purchase new lumber after making wrong cuts and the cheap furring strip I bought at first continuously split on me.o t

I wanted the box spring to fit inside of the frame as much as possible. I realized the farm house queen bed plan plus the platform bed plan that I was using did not do that a bit late. By then I had already glued and screwed on the side rails. So I just flipped the frame around and decided to go with that side. Later I realized that the inside width of the bed was 57!! (60 - 3 for the frame) so I needed to return to the store to get new wood for the frame since what I cut already was 3 inches too short. My already built headboard and foot board also would not fit like the plan suggested so I needed to improvise. What you see is mainly my improvisations as a result of many, many mistakes.

My bed has two sets of legs. I did not trust the headboard and footboard legs as I could not attach them as described so I added a set to the frame itself. I also made the upholstery so that I could easily change it by unscrewing it from the head and footboards.

Changed the scale of the front panel and the window trim slightly.  Added window boxes for a drink, toys and book storage.

An easy to build and very sturdy kitchen island. My father and son constructed the island itself. I stained and painted the island. The construction was relatively easy. Painting and staining were easy, but time consuming because of dry times.

This was my first project since shop class in 7th grade (20 years ago)! Picked this beautiful shelf as a Christmas present to my husband to show off his hard-earned trophies from his ultramarathons (100+ miles of running). Next time I would make it a bit longer, and use end grain on the sides for a more even color. Came together easily, and can't wait for my next project! Picture is from Jay Dash Photography, of the Wasatch Mountains in Utah.

My husbands second build and it turned out AMAZING! The plans were great!

I worked up the plans in my head for about a year before my mother finally got around to having me build her 10 foot farmhouse table. That's right, this bad boy is TEN FEET LONG! And it was one of the simplest things to construct!. I used 8 foot 1x8's for the length of the table (used 4, making the table 29" wide) and 1x12's for the breadboard ends. We also splurged and purchased turned legs for $15 a piece at Blue. It really made the table extra special. Totally cost, with finishing supplies came in under $150.

Things I would change if/when I do a table of this size again:
1) I would never make a BB end so large again. I would stick to a 1x6 or smaller. With such a large size we worry about children putting too much pressure on the ends.
2) I will make the legs removable. It was a bear trying to get this table into the house. Thankfully the width was just narrow enough!
3) I won't tackle this in the winter months! Construction of the table took only a few hours but finishing in freezing temps took weeks waiting for warm-ish temperatures.

I modified this pattern to use with tall bar stools I already had. I built it 42" high and added a foot bar along the bottom for added stability since it's tall. The foot bar is only across the front and back so the stools can still slide in on the sides.

This table is exactly what I was looking for and I couldn't be any happier with how it turned out.

This sideboard buffet took me several months to complete mostly because I have little kids and had to have my husband home to give me the time I needed! The hardware and paint was the most expensive piece. I first stained it with kona stain then painted it with ASCP in Provence. I still need to put the wire mesh in doors but I'm still searching for options:-) This was my first project with drawers and it was not easy!

For a while I’ve been wanting to build a bed. I had two days free this week so I began. I actually completed it in about 6 hours. First time doing this size project. Plans were SO easy to follow. Thank you Ana
I LOVE IT! And am motivated to do more.

Edith, SC

I found it to be a bit too big to be an end table, but it is a nice piece of furniture! Would be a good TV stand if our TV wasn't wall-mounted. Very nice!

I wanted a bunk bed for our daughters, it needed to be easily moveable like the "classic bunk beds." I also wanted stairs like the "Sweet Pea Garden" bunk bed because we have toddlers in the house. I modified the classic bunk bed to put the ladder on the end, then built the Sweet Pea stairs to fit to the opening (I think the only difference in dimensions was a 20" top stair. I didn't want the unfinished ends of plywood so I got 4'x16"x3/4" pine boards from lowes which happens to be the width of the stairs in the plan. Instead of using the 1x2's as trim on the ends of the shelves I put two of them together, one all of the way down the front of each stair and one resting on the top of the stair (screwed together) so I wouldn't lose lateral stability. I then spaced 2x2's in between to keep it "simple" looking instead of the heart shaped decorations from the sweet pea bed. I used some 1/4" paintable composite board to provide a backing to the stairs. I bolted the stairs on to the bed with some flat bar stock cut to size and 3/8' in hex bolts cut to length. I used pocket hole joints wherever possible and countersunk all other screws and used 3/8" dots from lowes to fill the holes. I painted it with a coat of primer and a coat of Glidden Trim and Door paint in antique white from the Easy Vintage Step Stool project.

I made a smaller version of the Tryde End Table with Shelf. I made 2 of them from 6 2X4's