Community Brag Posts

Farmhouse table with pocket holes

I followed the plans with the exception of cutting off ~19" in length to get the table down to 5.5' in order to better fit my space.

Unfortunately several of the 2 1/2" pocket screws did pierce the top - nothing too terrible or noticeable, but disappointing.  My wife says it just adds to the rustic feel, so that works.

One thing I did that I notice other people not doing: I ripped off ~1/4" from the edge of all boards for the table top.  This gets rid of the "crumb catcher" spaces between the planks which come rounded.  By ripping off the rounded edge, the boards will fit more flush and you won't have such an issue with crumbs getting in between the boards.

Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
Minwax Classic Gray Stain (set for 15 minutes), applied with sponge brush AFTER using Minwax Wood Conditioner, and Minwax Wipe-on Clear Satin Poly (2 coats), applied with clean cloth
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

My bag dispenser, made from scrap pieces of maple and pine

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Fri, 08/26/2022 - 13:13

I went looking at plans for a bag dispenser, and I found Ana White's. Nice, simple design! The top, front, and bottom are made from a recycled maple table top. The sides are made from 1 x 3 boards that I glued up. Works exactly as I hoped!

Built from Plan(s)

Comments

Leaning wall shelf

Submitted by Lady Goats on Thu, 08/11/2011 - 11:05

This was one of those projects that you just don't want to start because you don't have time to finish it, kinda thing... And I still started it. UGH! haha. I had 2 days before I was going to leave for Vegas, and the first of the 2 days was half over already... But I still managed to get it finished, painted and IN before I left! I threw random stuff from throughout my house on it, and still haven't decorated it how I'd like to... But I will! Eventually...

Estimated Time Investment
Day Project (6-9 Hours)
Finish Used
Gloss White by Olympic
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Work bench made from old junk

I built this work table from some old junk that was going to be thrown away - a church pew, a wooden box light fixture and some plywood that was in my parents' garage. I didn't follow any specific plan, I just had an idea of what it needed to look like from some work bench plans I saw on Ana-White.com. It cost me nothing to build it. I even re-used the old steel screws from the church pew. It's not very pretty to look at, but it is sturdy and it will be a great space for me to store my tools and work on future projects. Thanks Ana White for your awesome website and for inspiring me! I never would have thought I could take some old junk and figure out how to built something like this. It's an awesome feeling!

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
$0
Estimated Time Investment
Afternoon Project (3-6 Hours)
Finish Used
none
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Rustic Farmhouse Table

Submitted by Sbarker645 on Thu, 10/29/2015 - 07:33

Built this table for our dining room. Neighbors kept coming by to look at it and I now have my first commissioned woodworking project for a table and benches!

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
$140
Estimated Time Investment
Week Long Project (20 Hours or More)
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Christmas present

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Wed, 12/26/2018 - 19:33

I made some adjustments to the look of the tower by adding an extra window, I also made the middle part more solid instead of railing since my kids are destructive. I made two more stairs too so no storage under stairs. I have not put the stair railing in, but will use a standard stair railing and the wooden posts for it for an estimated additional 25 dollars, my husband also insisted he do his part and put in additional 2x4 under the top bunk so they have jumped on the bed and the wood doesn’t move. Also made the bottom a bed instead of a loft, but kept the books under the slide and the place to sit in the window. 

I have no previous woodworking skills and learned as I went, there was a learning curve but manageable.

Estimated Cost
750.00
Estimated Time Investment
Week Long Project (20 Hours or More)
Finish Used
Spray paint and acrylic paint
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Potting bench

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sat, 09/03/2022 - 16:15

Potting bench made of merbau hardwood. Found the design on Pinterest.

Comments

Shoe Cabinet. AKA my Kitchen's best friend

In my house we do not have a mud room. You walk directly from the garage into the kitchen. I am not a person who likes to wear shoes in the house, and to be honest I am not tidy. All of my shoes pile up by the kitchen table, and when we have guests over they get dumped in the bedroom only to return. When Ana posted her shoe cabinet this winter, I built this cabinet the following day! I posted on her Facebook page and she even gave me a comment about how quick I was at building this cabinet. It was a well needed piece of furniture in my Kitchen. I love how I have styled it as a buffet, but really it holds all my shoes. (trickery!)

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
$81.00
Estimated Time Investment
Day Project (6-9 Hours)
Finish Used
None, I did make some small changes. I used the composite boards in a 1x16 instead of 2 1x 8's I had the nice boy open it and cut it in half. then I took all my measurements for the rest of the 1x8's and 1x6's. To cut down on cost a little I only installed one handle in the center and not the two shown.
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Comments

Molly (not verified)

Tue, 09/06/2011 - 11:46

Oh man I bought some of these from ikea for more $$ and they are less than half the size. Can anyone post plans PLEASE? What did you use for the hardware?

Hot Wheels Wall Tracks wall

The Hot Wheels Wall Tracks are designed to stick to your wall, but ours kept falling off. My husband hates putting extra holes in the wall, so what to do? Build your own wall!
I just used 2x2s as side supports, kreg jigged 3 leftover 1x16 pieces of plywood from another project (if I were to do it over again, I would use one piece of plywood to make a smoother surface) as the wall, and screwed the 2x2s onto scrap 2x4s as the base. I added some 'L' angle pieces as supports at the bottom where the 2x2 join the 2x4s to ensure that that the sides would not start to lean over time... The overall size is about 5 feet across and about 4.5 feet high - I wanted something big enough to fit our wall track pieces on, but not too big...
We painted the wall with chalkboard paint, so we can draw on the background as desired, then mounted the various wall track components on using screws. Voila - wall tracks without messing up your wall. And, the wall is easily movable too.

Estimated Time Investment
Day Project (6-9 Hours)
Finish Used
chalkboard paint
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Spa bench

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sun, 12/30/2018 - 00:05

My wife asked for a terrible particle board bench for Christmas.  When I complained about the quality, she told me to build one instead.  I may have been played.

 

I found the plans here and the only modifications I made were resizing to fit our space, and adding a tree design to the sides, cut using my desktop CNC router.  The design was purchased from an artist shop on Etsy.

 

She loves the bench and I saved a few hundred dollars.  I also got to finish another project which is awesome.

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
$200
Estimated Time Investment
Day Project (6-9 Hours)
Finish Used
Red mahagony stain
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

X based pedestal table

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sat, 09/10/2022 - 19:30

The entire table was made from 200mm x 50mm x 2400mm pine landscaping sleepers. Finished with Cabots benchtop clear

Comments

"Cull" Lumber from a big box store= cheap 2x4's for convertable picnic table

Submitted by MrQuinn on Mon, 08/15/2011 - 14:10

I found out what the rack in the drive up area of my local Lowes was!
I often see piles of wood and sheets or plywood and such sitting there, but I never paid it much mind-turns out its a clearance rack of sorts they call it the "cull" rack, because they are culling the items from inventory that may be cut, chipped marked etc.
So I was at the store buying something for my Bocce Court and saw this pile of 16ft 2x4's and saw they were only $20 and there was 8 of them- so I picked em up for a "future project".
Needless to say they weren't the truest boards but they worked well enough for something like this. I had to buy a 2x6 to attach the top to because 2x4's aren't wide enough to give proper clearance as the plans showed(and I really didn't want to reinvent the wheel on this) so i bit the bullet and bought a $3 2"x6"x8'
Now if you notice I used all 2x4's for this instead of 2x6 so I adjusted the top to 14 1/8 to accommodate 4 2x4 pieces separated by spacers I use when installing wood floors. I made no change to the seat dimensions, but there is 4- 2x4's vice 3- 2x6's.
Great plan- perfect for more seating on my weekly bocce nights and they hold in excess of 600 lbs easily for those concerned about load limits.
(Note for those curious, that is my Bocce court in the background, it is 10'x60' and built with pressure treated 4x6's and 2x4's and a whole bunch of DG and crushed oyster shells.)

Estimated Cost
$36
Estimated Time Investment
Afternoon Project (3-6 Hours)
Finish Used
none-I very rarely finish my wood projects-I will probably spray with a sealant to slow the elements since they will stay outside.
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Comments

sgilly

Thu, 02/23/2012 - 11:14

I plan to build several of these for my daughter's family. They stand around a fire most nights in the spring. Those nights often end up with roasted hot dog dinners with the friends who have dropped by. The dual purpose of these would be perfect!

Mirror Jewelry Armoire

My bedroom was missing a mirror so I decided to make this jewelry armoire with a mirror front.

I followed the plans very closely, but had to adjust the measurements to accommodate my mirror. I used a piece of screen for the earring holder and rolled up pieces of felt that I covered with fabric on the ring holder. I decided against using a handle since the cabinet is so long.

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
$25
Estimated Time Investment
Afternoon Project (3-6 Hours)
Finish Used
Minwax Provincial
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Dan's Salsa Console

Submitted by Bmore2ny on Fri, 11/13/2015 - 19:01

This was my first big project. Came out out pretty well. 

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
$200
Estimated Time Investment
Week Long Project (20 Hours or More)
Finish Used
Espresso wood stain and satin polyurethane. Universal white eggshell paint and primer
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Comments

Dream Dollhouse

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Tue, 01/01/2019 - 11:40

Built for 3 year old Granddaughter 2018 Christmas.  Great instructions thanks.  Added ridge cap instead of chimney. Stained floors for the hardwood floor look.

Estimated Cost
$115
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Small Bathroom Shelf

Submitted by vendo on Mon, 09/26/2022 - 10:05

We had an existing cabinet in our small bathroom, so I build this small "bookshelf" to fit perfectly under it for more storage. Always inspired by Ana, this is just a bookshelf made with 1x8 boards with a 1x2 face frame. Quick, easy and functional, that's how I like it.

Built from Plan(s)

Reclaimed Wood Coffee Table

Submitted by Me-go-Eco on Fri, 08/19/2011 - 10:42

Built this coffee table as a housewarming present for my buddy who got me hooked on woodworking as a hobby! Made from reclaimed wood.

You want to see more? Check out my blog and follow me.

http://me-go-eco.blogspot.com

my twitter is: me_go_eco

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, RECLAIM! Thanks!

Estimated Cost
$10 thrownout wood and leftovers from old projects from Re-use Hawaii.
Estimated Time Investment
Afternoon Project (3-6 Hours)
Finish Used
None
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Comments

My coat rack

Submitted by atenney446 on Wed, 09/11/2013 - 17:41

Thank you for such a simple set of plans for such a useful and practical piece of furniture. I enjoyed making this.

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
$75
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
Semi gloss enamel paint
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Comments

Table + farmhouse benches

Submitted by Marimac on Tue, 11/17/2015 - 09:59

I've fixed up an old table and borrowed Ana's plans for farmhouse bench. I've modified them, and this is the outcome.

Estimated Cost
about 300-400€ (in Finland)
Estimated Time Investment
Week Long Project (20 Hours or More)
Finish Used
Legs "Kitchen white"
Tops "Raindeer"
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Such a fun build!

I've used Ana's plans for several builds in my house and this one was so much fun to build. I love the way it turned out and think it looks great! Thanks for all the great plans Ana! Keep them coming and I'll keep building. :) 

Estimated Time Investment
Afternoon Project (3-6 Hours)
Finish Used
Teak oil followed by one coat of Minwax Special Walnut. Finished off with 2 coats of Varathane 3x thick semi-gloss poly.
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Comments