Community Brag Posts
Locker Hack – Bring New Life to a Vintage School Locker as a Funky Sideboard
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I have several furniture projects that in my blog pipeline :) After finding Ana-white.com a while back and getting inspired by some of her projects. I’m tackling all sorts of my own DIY furniture projects! This straightforward locker transformation is one of my fav’s! Ward and I found this gem at a antique store’s going out of business sale. We got it for $120. I then spent another $310 on lumber (I bought Fir which is WAY more than say … Pine or Poplar).
I have a tutorial on my blog that goes in detail, unfortunately I never take enough pictures and I only got one before picture.
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Wedding Picnic Table
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I made this picnic table for my upcoming wedding with the intent of using it as our guestbook. I'm hoping to have people sign, carve, and woodburn their names or a message on the table. I painted the legs and supports white and stained the top and seats with a cherry stain. I still need to put some finish on the whole thing, but overall I'm really happy with how it turned out. And so are my dogs.
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Comments
Mon, 04/13/2015 - 09:46
Great idea!
I love your idea for a picnic table as a guest book! There are several brags showing benches used as guest books on this site, but no picnic tables. Not wanting to sound like a know-it-all, I would caution you to use paint pens rather than a permanent magic marker if you have guests who aren't comfortable using a woodburning pen (such as an elderly person). Magic marker ink smears when you apply a finish over it. (I read a comment from a mom who made her daughter a guestbook bench. They used permanent magic marker, then applied a poly finish over it, which then ruined all of the signatures.)
Mon, 04/13/2015 - 11:08
Thank you!
Thank you for your suggestion about the paint pens. I hadn't had much time to do research and was planning on just using sharpies. But now I can avoid making that mistake. :)
Sliding Barn doors over sliding glass door
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I have vertical blinds and came up with this idea to cover my sliding glass door. I did want to be able to look out, so I sandwiched chicken wire in the "window" portions.
Deck Chairs
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During Covid, we had hybrid classes going on. As a teacher of Stagecraft Technology, we had no sets to create, no large flats or walls to build, so I took your Adirondack chair design and had each student build one using any type of repurposed or up cycled wood. It was a great success, and many of the teachers and staff members started placing orders. The students worked their fingers to the bone, got lots of tool experience, and in the end were proud of their creations, many that we donated to charities, families, etc. Thank You for such a great design.
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Comments
Wed, 10/06/2021 - 20:15
AMAZING PROJECT!
That is so inspiring, great work and thank you so much for sharing!
Easy Clip Art Rail
This was really easy and provides a place for DS to display his artwork.
Disassembled clothespins spray painted navy, green, and khaki.
My bigger kids picnic table
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We finally got our grass green and back yard clean, after all that work the lop sided blue little tykes picnic table stood out like a sore thumb. This was the perfect table to fit our back yard make over.
When Ana says read all comments she means it. Cherie posted "if you plan carefully you really only need 5-2x4's instead of 6. Cut 2-2x4's in half for the seats. Cut 2 legs and one seat support from the third 2x4. Repeat for the fourth 2x4 and finally cut the bottom suppport and the 2 table supports from the 5th 2x4. Just plan carefully." I still bought 6 2x4's but only used 5.
I did pocket holes on almost all the joints. I put the table on risers and was even able to use a pocket hole to add the seat boards. I did have a bit of a problem with the table top supports, I am not sure what others did but I cut mine at 45 degrees and they still wasn't enough to get the measurements the plans had. I just left it and marked where it would have been. I had some scraps from a fence pickets I ripped for my $10 raided garden bed left,over that I used as a spacer for my table top and seat boards, made it so easy and they are perfectly spaced. They are just over 1/2 an inch but It worked great.
http://ana-white.com/2010/04/plans-bigger-kids-picnic-table.html
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Wholesteading.com Farmhouse style vanity with vessel sink
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I used Ana White's plan as a base but completely modified to suit our needs. The post on our site includes detailed pictures, instructions, and even the SketchUp file so you can easily modify the plans yourself.
Comments
Bedroom Playhouses
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I drew inspiration for this project from Ana's basement playhouse project, however I made some modifications to accomodate the smaller (10x11) bedroom that I was working with.
Each playhouse has an upstairs and a downstairs, and each room is designed to accomodate a twin sized mattress. There is a secret tunnel under the stairs connecting the bottom rooms, and each room is wired with its own switch-controlled lighting.
My daughter wanted her side painted pink and purple, and my son wanted his to be green and blue. I thought painting the stairs to look like a road between the two houses would be a fun touch, and the kids absolutely love this!
As you can see, it is still a work in progress, but I thought I'd share some initial pics and perhaps post updates later. Thank you for the inspiration Ana!
Sincerely,
Ron Floyd
Portland, OR
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Rustic X Bookshelves
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I was commissioned to build these bookshelves to go along with the “Rustic X” consoles table. The finish is distressed white and True Browns stain.
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Comments
Wall Unit
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We had this extra room that was sort of a "catch-all" room. We never used it, except when William wanted to play his guitars he went in there. There was an old, dated college-style desk and bookshelf in there (particle board) an old couch and a chair.
I figured that if I gave this room a purpose, it might actually stay clean and "catch-all"-free. To add to my decision making process was that around Xmas time, we didn't really have anywhere besides 1 guest bedroom for people to sleep. None of the couches are pull-out couches and I don't really like when people sleep on couches. The 1 guest bedroom has a queen sized bed in it, but my sister usually crashes in that room with her 2 dogs, leaving no other place for say, my mom or gramma if they wanted to stay, too. So I thought this new room could be another guest bedroom.
I decided I wanted to go with a minimalist look in the room, opposite of its cluttered origins. I had finished building a reclaimed/recycled wood queen size farmhouse bed for in there and wanted nothing else really besides William's chair to play guitar, but I did need to address storage in the room. There IS a closet, but it's also the attic access and I want to keep it clear of anything so we can get into the attic if we need to... sooo... When William redid the guest bathroom, he didn't throw out the old vanity, and when we re-did our master bath just recently, we kept the vanity from there too. One is a single vanity and one is a double vanity.
The cabinet bases are solid wood except for the sides which are paneling or something very thin. I definitely wanted to continue the recycled theme of the room so I decided to use these cabinets. Only problem was that the double vanity had 2 sets of smaller doors than the single vanity's wider 1 set of doors. If i placed them side-by-side, it would look weird. So, I sawed the double vanity exactly in half and then flanked the single vanity with them. It actually looked really good. I took the tops off of the vanities and decided to build a new top using left-over plywood we had laying around in the garage. I painted everything white to match the farmhouse bed and I centered the cabinets on the back wall of the bedroom - they don't quite reach from 1 side to the other, so i decided to fill those 18 inches with shelves I built.
I wanted to go with a mid-century-modern look for the room, so that's the design I made for those side shelves... now, looking at it, I kind of want to put doors on them, because it looks a bit odd to have the cabinets and then those shelves without doors. I'll have to figure that out. Anyway, now that I had a base, I wanted to build the built-in hutches to add shelf/storage space and to make a striking piece in the room, since there's so few other things in it.
I used the TOMMY plans to build the center hutch and side hutches, not realizing that the base cabinets for those plans are different heights, so my side hutches ended up being MUCH lower than the center hutch, but it's not the end of the world. Then I just mimic'd the same design of the side hutches to make 2 MORE side hutches to flank them. I just made them even lower in height than the first 2 side hutches. I accidentally forgot to measure the guitars before this last step and ended up building the last 2 hutches 6 inches too high to display the guitars and had to take them back apart and re-build them. It took me about 5 hours to completely build the hutches. It took a few more days of sanding, hole filling and painting, though.
Finally I got it all up and painted and I decided to not use the crown moulding, and instead just used the same moulding that we put on the changing table we built - I didn't want anything more fancy than that. I still have to put some of that same trim on the shelf fronts, as you might be able to see from the photo, but otherwise, it's done. I used all of my scrap pieces of wood to build an artwork piece in the empty space of the center hutch. I painted it the colors of the room (green, gray and white) and I just glued them all in place. A TV will sit on the unit in the middle section.
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Storage Cubbies
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I used 1x8 instead of 1x6s and added an extra column to fit the exact space I wanted my cubby. It is perfect for storage of my Sizzix dies! The more corner clamps you have, the faster this will go.
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Tilt Out Garbage Bin
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Modified the plan to use pallet wood and stained it classic grey for a weathered look.
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Comments
Sun, 01/24/2016 - 22:40
Pallet garbage can hideaway
how many pallets did it take to make this. Thanks
2 Door Corrugated Metal Cabinet
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I would love to supply plans, but I just get an idea and "wing it", need to start writing things down! Cost, less than $50.
Post Office / Bank
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I used Ana's Library Base Plan and modified it slightly to include cubby holes on the bottom and an acrylic "window" at the top to create a post office for my daughter. This now also gets used as a "bank" and a "fast food window"! Lots of fun!!
Out door sectional
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This is my first woodwork project, completed as a team, with my husband. Was good fun at times and frustrating at times! Our wood was thicker by a couple of millimetres out meaning the plans needed to be tweaked.
Table was designed with the chair structure.
We had cushions and covers made to measure (we live in SE Asia so cheaper than UK or US) about £200.
Looking forward to building some deck chairs next!!
The Boy Cave
It was time to upgrade my boy's toddler beds to big boy beds. They wanted bunk beds but I was afraid they'd take turns jumping off the top bunk. When I came across the Sweet Pea bunk bed plans I was so excited because the design wouldn't allow them to jump off the top bunk.
I was inspired by someone else on this feed who built doors. I also tweaked the pergola a bit. I also added extra support to the rear panel framing by adding another vertical post from the top of the horizontal post to the top bunk horizontal post and then another from the top bunk to the bottom bunk horizontal post, both directly down the middle. Probably overkill but felt that was a long run for the rear panel sections. I made my roof out of plywood siding panel and framed it on the back side to keep it from bowing and added support. A few more added elements are a dedicated fan for each bunk, reading lights, and led light strips that flash and fade into different colors.
I had a lot of fun building this and since it's been completed, I've had even more fun building much smaller projects.
Thank you Jenny for sharing your plans on Anna White's website and thank you Anna White for sharing all of your wonderful plans as well!
Used onyx black latex paint on the roof and antique white on all of the trim.
Rustic X coffee table
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The first pic is the rustic x with 2x6. These plans are easily modified. The second is the rustic x with 1x material. Both projects were fun to complete!
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Comments
Wed, 10/06/2021 - 09:37
Both look great!
Thanks for sharing, love the finish choices and the different tops!
Barn door table, Inspired by the Tryde Table
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This is my first project and I was very excited about doing it. I wanted something unique but something like the Tryde table.
I hope you all enjoy it and get inspiration from this table like I did.
Thank you Ana.
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Measure twice, cut once.
Spa Side Table
I completed this table with my 5 year old daughter as my assistant. My husband requested a table to put next to our new hot tub to set his drinks on and this is perfect. We only put one board on the top because I felt since it would be outside, I wanted a smooth top. I just screwed it in diagonally from the bottom. I also used spar varnish since it would be outside.
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Semi-gloss Spar Varnish (3 coats)
Love my hall tree
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My husband built this with the help and guidance (and tools!) from his dad. Great family project (bro in law and nephew also helped) and bonding experience. It was their housewarming gift to us. My husband did all the finishing work (ebony stain and minwax varnish) and I got to pick out the hooks (anthropologie). We upgraded the wood to oak. LOVE it. Thank you!!