Community Brag Posts

Had some scrap pieces of 1x4 and 1/8'' ply, so I glued up the 1x4s and used a coping saw to cut out the heart shape, then tacked in the plywood behind it. 1x4 is stained in Early American, and plywood is stained in Red Mahogany. Finished in Satin poly. Added a personalized message to the back and gave to my fiance.

I had built a few of these chairs a year and a half ago similar to the red ones that you have on the step by step instructions. That was my first time at customer building and painting anything. Needless to say, my skills have improved over time.

So, I wanted to build this chair for my dad for fathers day. He had an old plastic Adirondack chair sitting in his backyard that was really gross. I wanted to replace it with something nice. So he is obviously a UK fan and I wanted to see if I could paint the logo on correctly while also giving myself the opportunity to build something and see if I can make this chair a lot better than the ones I had previously built.

So I decided to curve the back of the chair and curve the ends of the arms. I recently got a nice dewalt random orbital sander which helped out alot in getting it nice and smooth. I made my own wood putty using the leftover sawdust and glue mixed together. I also fastened the wood together using glue and polymer coated screws. Which are supposed to last alot longer than regular wood screws when using pressure treated pine.

I took my time to make sure the pieces were all square when assembled which was better than previous building projects. Also, as far as finishing the chair, I primed it and then put 3 layers of the Kentucky blue Outdoor paint with a brush (which seems like it took forever). I made the stencil by just printing the logo on a piece of cardstock paper. Then I cut out the logo with a razor, then I wrapped the paper in duct tape to make the stencil it a little stronger and to fix the areas that ripped when cutting the card stock paper. Then I cut out the duct tape where the logo is. I made a couple of test paints using the stencil on some scrap to make sure my technique was good. Then once I felt comfortable, I painted 4 coats of very thin paint on the chair where the logo is. After all was dry, I did a light by hand sanding to make it smooth and then sprayed some clear coat on it for an extra level of protection and to make it shine a little.

It was a fun project and my dad really liked it.

Some things I would have done differently for next time would be to use a router to flush cut the seat slats and also use the router to give a nicer rounded edges for the arms and all of the slats as well. Also, It would be nice to mount a stainless bottle opener to the chair to open your drinks (maybe on the outside of the arm of the chair.

Thanks for the plans. I check your site all the time for ideas.

Me and my husband built this table last year. We built everything according to the plans, except we needed it to be shorter. The table is only 3 feet long instead of 5 feet long. We love how it turned out! Thank you Ana for the awesome easy to use plan.

Decided to add a secret compartmet on the bottom of this stand for small personal items.  Used piano hinge and cabinet push latch.  Wanted to hide the hinge but kept it easy and simple so I painted it black and you can barely see it.  This site is amazing and I cant wait to make more projects.

My wife, and I wanted to upgrade my 5yr old daughters bed. Hopefully this will give her enough encouragement to actually sleep in her room!

The bed turned out great, and my daughter loves it!

This project took a little longer than usual, because with the exception of the couple pieces of plywood all the parts are made from rough maple lumber. The longest part was planing, and gluing all the parts up.

This is the second project I made from Ana White Plans. I used some scrap wood so I had to use wood filler to fill in some blemishes so I could not stain the wood. Instead I painted it with a gloss white. It turned out really nice.

Changing table built for my first niece.

This is a modified version of the camp bed. I added several curtains using some metal conduct and one at the end for a place to hang up dresses. I plan on building some storage under the platform and might replace the entire stair area platform with a storage unit.

Project wise:
Instead of 2x4 for the corners, I used 4x4 fir posts in each of the corners, for about $50 dollars more it is a much stronger bed.
The bottom of the bed uses 2x4 as rails along the length and plywood across the distance under the mattress. I am looking for an old twin bed metal rails which I will be much strong to replace the 2x4 and a cleaner look.
Also I did not add stairs from the platform to the floor.
Not pictured is a single step the width of the end of the landing. The dimensions are about 10 inches deep 15 inches off the floor bolted onto a 4x4 corner post and the end of the platform with heavy duty corner brackets. Takes up must less room then stairs which I did not have the room for.

I built this bed for my daughter about 9 months ago and am just now getting around to posting it. I followed the plans exactly with the exception of adding a few more inches to the legs. I wanted LOTS of space under the bed for storage. I stained it with minwax weathered oak and gave it a coat of satin poly. I wanted a very natural look as my daughter is a no-frills kinda girl. We just love it! I actually want to build me and my husband a queen size version of this bed. Thanks for the great plans!

I made this cupboard to hold all of my onions, squash, and potatoes that were previously sitting in piles on the laundry room floor.  This little tower has the perfect amount of storage.

I could not find ready made cushions for this project so I purchased outdoor fabric in the green and 2" high density foam at Fabricland which we doubled to make 4" thick cushions. The throw pillows I bought at Walmart. I will probably buy more foam and fabric and make cushions for the back as well. I find the throw pillows aren't quite large enough to protect your back from the wood.

Last week we hosted a reception for our son’s wedding.  We built 8 benches and 2 banquet tables over the course of 3 weekends.

The banquet tables are 30” x 8’ and are constructed from 2x4, 2x2 and ½” plywood, with some angle brackets at each leg for extra strength.  We used the 2x2 for the tabletop apron/frame, attached leg assemblies made from 2x4 with some 1x3 furring strips for stringers, and topped the tables with ½” plywood.  Hubby and I put these together in an afternoon.  The tables were left unfinished because they were covered completely with tablecloths. 

The benches are 42” long, 14” wide and 18” high.  These were built from 1x3 furring strips for the bench top/frames and 2x4 for the legs.  The bench tops were assembled first, then we attached the 2x4 legs to the frames at the corners, with a 5^th leg in the center for stability.   This was a fun “mom & daughter” project for me and the bride, and we got the 8 benches built in one weekend and the finishing done the next.

The bench legs are painted (1 coat primer and 1 coat paint + primer).  The seats are topped with a clever combination of batting, fleece fabric and tulle ribbon ties, to create an upholstered look.  The fleece fabric will be re-purposed into some pillows and a memory quilt.

The head table is our ‘almost farmhouse’ table with 2 of the modified Harriet chairs for the bride and groom.

The newlyweds plan on re-using some of the benches for the dining set in their new place.  We’ll also be disassembling the banquet tables and re-using the wood to make them some more furniture, including a dining table to go with.

The wedding and reception was small and intimate and turned out beautifully.  We were thrilled to put this together for our son and his wonderful bride!