Community Brag Posts

Pantry Door Spice Rack

Submitted by HR Dad on Wed, 09/02/2020 - 18:11

First I had to flip the pantry door from opening into my small pantry to opening out. Doing this allowed me to utilize back of the door for this spice rack. Frees up quite a bit of space in our cabinets, drawers and pantry for other items. Substituted braided picture frame wire for the wood dowels; still keeps all items secure on the shelves but also allows for more flexibility when dealing with canister sizes that are very close to the amount of space in between shelves. Already had the paint from doing some baseboards as well as quarter inch ply. So, final cost was for 1x4's and 1x6's coming out to about $30

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
$30.00.
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
Equal parts Behr Premium Plus Semi-gloss interior and Minwax Polycrylic Clear Satin
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Reclaimed wood console table

Submitted by RedRoof on Tue, 09/30/2014 - 10:28

I was originally going to build this console table for our new bathroom vanity. It ended up being too long for the space, so now it is used for storage and to fill empty space in the master bath. (The floor is not level, the table is sitting on blocks on one end.) We love this table! It was easy to make and it is very sturdy and is quite beautiful with our old barn lumber on the drawers. I will probably build another just like it for our laundry room! 

This was my first time installing slides! It is embarrassing to admit how many hours it took to get those to slide smoothly! But they are WELL worth the effort! 

I definitely recommend painting the 1x4 slats BEFORE screwing them to the 2x2 stretchers on the bottom grate. I made a similar grate for another project and forgot to paint them before attaching. BIG MISTAKE. I had to take it all apart to paint it.

Thank you for the plans, I loved working on this table!!

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
I already had all of the 2x2s and the 1-by's, paint, and some of the knobs. We had to buy the plywoods, stain, and slides and some knobs which was about $100. Now I have leftovers of the wood, stain and knobs to make another one, so it ended up being pretty cheap!
Estimated Time Investment
Week Long Project (20 Hours or More)
Finish Used
For the paint, I used a light cream we already had here. For the stains, I used from left to right: Rustoleum Dark Walnut (several layers to make it darker), Minwax Provincial, Rustoleum Willow, Rustoleum Wheat, Rustoleum American Walnut. Top drawer is stained with Wheat, bottom with American Walnut. Whole thing sealed with water-based polycrylic.
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Love our new greenhouse!

With the help of friends and family, we managed to build this greenhouse rather easily. We had to start with the foundation since the spot we chose was not an even grade. We did this by filling sono tubes with cement and leveling each off so the greenhouse would have a solid place to sit. We then built out a frame around the outside of the cement tubes with some reclaimed 6x6's. After that, we filled the space with 5 tons of river rock and then got to work! After the foundation was ready putting the rest of the house together was a piece of cake. The frame was so easy to put together. We had a few minor kinks to work out here and there, I won't say this house came out 100% perfectly, BUT I am so happy with the end results. We chose to paint it a deep green color as a final touch. So far we just moved a few potted plants from our deck to the greenhouse for the winter. It has been working very well to keep the plants cozy during the colder days we've had. Eventually, I plan to build a potting station, shelving, and most likely a garden bed for winter harvests.

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
$2000
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Comments

Ana White Admin

Mon, 11/09/2020 - 09:52

The foundation looks great the greenhouse looks amazing! I'm sure fun was had building it too:) Thanks for sharing.

Seasonal And Holiday

18" Doll Wardrobe

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sat, 02/18/2017 - 07:33

I used the 18" Doll Wardobe plans! I decided not to do the Murphy bed. I loved how it turned out and the plan was easy to follow! Looking forward to more DIY projects

Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Kitchen cabinets

I took an old storage closet and turned it into a kitchen so that we could rent out our downstairs using Ana's basic cabinet plans altering them to fit my space. I really liked that she used 2 x 6's for the base of the cabinets and it worked out perfectly for the toe kick. 

Estimated Cost
$300 for materials and paint
Estimated Time Investment
Week Long Project (20 Hours or More)
Finish Used
exterior primed with zinsser oil based primer, top coat is oil infused furniture paint white on top, medium gray on the bottom. The inside of cabinet is clear shellac + water based polyurethane.
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Console Table

Submitted by mrich_d60 on Sat, 12/12/2020 - 06:42

This was my first indoor woodworking project, where it mattered if the corners were 90 degrees and the colour matched and the wood was not warped.
Even when the lumber yard gave me the wrong width of board, did all the cuts and I didn't notice until I was home, laying out my pieces and measuring everything, I will still able to complete it.
I went with the 10" (9 3/4") wide top instead of the 12" (11 3/4") rather than go back to the lumber yard and have it recut. I was anxious to make my project and it was a hassle to drive that distance. it didn't have the 1 1/2" overhang that the larger width would have had but it fit in my tiny space better.
The next time I visited that lumber yard for more wood, I got my money back and I learned a valuable lesson - just because the lumber yard staff are picking up the wood for you, you need to read and check. I didn't go closer to see it because of Covid-19 restrictions but next time I will ask to measure it and check it before I bring it home. I've learned to carry my tape measure with me, just in case!

Estimated Cost
$50
Estimated Time Investment
Afternoon Project (3-6 Hours)
Finish Used
Varathane ultimate one coat stain and Varathane triple thick clear finish. Used a cloth to apply and brush in the corners where the cloth could not reach easily. Applied 2 coats with light sanding in between. I used a dark stain because other furniture in the room is stained a darker colour. Due to the pine's absorption, it is a little lighter, as I wanted.
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Round X Base Pedestal Dining Table

Submitted by bRick on Thu, 12/18/2014 - 18:05

We wanted a round table that would seat a full Monopoly game. To do this we needed about a 5' diameter tabletop.  The base was made consistent with the plans.  

A few tips on the base:

  1. Get your angles as close to 45° as you can.  Otherwise, there will be much sanding and puttying in your future.  
  2. If you want to hide your lag screw like I did, I used a spade bit to recess an area for the screw head.  Then I glued in a plug made from dowel and sanded flush.  

If you want to make a round tabletop, here is what I did (there may be better methods).  Keep in mind this was for a ~60" diameter table, I was assuming that the perimeter arc pieces would be about 4.5" wide and that I would cut the inner circle at a 50" diameter.

  1. Picture 1 - I built two 5' slabs of (7) 2x4s pocket-holed together.  
  2. Picture 2 - Then I cut two pieces from each slab that would later make up the 90° "pie slice" pieces.  Make sure to remove the screws that will be in the way your saw blade. Also, you just have to concern yourself with the angle since the radius will be dealt with later.  There is a lot of wood waste with this method, but I think it avoided headaches. 
  3. Picture 3 - I assembled (screwed and glued) the "pie pieces"to the cross pieces. The length of the cross pieces don't matter much since they will also be to cut to a specified radius.  Since I would be cutting a 50" diameter circle, the large cross piece had to be at least 50" and the two small pieces had to be at least 22.25" (subtracting the 2x6 width).  
    1. Picture 3 - I mounted my router to a piece of MDF and drilled a hole at the necessary distance to cut a 50" diameter circle. This distance is 25" + half of the bit diameter.  Since I used a 1/2" straight bit, my point was 25.25" from the center of the router bit.  I screwed this jig to the center of the tabletop assembly so the router could pivot and cut a circle.  As for logistics, I rested this assembly on some scrap wood and kneeled on the tabletop as I was cutting it.  It took a large number of passes with the router since I was cutting through 1.5" of material. 
  4. Picture 4 - The perimeter pieces required some time and geometry. I found that I would need (8) 23" 2x8 pieces (the 23" is approximate because I was a little off for some reason, though I can't recall why).  From those pieces, I used the same router jig to cut the perimeter arc pieces. You will need to make two new radius holes in teh jig to accomplish what you need.  To cut the inner arc you need a hole set at 25" - half of the bit diameter (24.75" for me).  To cut the outer arc, I used a hole that was 29 5/8" from the center of the router bit.  You may need to do some fine tuning to these pieces to get them to fit correctly, but for me it pretty minor.  I trimmed a couple pieces with a miter saw but that was it. 
  5. The rest is screws and glue. 
Estimated Time Investment
Week Long Project (20 Hours or More)
Finish Used
Sanded using 60, then 120 grit. The stain was Rust-Oleum's Ultimate Wood Stain in Dark Walnut. The top coat was General Finishes water-based polyurethane in flat. One coat of stain, six coats of poly, while sanding with grade #0000 steel wool after every other coat.
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Comments

ILoveDIYing

Sun, 03/08/2015 - 10:23

Hi, your table is beautiful! I was wondering if you had to increase the size of your base since your table top is 60". I'm going to be building a round one the same size and wanted to make sure it would be stable at the current size.

bRick

Fri, 03/13/2015 - 20:36

The only modification I made to the base was the to the lengths of the 2x4 pieces that make up the "X" that sits between the base and the tabletop. In the plans, this "X" is made of (1) 32" piece and (2) 14.5" pieces. I believe I increased these to 36" and 16.5", respectively. Truthfully, I don't think this modification added much value.

I did some calculations and at a 60" diameter, it would've taken over 100 lbs placed at the edge of the table. This was also a function of the weight of the table. The heavier the table, the more stable it will be.

Momma Gladden

Sun, 04/05/2015 - 19:21

I want to put a concrete top on this base and increase the diameter to 72". Would I need to increase the size of the base to accommodate the larger and heavier top? Thank you

bRick

Tue, 04/14/2015 - 20:20

It all depends on how much your tabletop weighs. I'm going to take a wild guess that your tabletop will weigh around 500 lbs (~28 sq. ft. at ~18 lbs/sq. ft.). For reference, I think my wood top weighed about 80 lbs. I will also assume the wood base weighs 50 lbs. Using these assumptions, the result is a worst-case scenario (weight placed at edge of table, tipping between two table legs) of tipping at 300 lbs. The lighter the tabletop, the less stable it will be. Since your concrete table is likely to weigh a lot more than my wood top, it will be a lot more stable.

That addresses the design and assumes none of the wood or connections (screws) fail under the increased load (weight of concrete). I can't speak very confident to this aspect. Though I can venture a guess. I will guess that it will be stable under no load, but there will increased loads when under uneven stress (i.e. somebody leaning on one side of the table). Honestly, I don't know how valuable any further speculation would be.

X3cougsp

Tue, 09/06/2016 - 08:14

Can the pedestal hold a 66"- 72" top?  I've been searching for a table that seats 6 comfortably with an occasional squeeze for 8.  I think a 60" would work but my husband thinks 72".  We are struggling to find exactly what we want and are now investigating DIYs .  This is a beautiful table!!  

In reply to by X3cougsp

bRick

Wed, 10/05/2016 - 17:16

This is a conversation that we had in our house as well. My personal opinion is that 60" is big enough for 6 people and good enough for 8 people. What we did to "dry run" it was I cut a board to 72" and set it up at table height and we sat at oppposite ends of the board. I asked my wife if it was too big and we both agreed that not only would really shrink the room, but it also was too big for regular use. We currently have 6 chairs around this on a regular basis. As for the stability of the table itself, you may want to increase the width of the base. I say this because 74 lbs at the edge of the table (in between legs) will cause the table to tip, which is probably a force that will be exceeded by someone leaning on it. 

bRick

Thu, 12/22/2016 - 20:58

I used the jig that I made the large circle but made a couple new radii. The inner edge was the round piece radius minus half of the bit diameter. The other radius is as wide as you want to make it. 

 

I fixed this jig to my work bench and set it up so that I would be cutting each piece identically. I have a picture that I'll add that shows it better than I can explain it. 

In reply to by Omally83

bRick

Sat, 01/21/2017 - 07:46

I believe my approach was that I cut the 2x8s to the length that would produce the arc length I was looking for. So basically the outer edge was going to (if my jig did its job) be exactly as long as I needed it to be. With that in mind, I used a piece of yarn tied to the pivot point on the jig that I was using and used that to tell me where I needed to make the cut. 

Otherwise, I could've used trig to figure it out but I was all angled out by that point. With 8 border pieces they should each cover 45 degrees (360/8) and the other two angles should be equal ((180 - 45))/2=67.5) resulting in a 67.5 degree angle. The trouble in using that method is it doesn't account for all the little screw-ups that may have thrown off certain measurements. Plus, the yarn-thing was pretty easy. 

SueInVA

Sat, 01/23/2021 - 14:17

We made the table base for a 60" solid walnut top (used the wider measurements). When people get up from the table, my husband thinks the base twists when they push off. Has anyone else noticed this or have a suggestion on how to make the table not twist? Thanks, Sue

Poolside Towel Cabinet from Benchmark Cabinet Plan

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Thu, 03/23/2017 - 11:21

My father and I made this awesome poolside towel cabinet using the Benchmark Cabinet plans. A super easy 1 day build and it looks amazing on the patio. Bring on the pool weather! 

Estimated Cost
$60
Estimated Time Investment
Day Project (6-9 Hours)
Finish Used
Chalk paint/Poly topcoat
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

King Bed Frame

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Tue, 04/18/2017 - 16:39

This was a fun project. Easy instructions great piece of furniture. It is very sturdy. I'm a beginner at DIY wood projects so this was a rewarding project.

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
$200
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
Minwax red Chestnut and American Chestnut. Treat the American Chestnut more like paint than stain it dries quickly.
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

DIY Board Game Cabinet

We tweaked the Ana White Barn Door bookcase plan for a bathroom linen closet, made it a hair too wide (it was soooo close), and decided to use this for board games instead. It's PERFECT for storing long games like Monopoly, as well as puzzles, cards, and more. I decorated it with vinyl cut with my Cricut to give it that "game night" feel.

The project ended up being fairly time consuming because painting the shelf took a lot of time... if I did it again, I'd probably use a paint sprayer. I just don't have a great space for spraying furniture builds.

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)

Comments

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BeckerHugues

Wed, 11/06/2024 - 04:25

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Rustic Wine Rack

Submitted by tracysmith on Fri, 03/29/2013 - 11:17

I've built many custom pieces for local folks but this one with all it's half circles really threw me - how was I going to do those, make them precise and not spend 3 days doing it. It's simple really.... I cheated!! LOL I used a 3 1/8" hole saw for the larger ones and a 1" hole saw for the smaller ones. I also took two boards and clamped them together with pipe clamps and then drilled two at once! It gives it a more consistent look and cuts the time literally in half!

I used a home brew for the stain. Had a friend of mine do the engraving for the front header piece. I think the whole project took between 10 - 15 hours to do because there was a lot of experimenting with the stain and there was also readjusting the sides and top to look how I wanted.

The client loves it and I'll post a pic on my Facebook page of the whole thing loaded up with wine, later today.

Estimated Cost
$250 was retail on this
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
The finish used was steel wool dissolved in vinegar with a secret ingredient added. :-)
Recommended Skill Level
Advanced

Rustic Modern Platform Bed

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Tue, 05/23/2017 - 12:48

We loved this bed much! And others loved it so much that the people who purchased our home requested to keep the bed frame as well. I guess we'll be building it again. We used a vinegar/steel wool solution to oxidize the wood and then sealed it with a natural finish (rubio-monocoat 'cotton white'). Thank you for these plans!

Finish Used
vinegar / steel wool + rubio monocoat cotton white,
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Headboard based on PB Oxford Storage Bed

Although I didn't build this from a plan I wanted to be sure and share it as it is because of my experience building from Ana's plans that I felt comfortable giving this a shot.

My in-laws were just updated their lake cabin and wanted a storage headboard as space is a premium and it will be the only furniture in the guest rooms. It is unique as it has shelves on either side which can pull out to function as a small night stand, perfect for cell phones, books etc. The back of the piece is tongue and groove knotty pine which for the more rustic look they wanted.

I will probably do things a little different when I build the next headboard but overall I am satisfied with the end result. I chose not to do a lower storage area, mainly to keep the cost down. It could be done very easily but this piece is already very heavy and that there is plenty of storage.

Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
Special Walnut stain with semi-gloss Polycrylic. All of the wood was sanded and then I applied wood conditioner. One coat of the stain and three coats of the semi-gloss. I live in Minnesota and build it in my garage so I had to wait until this week when temperatures finally were warm enough to apply the finish.
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Comments

Chicken Run

Submitted by Kdline on Mon, 04/13/2015 - 06:36

We built this coop from an existing playhouse and used Ana's plans to build the run!  So easy and turned out perfectly!

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Time Investment
Day Project (6-9 Hours)
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Comments

Storage Cubbies

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.

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
50
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
Homemade chalk finish paint
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Rustic table

Submitted by jdawn1988 on Mon, 01/01/2018 - 16:05

We built our table from the rustic table plans and I am in love. I am a beginner and I was so scared but it turned out amazing!! Thank you for giving me the courage and confidence to start building my own furniture! 

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
Minwax stain in slate
Minwax polycrylic
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Farmhouse Table~squared.

Submitted by Dinabu on Wed, 05/04/2011 - 09:24

I really really wanted a farmhouse table...but...we had a space that needed a square table AND I needed to fit 8-12 people (or more!) so we modified Ana's farmhouse table plans to not only be square, but really big as well. This table is 6 ft on each side. Since the table itself was so big, we reversed the breadboard ends and used a 2x4 on 2 ends just to even out the size a bit since is not rectangular...and the area is quite small but needed a big table. I didnt want it to be completely out of proportion. We did not use a stretcher because of the square factor, but each leg is a 4x4 post and reinforced underneath. It's HEAVY. It won't be moved anytime soon! I'm loving it:)

Estimated Cost
$250
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
Black semi-gloss with 2 coats of clear gloss poly for legs and table skirting, dark walnut for top with 5 coats clear gloss poly.
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Comments

Simple Bed (Full Size

Submitted by rlsavard on Wed, 07/03/2013 - 10:03

Great first project I made for my 2 year old son. He loves his "big boy bed" and I thoroughly enjoyed making it. I made the headboard first, then waited a day to do the footboard. I was able to think the process through better during that period and the footboard came out much better than the headboard, although maybe I'm just aware of these differences because I'm the one that made it. All in all it was a great learning experience and a wonderful way to dive into wood working. Thanks for all your plans, Ana!

Estimated Cost
$300 (materials and new tools)
Estimated Time Investment
Week Long Project (20 Hours or More)
Recommended Skill Level
Starter Project

Comments