Community Brag Posts

Simple 2x4 potting bench modified to include antique window.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Mon, 07/25/2022 - 17:10

I made this for my Mom as a birthday gift. I adjusted the dimensions a bit to accommodate the window, gave it a shabby chic look, and then added some decorative hardware. Very happy with the result!

Comments

Seasonal And Holiday

Dress-up Storage finally!

Submitted by tannisg on Wed, 08/03/2011 - 17:10

I made this for my girls' huge collection of dress-up clothes. I had to modify the plans a little to fit more costumes, and also to try to fit the longer length. I was hoping the longer dresses would hang without filling the bottom quite so much, but to make it tall enough for that the little one wouldn't have been able to reach the hanger bar.

I ended up with 4 foot boards all around - 6 pieces of 1x12 cut to 4 feet long, including the shelf at the top.

The eight year old cut the letters out of scrapbook paper and we glued them on with elmers glue then varnished over it.

All in all it looks great and holds 4 big plastic totes worth of dress-up (11 Halloweens/4 little girls/5 flower girl dresses and miscellaneous other outfits).

Now I'm just hoping they'll learn to use hangers and it will stay neat and tidy!

Construction was very easy and went well - took us longer to shop than it did to build!

Painting on the other hand took a long time, mostly just to wait between coats. I used spray paint and some polyurethane to gloss it up.

Estimated Cost
$50
Finish Used
spray paint, polyurethane
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

DIY Storage Lockers {No Mudroom? No problem!}

I love my new lockers, and I am in love with building! I think the Kreg Pocket Jig is my new best friend!

This is my first project, and I made a couple of changes to Ana's awesome plans. I used bead board for the backing instead of ply wood, and I added divider shelves on the bottom shelf. I also added hooks on both sides of each locker so that my kids can hang lots of stuff.

Since I am a total beginner builder, I made a few mistakes as I built these lockers. If you are a beginner, too, please check out my post on OneCreativeMommy.com so that you don't have to make the same mistakes! I included a chart that shows the order I used to put everything together and added instructions for the extra dividers.

I am loving my organized space (and so are my kids)!

See the project now: http://bit.ly/lockers-kids
Pin it for later: http://bit.ly/14FpeHD

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
$150
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
This project was painted with 2 coats of Bare Wood Primer and finished with two coats of Valspar Rapids in Semi Gloss.

Hint--one quart of paint is not enough! I bought one quart of primer and one quart of paint. I scraped the cans clean and had to leave a few hidden spots with only one coat of paint. I have nothing left for touch up. Splurge and buy the larger can. You can always use it to paint accent pieces to match!
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Blanket Ladder

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Fri, 08/05/2022 - 05:12

My husband was an amazing woodworker and when he passed away he left me a wood shop full of tools. No skills but with amazing directions, I was able to make a blanket ladder to hold the quilts that I so dearly loved. I think my husband would be very pleased!

Built from Plan(s)

Comments

Apothecary Media Console

Submitted by ratizzle on Sun, 08/07/2011 - 13:13

My wife first saw these in Pottery Barn one day listed for over $2,000.00, we then stumbled upon Ana White's Website and noticed she had plans. I printed them out and went to lowes to buy the material. I didnt own a saw so I had them cut the MDF for me. They ended up cutting it way off from the measurments so I ended up buying a skil saw and some stain grade pine and went to work. I get frustrated following measurements, so I ended up just looking at a picture and making it custom. Took me a few months working on it every few days, sometimes a week at a time. Thanks for looking!

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Time Investment
Week Long Project (20 Hours or More)
Finish Used
Paint and Stain
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Comments

gdayskippy

Wed, 08/31/2011 - 07:39

Looks like you built 3 boxes and joined them together ? You said you used pine for this. Did you just go with 1x12's or did you join boards together with a kreg jig to make it deeper ? Awesome job this is my next project.

classic bunk beds

Submitted by jenherndon on Sat, 08/31/2013 - 18:30

Easier than I thought!

Estimated Time Investment
Week Long Project (20 Hours or More)
Finish Used
Dark mocha stain, then sanded edges, then restained with natural cedar color, then 3 coats of satin poly.
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Reclaimed beauty

Submitted by mkrgolf on Thu, 10/22/2015 - 20:38

All wood used was reclaimed. Some tabletop pieces were warped, but added character to the table. Took about four 6-hour days with interruptions in between. I bought the stain from the Habitat store for $1.50 and the poly was left at the house we recently moved into. The stain was brushed on then rubbed in with a rag. I originally used about six coats of oil-based poly and when that didn't seem to work, I applied 2 coats of Polycrylic.

Estimated Cost
$20
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
Colonial maple stain with water-based satin poly.
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Kitchen Cabinets with Countertops

Submitted by cmanmgm007 on Sun, 11/25/2018 - 08:17

I would like to thank www.stonecoatcountertops.com for the ideas on the countertops, 

first off I used 3/4 MDF for this project, Ana White's momplex cabinet plans and just extended the plans to the size i needed, i created the doors out of MDF cut to size and used a router to create the design on the edge and the countertops are made with MDF, expoxy,spray paint, and metallic powder in 91% alcohol. this plan was so eazy, and my kids had a blast doing it, Thanks Ana for the cabinet plans

Estimated Cost
MDF $26 per Sheet- 2 sheets
Epoxy $95gal
spray paint
metallic powder $30

Finish Used
Leftover paints i mixed together together the color.
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Modern Park Bench Plan

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sun, 08/14/2022 - 11:53

I love the plans for this bench! Very well thought out plans, easy to cut the wood and easy to put together. Thank you for all the hard work in coming up with all of these great plans!
Reanna Tovar

Built from Plan(s)

Comments

Corner Hutch Storage Bed for my Girls

Submitted by hawaiitara on Tue, 08/09/2011 - 16:19

I made this bed for my 2 girls who share a room. It was my first real attempt at building anything substantial. They are thrilled. The plans were so easy to follow. The only thing I did different was use 3 inch screws in the hutch base because I felt it made it more sturdy. I used bead board for the outside of the hutch and the back of the book cases. Thanks Ana for such great plans.

Estimated Cost
$525
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
White semi gloss paint with special walnut minwax stain brushed over to age
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Comments

sgilly

Tue, 08/09/2011 - 18:31

What lucky little girls to have a mom who can build them beautiful furniture! Great job.

Rachel Stacy (not verified)

Tue, 12/25/2012 - 04:39

I really want to do this for our twins who are about to move to big girl beds. However, I do not see the plans for this. Do you have a pdf to show how to build them? I especially love the hutch!

2 Drawer Modern Nightstand (with Charging station)

Submitted by mt51 on Mon, 09/02/2013 - 22:21

I really liked the look of the 2 Drawer Modern Nightstand but I wanted to add a twist to it. Since I can't live without my devices (laptop and phone), I decided to add an open slot to the middle shelf of the nightstand for power cables. It also has a space that I added in the back that can hold a power strip. Embarrassed that I did not paint the back of the nightstand but I was really done at that point after a long weekend's worth of work!

 

Pin For Later! 

2 Drawer Modern Nightstand (with Charging station)

 

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

clubhouse loft

Submitted by oterojaime on Mon, 10/26/2015 - 05:26

This is just a loft I made for my kids. I didn't want to spend over $1500 at PBK for a twin bed size bunk bed. the size is 4x8 enough for them to have fun.

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
350
Estimated Time Investment
Week Long Project (20 Hours or More)
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Fire Place and TV Surround

We needed a surround for the TV and really wanted to have a fireplace underneath. I took the Shanty Hutch/Sideboard plans and made some modifications. Took about 2 weeks to complete.

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
We bought the fireplace for the project, so with all included about $600
Estimated Time Investment
Week Long Project (20 Hours or More)
Finish Used
I used Varathane American Walnut on the interior surfaces. I used a paint/stain blend for the exterior. It is a color match tint for my house.
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Comments

Simple Bed Modified

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sat, 08/27/2022 - 14:34

My daughter needed to get out of her Toddler Bed so I built this quickly. Used 2 2x6 for each rail, and cut down the height of the headboard and footboard. Also as always I use Rocklers 5" Surface Mounted Brackets for all beds. I have the rails also sitting on 3 inch blocks to support the extra jumping this bed will endure by a 4 yr old.

Comments

Narrow Farmhouse table

Submitted by rhilborn on Thu, 08/11/2011 - 12:01

After discovering Ana White over a year ago, we knew that we wanted to build ourselves a dining room table. It was just a matter of finding the right plan for our house and family. The Narrow Farmhouse table was just perfect! We shortened the length to 6' to fit into our combined living dining area. I would love to have the 8' version some day, maybe when we have 2 separate eating areas?!

A note on our wood choices, I would try hard to use pine in lieu of whitewood for ALL the table components. The pine did a much better job with the stain and poly then the whitewood. As I have seen the one other time I tried to work with whitewood, it's CRAZY soft and I suppose I'm just not a big fan. I would take the trade off of more sanding with pine to insane finish silliness, any day!

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
$100, mostly because we moved this summer and had to buy stain & poly again. The wood cost was about $60 and we already had the pine scraps for the legs.
Estimated Time Investment
Day Project (6-9 Hours)
Finish Used
Minwax Dark Walnut with both Minwax Wipe On Polyuretane and Minwax Polycrylic. I am not usually aiming for a shiny, glossy finish so Wipe On Poly is my go-to finish. However, for this project, the Whitewood just soaked up the Wipe On Poly and the tabletop was not sufficiently smooth. So I bought a tiny jar of Polycrylic. I may just be converted, at least for tabletop surfaces, because the finish is now just beautiful.
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Comments

Guest (not verified)

Tue, 08/23/2011 - 16:49

Looks good!

I've found that if you put a conditioner on first, the soft woods take the stains more evenly and don't soak up the stain so readily. Minwax makes one for both oil and water-based stains.

In reply to by Guest (not verified)

rhilborn

Tue, 08/23/2011 - 16:58

I actually used a wood conditioner from Minwax and yet the stain still had a struggle. I did not use the wood conditioner on the pine on the legs and they had no problem. Thanks for the tip though!

The only glamorous thing in my kitchen...

Submitted by bhoppy on Wed, 09/04/2013 - 16:40

Is this kitchen island with its beautiful marble top:-) I really hate my kitchen because it is so ridiculously from the 80's and small... but it's a rental so it's not forever. The only counter space I had to cook is right there to the right of the sink by the coffee maker. I started building this the night Ana put the plans up. A friend of mine just remodeled her bathroom; and gave me the top since it was just sitting in her garage. I had to modify the plans only slightly to accommodate the top. It's 3 inches wider than the plans and I beefed up the top frame with 2x2's to support the 29 pound slab of stone. I spent less than $20 on the project because I had leftover wood from another project and a whole bunch of 2 x 4's from a project that got trumped for this one:-) I also ripped a piece of plywood to 11 1/4 to use as the sides and added edge banding on the back. I used paste wax for the very first time instead of polyurethane and I'm not sure how I like it yet.

Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
Early American, dark walnut and paste wax
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Comments

Doll pram in baby's room

Submitted by whitebrow on Thu, 10/29/2015 - 11:22

This is a fun a straight-forward project.  I built it for our littlest one's first birthday as both a doll stroller and a walk-behind push toy.  I used select pine for the stroller, a 1" oak dowel for the handle and some pre-made wheels / rounds.  Wheels were from Michaels (I think) and the rest was from Lowes.

I want to find a way to better secure the wheels, but the plans' method works pretty well.  The axle caps can sometimes fall off so I just check them for tightness every so often.

Best of all, Greta approves.

Estimated Time Investment
Afternoon Project (3-6 Hours)
Finish Used
painted wheels, whitewashed body
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

His & hers studio closet

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Wed, 12/26/2018 - 22:55

Instead of using galvanized pipes, to save money we opted for ready made closer rod & hardware from Lowe’s and added additional 2x4 pieces perpendicular to the shelf supports and screwed the closet rods into those. 

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
>$200
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
Weathered oak stain
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Ana’s Rustic Bench

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sat, 09/03/2022 - 17:42

I used Ana’s plan to build this great bench for the Master Bathroom. It works out great!

Built from Plan(s)

Comments

Family Computer Station

Submitted by kdins31 on Sat, 08/13/2011 - 13:39

It was an unused corner of the playroom and I decided to put it to use with a computer station with an area for the kids. The desk top is stain grain ply, stained a satin dark walnut. Body is paint grade ply, painted white. On the walls I used whiteboard/dry-erase paint over a magnetic base so the kids can draw on the walls and hang pics with magnets, and added a cork board to the right. Built the cabinet for the computer and printer using same wood with a sliding shelf. This turned out to be one of the best things I've done in the house, the kids do their homework here and we use the desk all day long! A really cheap project that has very few parts. With paint, wood, stain and hardware its a $150 weekend project. I didn't use any plan here from this site but I've taken a lot of inspiration and tips!

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
$100-150 and two walls of your house!
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
Dark walnut stain, satin white paint
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Comments

BethG (not verified)

Sat, 09/10/2011 - 17:57

Great use of space & I like that you used painted and stained wood together. It looks very professional.

Guest (not verified)

Mon, 01/16/2012 - 19:47

Could you mind providing the dimensions of your desk? It looks like the perfect size to fit our needs!

Quintin79

Thu, 01/31/2013 - 05:41

Looks great, you can paint and stain prior to putting together saves on taping everything off and possibility of bleedthru of tape. Amazing job and design.