Community Brag Posts

$55 fancy x desk turned kitchen table

I was making the fancy x desk, and my wife suggested building a bench to go with it to make it a bar style kitchen table to take up less space in our kitchen. So I looked up plans for a bench on here (providence bench looked best with it), and built it. I painted it with rust-oleum American accents spray paint for wood, metal, and plastic in glossy black and surprisingly it looked amazing!

Estimated Time Investment
Afternoon Project (3-6 Hours)
Finish Used
rust-oleum American accents spray paint for wood, metal, and plastic in glossy black. used 2 coats and it gives it a nice look and smooth finish
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

DIY Workbench on wheels

Thanks to www.shanty-2-chic.com for this plan! I needed a workbench for all these projects that I was starting and I was tired of getting out a piece of plywood and the sawhorses every time. So this was just perfect for what I needed!

Estimated Time Investment
Afternoon Project (3-6 Hours)
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

My corner desk

Submitted by chach2667 on Wed, 11/03/2021 - 04:02

I wanted to convert my craft shed to my office after I accepted a new job and would be working from home full time. My shed is only 10x8, so I needed something smallish and functional. I modified the plans slightly and I did make a few mistakes. In the end, I think it turned out great for a 50 something grandma who likes to work with her hands!

Built from Plan(s)

Comments

Our first Build!

Submitted by jbaby13 on Tue, 03/29/2011 - 15:10

This was my husband and my first try at building furniture.  It took most of the weekend to build, paint, sand etc, but it looks great in my son's room and has much more room then his old bookcase.

Estimated Cost
$50
Estimated Time Investment
Day Project (6-9 Hours)
Finish Used
Flat paint and clear coat finish
Recommended Skill Level
Starter Project

Rustic X End Table

Submitted by dzubakj on Mon, 06/10/2013 - 08:40

I altered the dimensions slightly so that it wouldn't be overbearing in my living room. It is much shorter than the plan suggests, and the length and width are also changed. I used framing 2x4 and 2x6 lumber, so I had to sand the heck out of it to make it nice and smooth. It looks great next to the console table. Good plan.

Estimated Cost
60
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
I went with the steel wool in vinegar finish with two coats of light brown Briwax over that (applied with steel wool). I really liked the steel wool and vinegar finish, but if you have never used it before be careful, it is a bit tricky to apply evenly. Also, it goes through several changes while it dries. I started panicking a little before it was fully fry because it was not turning out how I suspected at all. After a few more minutes it looked much better, and the wax brought out just enough brown to make it exactly what I wanted.
Recommended Skill Level
Starter Project

Micro Cabinet

Submitted by RITWood on Fri, 11/03/2017 - 11:11

A great one board project using some left over cedar that was collecting dust.  Using a 1/2" round over bit I eased the outside corners as well as the drawer sides.  I find that the drawers will slide easier with a slight round over applied.  I left the cedar without a stain and two coats of satin clear.  

Estimated Cost
$2
Estimated Time Investment
An Hour or Two (0-2 Hours)
Finish Used
Spray Satin Clear
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Comments

JoanneS

Sat, 11/04/2017 - 19:29

Great job on this project!  The router detail is beautiful, and the unique shaped pulls  are awesome!

JoanneS

House bed

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sat, 11/06/2021 - 20:35

Made this simple house bed for my daughter. Got the idea from Ana white page and made my own.

Comments

First nightstand

Submitted by juliec on Sat, 04/02/2011 - 13:24

We used ana's plan but modified the top

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
$35
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
We will use espresso general finishes and several top coats of poly.
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Comments

bridgetschaefer

Thu, 05/30/2019 - 13:00

This is EXACTLY what I'm looking for but I can't find the plans that were used to build it. Do you happen to still have the link for them?

Porch bench

Submitted by DWolf on Tue, 06/11/2013 - 15:58

Using Ana's garden bench design, I modified the plans slightly to make the bench less deep in order to fit on my narrow porch.

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Time Investment
Day Project (6-9 Hours)
Finish Used
White Valspar outdoor paint
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Desk with additions

Submitted by klatz on Fri, 05/15/2015 - 09:25

This was the first plans we used from Ana White and it turned out great. Modified the desk to be a little shorter and have dual drawers in the front.

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
$125
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Comments

Modified Farmhouse King Bed

Submitted by dsteinberg on Wed, 11/29/2017 - 11:38

- Used a router to cut a dado slot for the vertical boards to slide into the 4x4 posts so I would not have to screw them in from the outside

- Used a router to round over the edges to make the post toppers.  

- Used router to give a shaped edge to the top horizontal planks

- I bought the finials for the post tops

 

 

Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
General Finishes Snow White Milk Paint
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Modern Bedroom Furniture Build

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Tue, 11/16/2021 - 12:29

Bed Frame and Headboard made from Ana's plans. Frame is very simple. Headboard is fairly simple but a lot more cuts, measuring and attaching. I stained both with Varathane Weathered Gray. I also attached sideboards and internal support 2x4s with bed-frame brackets rather than screwing directly in to allow for easier deconstruction and reconstruction. Used an insert nut on the sideboards to attach hairpin legs (screwed directly into top/bottom boards).

Side tables are just 3/4 birch plywood glued and nailed into a rectangular box. 24x18" Top/Bottom and 18 x 6" sides. Hairpin legs are longer versions (16") of Ana's Amazon suggestions for bed frame. Stained with Varathane Antique White.. turned out ok, but would use a different white stain or just paint them white if I had to do it again, and paint the insides before you build!

Comments

Pallet Wood Coffee Table

Submitted by AlexWS on Mon, 04/04/2011 - 14:51

After my free drink station project I was going to swear off pallet wood for larger pieces, then I came across what may be a holy grail of pallets. 4 feet by 5 feet made with 4X4's and 2X6's held together with screws rather than nails. Yup, something had to be done with this.

so the sort of free comes from the lumber being free while I paid for the stain and poly. Of course, you could say we always pay for those, in this instance though they weren't leftovers from another project.

I say sort of Tryde because it shares the basics of the table, 2 by top pieces, breadboards, chunky 4X4 legs. However, given my wood choices the lumber sizes are all mixed around. Also because I was originally going to make the modern X leg kids picnic table but didn't have any good wood for the legs.

So instead of the breadboards being the wide pieces those are now 2X3's with 2X6's for the table top pieces. Another difference is that instead of 1X4's for the aprons boxed out I used 2X4's. This really wasn't a big deal because I had a Kreg Jig. By the way, got the master system and it rocks my socks off.

Compared to my last pallet wood projects these boards pretty much look store bought, I wish I had remembered to take a picture before I stained it. They're definitely a bit knotty but that's OK because even when I don't want an overly distressed look I still don't think wood should be perfect, if I wanted that I would use MDF.

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
$15
Estimated Time Investment
Afternoon Project (3-6 Hours)
Finish Used
Simple Minwax Ebony stain with a gloss spray poly.
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Tryde Coffee Table

Submitted by bishop2001 on Fri, 06/14/2013 - 07:00

Tryde Coffee Table made of mahogany and stained used several layers of boiled linseed oil and a few top coat layers of wipe on satin polyurethane. It came out really nice. This is my first project.

Estimated Time Investment
Week Long Project (20 Hours or More)
Finish Used
boiled linseed oil
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Comments

Poolside sectional

Submitted by Littlek8 on Tue, 05/19/2015 - 09:55

This was our first diy furniture project but definitely not our last. We were looking for furniture to put by our pool but everything that we liked and was comfortable was way out of our budget. I came across the post on pintrest and recruited my husband to do the woodworking for me. I the meantime I made the cushions and back pillows using outdoor fabric from fabric.com. The sectional is stained using Olympic Elite semi transparent exterior stain in kona brown.

Estimated Cost
$500.00
Estimated Time Investment
Week Long Project (20 Hours or More)
Finish Used
Olympic Elite semi transparent stain in kona brown. Topcoat of Helmsman polyurethane
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Comments

Afternoon Farmhouse Table Build

Submitted by Ahuff9103 on Wed, 12/13/2017 - 06:43

I got the plans from Anna White $50 beginner farmhouse table build. Changed from a 6 ft table to a 5 ft. Built in a few hours but took longer to paint than anything because it took 2 coats. 

Estimated Cost
$50
Estimated Time Investment
Afternoon Project (3-6 Hours)
Finish Used
Minwax honey 272
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Comments

Mike Mercer

Thu, 12/28/2017 - 16:23

Hi,

I really like the colour you chose!  Did you use "SPF" lumber or something else?  I am using SPF, so I am curious to see what the stain will look like once dried, etc.    

 

Thanks again, 

- Mike

My little side tables

Submitted by tdqueenroy on Wed, 11/24/2021 - 18:20

I have previously made side tables for our master bedroom but after two grown kids came back we had to move to the smaller of the two bedrooms we have. So here’s my 13” width version !

Nice easy build, thanks again Ana. Took longer to figure my new measurements for my cut list than actually building them!

Comments

A cottage bench with shoe rack

Only slightly modified cottage bench - I made the storage area bigger and added shelves to put my shoes. Only my second project so it's not perfect (especially the paint job) but I loooove it! Sure, the shoe rack I had was perfectly functional and bigger, but this is waaay prettier.

Found a perfect red oops paint at Lowes and I even added a little birdie stencil. I have a few more pieces I'm working on and hope to finish soon. Thank you Ana for the plans!
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
Primer and two coats of paint, lightly sanded in between. I skipped the top coat because I want the red color to naturally fade with use.
Recommended Skill Level
Starter Project

King storage bed

Submitted by Ken Kelly on Sat, 06/15/2013 - 22:43

This King size storage bed has 6 large pullout drawers. It's made by the plans we got from Ana's queen size and Twenty five to life's plans we found on this site(THANK YOU). Just like they say in their plans I'm not sure how much I actually spent because I made some mistakes and had to rebuild my bottom piece. But I loved putting this together, and it's worth every penny and beyond. The compliments from visitors and the swollen chest pride I get when I hear my wife say, "My husband built this for us." Can't put a price on that.

Estimated Cost
Around 200-250
Estimated Time Investment
Week Long Project (20 Hours or More)
Finish Used
Min-wax stain and polyurethane.
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate