Community Brag Posts

Exactly what I wanted

Submitted by rhamil12 on Thu, 07/25/2013 - 08:07

I stumbled upon the octagon picinic table almost by mistake. I set out to just find a blueprint for a standard picnic table to know how much materials I needed and this came up in the top of the Google search. As soon as I saw it I knew it would be perfect for my backyard. It looks great and the neighbors are quiet jealous!

In the first additional photo you will also see the entry way bench and storage shelf (http://ana-white.com/2009/11/plans-for-entry-storage-benchshelf_2314.ht…) that I worked on when I wanted a break from the table.

Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
Olympic Redwood Naturaltone Semi-transparent Deck stain/seal
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Comments

jlbarahona

Thu, 07/25/2013 - 16:56

This is gorgeous, i'd love this for my backyard! Do you know how much it cost you? thanks!

Donna's bathroom pipe organizer project

Submitted by dmmonarch on Wed, 08/05/2015 - 19:33

Went a little crazy on the pipe project, but love it.  My favorite thing is the bench.  My husband loves the toilet paper holder. 

Estimated Cost
I literally wrapped the pipe almost all the way around the bathroom so that cost was near $200. That's not including the boards and paint. Not a cheap project but worth every penny.
Estimated Time Investment
Week Long Project (20 Hours or More)
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Comments

Farm House Queen Bed

Made this bed using 4x4's and 2x4's from some large pallets we acquired. The rest of the wood I had to buy. I had to make some adjustments as our mattress was not a true queen. I loved making this project. This is a great plan.

Built from Plan(s)

Comments

Modular office small desktop/Narrow file drawer base unit

Submitted by gmamurphy on Sun, 06/12/2011 - 14:00

Combined the modular office small desktop with the Narrow file drawer base unit to suit my needs/space requirements. Used the legs from the narrow farmhouse table because I just loved them! Added beadboard for the drawer faces because it matches the rest of our house.

Estimated Time Investment
Week Long Project (20 Hours or More)
Finish Used
painters touch and minwax polycrylic
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Comments

bundaboy

Mon, 04/28/2014 - 22:18

I am about to start on a very similar 4 draw version of this, do you have any more information? In particular I was wondering how the drawer slides were fitted - are the side or bottom fitting? Cheers and well done!

Bathroom Vanity - This one's Josephine!

Submitted by JoanneS on Sun, 07/28/2013 - 09:08

Converted an ordinary bathroom vanity into a Napoleon sink console/vanity. This is the second one I’ve completed, the first was in the hall bathroom which Hubby calls “his” bathroom. Since this one for the master bath is more feminine, I’m calling her Josephine! This was approximately a day and a half project, but spread out over several weekends. I had originally planned to put a faux drawer in front of the sink, and had the drawer front made, but then decided I’d like to try to make some custom drawers in front of the sink to utilize that space. I ended up doing the center drawer fronts twice – on the first try the space in the center was a little too narrow for the knob once the trim was in place. Since the vanity is in a corner, the sink doesn’t fall exactly in the center of the vanity cabinet, leaving it left of center by about an inch. This required different middle drawer sizes with interesting shapes.

The drawers are made from a combination of 3/8” craft boards and 3/8” plywood, ½” craft board, and some ¼” plywood for the bottoms (all of them except the one right of center – that has ¾” plywood for the bottom). The 2 outer drawers also have ¾” S4S as guides.

The doors and drawer fronts are ¼” birch plywood cut to size, with ½” x 1 ½” craft boards glued to the fronts for rails and stiles (I added a few pin nails from the back side also). Inside these, mitered pieces of mini-stop moulding were glued in place. The whole thing received some putty on the edges and joints, and thorough sanding with 80-grit, then 220-grit.

The inside frames are made from S4S, 1x2, and some scraps of 1x4 cut to size. If I were doing this in a newly constructed vanity without the sink already in place, the setup for the drawers would have been much simpler. But, we weren’t ready to buy new yet, so necessity was the mother of invention and we have this. I re-used the hinges and 2 of the knobs from the original, and I bought 4 more and the hardware for the drawers.

The pull-outs in the bottom are made from plywood scraps, thoroughly sanded and painted. These are based on Ana’s wood pull out cabinet drawer organizer, with added supports across the bottom to make the drawer clear the lip of the face frame, keeping them the correct distance apart, and giving something to attach to the cabinet floor.

For the inside floor of the cabinet, I got this Idea from Yvonne at Sunnyside Up-Stairs in this post:
http://sunnysideup-stairs.blogspot.com/2013/06/progress-installed-dishw…
Left over flooring was placed on the cabinet floor to give it a fresh new look and protect the cabinet bottom. Our house is 21 years old, so you can imagine the floor of the vanity cabinet had seen some wear and tear. Now it looks new!

Estimated Cost
$45 (hardware, craft boards, trim, already had the finishing materials and the rest was scrap on hand)
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
This was my first try at home made chalk paint (2 coats). I got a free quart of Clark & Kensington flat paint at Ace, and had them tint it to Benjamin Moore’s Blue Echo color. I made the chalk paint by mixing the paint with some water and plaster of paris. I love how it dries so quickly and covers well, but I missed the sheen of a satin or semi gloss. The glaze is some Minwax Express Color in Walnut. Once everything was dry, it received a top coat of Minwax water based poly. I ran out of that right as I was doing the center drawers, so those have some Oil-modified water based poly. Pull-out drawers are some left over cream paint, and the frames are Ace Royal semigloss in Wishbone. Overall I’m very happy with the finish.
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Comments

yurra-bazain

Sun, 07/28/2013 - 12:25

I love your vanity. Something about it helps me imagine a British nobleman's home, or since she is Josephine, I suppose it would be in the home of a French duchess. =D I really do like the idea of having that pull out drawer on the bottom of the vanity.

I am definitely going to give glazing and distressing a try sometime. I just have to find the right project for the look. Lest I forget, thank you for sharing the link to my site. :)

JoanneS

Sun, 07/28/2013 - 15:57

Thank you so much for the nice comments! I love the idea of a Duchess, I think I'll nickname this finish Duchess Blue! :) I was happy to share your blog link, the idea about the vinyl flooring in the vanity worked like a charm, I'm going to do that in my kitchen and the other bathrooms too.

Herringbone Daybed

Submitted by sailonseas on Mon, 08/10/2015 - 10:25

I build this last minute for my daughters room makeover.  I worked through the night, but got it completed and painted just after sunrise. (I slept good the following night!)

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
This project ran about $70 in all.
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Farmhouse Nightstands

Submitted by rbgreene04 on Sat, 03/10/2018 - 20:30

I had made the farmhouse bed from Ana a while ago and finally got around to building a pair of these bedside tables to match. I love how much bigger the top is than my previous nightstand's top. The bins on the bottom shelf are relatively cheap from Walmart, and I like the galvanized look with the wood. 

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
About $120 for a pair
Estimated Time Investment
Day Project (6-9 Hours)
Finish Used
I wiped on two coats of dark walnut Danish oil; I love how quick and easy Danish oil goes on. Being that they are only bedside tables, I don't foresee much wear and tear and thus I didn't need a more durable finish.
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Three Little Sling Chairs

Submitted by LissaNY on Wed, 06/15/2011 - 13:16

My first non-home-repair project. Made three of the sling chairs for my kids. They each picked out their own fabric (regular fabric). We still have not sanded, filled and painted but are hoping to do so this weekend. The kids were very excited to have them. I have been reading your website for months now wishing I had time to make something, and these chairs fit the bill. Thank you!

Estimated Time Investment
Afternoon Project (3-6 Hours)
Finish Used
Still unfinished. Undecided on how we are going to do each chair.
Recommended Skill Level
Starter Project

Comments

RyansMama (not verified)

Wed, 07/13/2011 - 18:16

How old are your kids? My daughter is 6 and I am wondering if the chair will be too small for her.

Narrow Cottage End Table

Submitted by mom of 4 on Tue, 07/30/2013 - 16:21

I built matching side tables using Ana's Narrow Cottage End Table plan. I changed the height to suit the arms of my furniture. They fit our tight space and look fantastic with our existing wood pieces. Very easy to build, even the drawers! I used a router to finish the edge on the drawers, to make them stand out a little more. I learned to put my pocket holes on the outside of the drawer, since the back one is in the back, and the front one is covered by the separate drawer front piece. A Kreg jig makes this a very simple project. Also, I sanded my boards before assembly, then did touch-ups before finishing the project.

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
$50 total for two
Estimated Time Investment
Day Project (6-9 Hours)
Finish Used
One coat Minwax Ipswich Pine Stain. One coat Minwax finishing paste, hand rubbed.
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Laundry Pedestal

I took this plan from www.Ana-White.com Home Depot cut my wood and I was off and running. I added a few ball feet on the bottom to give it a little pizzaz. I felt so accomplished after my first project... especially after the install guys told me it wouldn’t fit and it DID and it was level. I’m getting ready to make a coffee table now. Thanks for the inspiration, confidence and help!!

Estimated Cost
$150
Estimated Time Investment
Afternoon Project (3-6 Hours)
Finish Used
Satin Furniture paint
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Workbench

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Fri, 04/22/2022 - 13:19

Workbench with tons of storage! Not from a plan on the site. 

by La Nin

Farmhouse Twin Bed

After making the sling chairs, I decided to give the Farmhouse twin bed a whirl for my daughter. I absolutely love it! It ended up costing us $225 for all of the supplies needed. The only issue we had in making this was trying to make it easy to disassemble. This was fun to make!

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
$225
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
Behr Creamy Almond Paint
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

square planter

Submitted by gale on Thu, 08/01/2013 - 11:40

My first project! The legs are shorter than in the plans-my fault for not reading thoroughly before I printed just the cut list and headed to the store. Still, I love it. I used the Square Planters with Finials plan for this. Painted it with a stencil in place, then stained over that. Also used a kreg jig.

Estimated Time Investment
Afternoon Project (3-6 Hours)
Finish Used
paint: glidden, stain: minwax, clear coat: rustoleum water based spar varnish
Recommended Skill Level
Starter Project

Laptop Table

Submitted by brittanyj on Wed, 08/19/2015 - 13:29

I saw Jen's one board challenge post and realized that some wood I got for free off CL a year ago included the right amount of walnut.  This seemed like the perfect plan to utilize this beautiful wood in a worthy way.  I did not have a 1x8, so I made a butcher block kind of top, which I think I like even better since the colors and grain vary.  

Placement of the connecting bolts is quite tricky and led to some misplaced holes : ( The stop blocks to the side of the legs aren't mentioned in her plan, but pictured, and are recommended in order to stop the legs from splaying too far.  I used pocket holes for all joinery and no stain, just poly for the finish.  The final coat I watered down some water based poly and wiped on for a smooth finish.  Love it!   

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
I used wood I got free off CL, so only the bolts were paid for and that was around $10
Estimated Time Investment
Day Project (6-9 Hours)
Finish Used
polyurethane
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Sliding Door Console to replace split level railing

My wife wanted to get rid of a railing above our steps and wanted some additional storage. I had this plan saved but though about doing something smaller. Once I realized that wasn't going to work, I decided to go with this plan. It worked great. 

Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
Natural Danish Oil for the top and white paint for everything else
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Princess Play Loft Bed

Submitted by fsmumford on Wed, 06/22/2011 - 09:26

I love the play loft bed, but wanted to add a princess twist for my 5 year old's birthday. I found melamine plywood, which helped in the finishing since it was already white. It was a lot of work, but so worth it! I think the kid's favorite feature so far is the slide, which has seen a ton of use :) My favorite feature is all the storage! Thanks so much Ana! If it wasn't for you, there is no way I would have had the courage to tackle a project like this!

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
$350
Estimated Time Investment
Week Long Project (20 Hours or More)
Finish Used
The plywood was already white, but after filling the holes I went ahead and painted the whole thing white so that it would all be the same color.
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Comments

Ari Z (not verified)

Thu, 06/23/2011 - 11:12

What a fantastic design for your daughter! She must pretend she's Rapunzel every time she gets into bed. The little cubbies to store toys were an excellent idea.

fsmumford

Mon, 07/11/2011 - 19:32

I started out by building the back and outer walls just like the stairs, just slightly narrower to fit my space and the side walls longer, coming out into the room more since the slide sticks out into the room farther. I then also did the top platform of the slide like the top step, having the top stair trim, cleats, and plywood support underneath the front of the platform. Then, I did some calculating to figure out how long to make the slide and what angle to use. I wanted it to come out into the room farther than the rest of the bed so that the slide wasn’t too fast, but I didn’t want it to stick out too far. So I used a piece of melamine board (nice and slick wood) that was 56” long. At the bottom of the slide, I put a piece of plywood that went from the ground up about 8 inches, so that the end of the slide would be up off the ground. So the slide ended up dropping a total of 34”, from the platform down to the plywood 8 inches off the ground. This made a fairly quick slide, but perfectly doable for my little ones. Then, before mounting the slide, I attached 1x2’s to each of the sides of the slide under where the slide was to be to support the slide from beneath. Then, I used a kreg jig to attach the slide to the sides and then screwed the slide into the supports. This made a very stable slide. If you have any more questions, I would be happy to try and help. I hope I’ve made sense ☺

Guest (not verified)

Sat, 07/16/2011 - 15:45

Hello Slide! My daughter screamed when she saw this bed...can you please tell me how to build it all? I would love it if you could share...

fsmumford

Sat, 07/16/2011 - 20:54

I'll try :) I started by building the towers. It was just deciding how wide I wanted them (I did one narrower and one wider to use like a window seat). Each tower is essentially three sides of plywood with one having shelves in it and the other having one shelf to make a seat. I also put a shelf at the bed's height so that my daughter can use it to put things when she is in bed, such as her alarm clock. Then I knew how long I needed the bed to be and how wide each of the towers were, and I made the middle front section to be the remaining width. The rest of the bed is very similar to the Play loft bed with storage steps, but instead of making the steps storage, I just attached them down and then cut out on the inside underneath the stairs to allow access for storage from within the castle. I used a jig saw to cut out the window. The top pink parts of the tower are just decoration, so I bought a thin piece of plywood and used a jigsaw to cut the up and down cuts. And then on another post I talked about making the slide. I hope I helped some :) If you have any more questions, feel free to ask and I will try and help.

Guest (not verified)

Sat, 10/01/2011 - 12:53

*I'm willing to pay you for your help*

I wish to start making this bed, but need some help. I'm novice and need more instructions. If I were to email you measurements, could you elaborate more in depth?

Please respond.

Thank you for your consideration.

Guest (not verified)

Sat, 10/01/2011 - 12:53

*I'm willing to pay you for your help*

I wish to start making this bed, but need some help. I'm novice and need more instructions. If I were to email you measurements, could you elaborate more in depth?

Please respond.

Thank you for your consideration.

fsmumford

Thu, 10/06/2011 - 10:04

I would love to help in any way I can (free of course!) I have wanted to do the plans on the computer, but haven't been able to figure out the program :( So feel free to ask away and I'll try and help. You can post questions here, or email me at [email protected].

jkcd513 (not verified)

Tue, 07/19/2011 - 13:01

I was wondering what the dimension for your room are (especially the wall the bed is against. Just trying to figure out if the slide idea would work in our little room. Also would you mind telling me how wide the the n_n_n (That is my attempt to show the part of the castle that has the little rectangles/squares and then a space and another rectangle/square (the pink and purple parts of the bed) I have been drawing some trying to get spacing right and they never seem to look right, but your spacing looks great. And is the purple part that has the shield painted on it a seperate piece from the rest or is it cut out with the main part of the bed- if it's seperate how wide across and length down is it? We are in the process of attempting a similar bed for our little one and I have been playing around with ideas and so far yours looks like what I have been trying to show my husband in my drawings, only yours looks a lot closer to what I had in my mind than what I have on paper. Any help would be appreciated.

fsmumford

Mon, 07/25/2011 - 09:27

The wall the bed is against is 125.25", so a little over 10'. I still have a few inches of wall left and wish I had made the slide a little wider (the slide I made is 14.5" wide), but thought I would be tighter on space. For the pink on top of the tower, I first used 1 x 3 that I attached to the front of the tower. Then I used 1/8" plywood for the part that I cut the up and down parts. It is 6.5" tall, but part of it sits behind the 1x3, so only 5" is visible. I then cut the plywood 3" down, 3" across, 3" up, 3" over, etc. to make that up and down look at the top of the towers. And the purple part with the shield is separate. It is again just a thin piece of plywood that I nailed to the bed. When I put this up, part of the shield thing was sticking above the bed and I didn't think anything of it until someone broke off part of it. So now I've added a piece of wood behind the shield (the same width of the shield) so that it keeps the shield from being broken. The shield's overall size is 23.25" wide x 27" high. I hope this helps :) If there is anything else I can help with, please just ask. Good luck with your adventure :) !

Guest (not verified)

Sun, 08/21/2011 - 22:19

I am incredibly curious to know if I can get plans for this bed. I have looked extensively throughout various internet pages for a bed/playhouse like this. I would like to make it with a queen mattress on top. I have look through your posts and haven't gathered enough information to proceed. I am willing to pay for the plans.

Is there anything different you would do, if you did this project again?

Thank You,

Guest

Guest (not verified)

Tue, 10/18/2011 - 08:43

Hello:
First of all I have to say THANK YOU. I found the plans for the playhouse (which are fabulous) are there plans available for the princess castle?

fsmumford

Tue, 10/18/2011 - 19:54

Hey all, I added the plans for this under the plans section of this website. Please let me know if you have any questions, and have fun building!

CherylBella (not verified)

Thu, 04/05/2012 - 15:40

I would love your directions or plans to build this my little princess. Thanks for any help. Just love this bed!

My California King Dream Bed

Submitted by bgoff3 on Fri, 08/02/2013 - 23:43

I've always wanted a Cali King bed, but balked at the one to six thousand dollar price tag for the showroom models. This one is an excellent, straight-forward build with little modification needed from the plans given. The lumber yard staff was great at selecting high quality stock once they knew to what end what the pieces were going to be used, so utilize their expertise. Tolerances are fairly tight on this bed, so measure carefully, and more than once. With the addition of the four posts and canopy frame (also provided on www.Ana-White.com ), and a Stearns and Foster luxury plush mattress from Costco, I've more than got my money's worth. Indeed, so will my children. it's heirloom quality.

Estimated Cost
$250.00
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
Minwax mahogany red was applied with a foam brush in consecutive coats, NOT wiped off (as doing so gave the wood the appearance of being a bit too distressed), and five coats of Polyurethane (two for the posts and canopy) were applied with a bristle brush.
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate