My first build from your site. The plans are great! I changed it and used half lap joints for the Xs to keep them as solid pieces. Only cheap lumber is available at the big box stores, so LOTS of sanding.
Burned wood finish with stain and lots of coats of poly for protection and shine
We bought 40 pickets and built the privacy planter and these 2 beds with 2 pickets left over. Might need a planter box on the front porch 
By Terri!
I had never built anything before. I also hadn't had a headboard in years, so I figured two birds with one stone. The biggest lesson we learned was how important it is to find the best wood. One of our pieces was not straight and we ended up having to make another trip out to the store. Otherwise, it was a pretty easy build!
I purchased and used a circular saw to cut the back legs, which was so much easier than just using a jigsaw like I did the first time. Having experience building one before made assembling the second one simpler.
(Note: The measurements in the photos are different than those in the plans because I cut the back legs to be 37", adding about 1" to the height of the patterned back support to accommodate a 1" seat cushion for future.)
Mon, 09/02/2013 - 06:59
Are the back legs of your chairs two different pieces?? I noticed they have a curve to them and was curious how you got that look!!
Thanks,
In reply to Look Great by Medickep
Wed, 09/04/2013 - 00:54
The chair is essentially made in two pieces: the back support and back legs being one assembled piece and the seat and front legs being the other. Each back leg is cut from a 2x4 to make the angled back, which was the trickiest part of the whole build for me. There are diagrams in Ana's plans to explain it visually. =D I hope this helps a little!
Super easy and quick project! If you buy the select pine from home depot- it is a piece of cake to build. No sanding!
I needed a bed frame to go around my adjustable mattress and cheapest I found for pre-fabricated was greater than $200 and I thought why not go on Ana’s site and see if I could build one cheaper and I found this design. I did everything in the instructions but build the platform as I was only getting it as a frame around the base that I already had. I ended up using carsiding as it was cheaper than 1x6’s I also did not use pocket holes I just used regular screws that I countersunk and it gives it a bit of a more rustic look I did have to adjust a few things as the side rails the 2x4 toppers went over too much on the adjustable portion of the bed and I didn’t allot for additional width on the head and footboard so I had to remove them - to me it presents a little bit of a cleaner line I figure I can always go back with a 2 x 2 if I want a capped look. The weathered recommended product turned it to a grayish purple hue no matter how much I sanded it - it grew on me but definitely not the same color probably different tannins in the wood I was able to find not sure.
The build took about two days total I built it all on my own the bed hardware was tricky though after failing to find anything local I ordered bed rail hardware off of Amazon for 12 bucks it’s a lot easier and your able to connect the side rails to the head and footboard on your own.
Total cost with the bed hardware probably about $130 if I took off the stuff I wasted it may be closer to $115.
Did these last week. Your instructions and details are really good. Thanks
I built 11 doll highchairs for my daughters 5th "Adopt A Baby" birthday party! These chairs were fast and easy to build and I had a BLAST painting them! The girls loved, loved, loved them! A little extreme for a 5 year old birthday party? Maybe. But definitely worth it!
Fri, 07/15/2011 - 05:13
Wow! That's a LOT of work!!! They turned out absolutely adorable, though.
So we couldnt find any bed we really wanted for my son, and this one was perfect.
I used the wood one step up from the whitewood at HD, which had too many knots for this, and was .75 more. Still had to pick thru the 2x4 and 2x6s but the quality of the wood was much better.
After seeing what another bragger posted, i raised the posts to 72" instead of 66", which allowed for an additional 2x6 at the top. The mattress stayed at the same height, but know i sleep better thinking he wont roll off.
Lesson learned from this: Sand the primer!!! i never knew to do that before in my life and wow, what a difference.
Painting Steps were:
Sand wood,
prime, ( Used Zissner BIN)
Sand primer with 220
Wipe with Tack cloth
Paint ( Used Behr Ultra White Semi Gloss and Behr Par Four Green Semi Gloss)
Sand lightly with 320 grit
wipe with Tack
Paint again.
The two end pieces and the deck were assembled in the garage, but the cross pieces and steps were built in the bedroom.
Im thinking of creating a mini gate where he climbs up just for sleeping that i could put in once he is in his bed to really prevent rolling... trust me.. he rolls everywhere. May be to the height of the top 2x4, halway the length of the opening, and use dowels or something.
Note the second picture didnt have the 2x6 ladder step installed yet.
Thanks Ana for the plans! My son never wants to leave the bed!
This was a pretty easy build! I changed the plans a little bit by adding ventalation holes and the way the cubbies conntect. I wanted to be able to easily take apart the bed if I need to so I built a track system that the middle support sits on and locks in place.
Pretty straightforward project. I didn't end up making the base due to lack of space and time. The hardest part for me was staining as depending on the medium semi-transparent etc... and how you apply it brush or gun etc... can change how it turns out. I used dark walnut i believe and only 1 coat and to me it was plenty rich. pretty sure it was semi transparent. I like how it's a loft bed and gives kid more sqft for their room. it is somewhat shaky but not horrible probably due to lack of base. I will probably add some cross members for support.
I really needed an entry way system that was easy to corral all of my 3 boys shoes/coats/crap, etc. . . and I LOVED this plan! I messed up on the frame, so just left it off, and decided that I didn't need the back either. I painted little chalkboards on the side of each boys cubby.
I'm fairly certain that this isn't made perfectly, but it's perfect for us! This was my 2nd project and I'm really super psyched about it!
This was made as a present my mom's birthday. I found a good sized mirror at the thrift shop which was perfect for the project. I adhered it to some plywood, added trim around it, bulked up the top and bottom with multiple layers and types of trim and added some crown molding to the top. The finish is "A Day at the Jewellers" by Valspar with a Red Mahogany stain/glaze over top.
This was my first build and I haven't stopped since!! Thank you Ana White for your inspiration, building plans and encouragement!!!
Built by Toni Wood, more photos here: https://www.instagram.com/p/Bo2V-b5gvxt/?taken-by=woodworkbytoniwood
I used recycled materials for my potting table. The boards for the front and back legs I found from a factory's dumpster. Side aprons are from boards I saved when we took down a wall in our home. The boards were a part of the wall's frame. All the boards for the worktop, back wall and the lower shelf came from the dumpster of a company selling plastic sewer pipes. They used to be frames holding together the bunches of pipes during transport from factory to the store. And lastly, the board for the little shelf used to be part of the structure holding up the tarp over a freight truck's freight space.
I've only built raised beds and crude shelves for seedlings up until this project. This was my first more complex project. And the first with which I had to follow a plan. Due to my materials being differently sized than in the project plan, I had to make some adjustments along the way. My husband helped me to make sense of the instructions and also helped when I needed another pair of hands to keep parts still while drilling.
The biggest setback during the project was the board for the small shelf splintering while drilling it into place. It splintered even though we pre-drilled holes for the screws to go into especially to prevent splintering. I made another board and that one we secured in place with small corner braces which worked better.
Thank you Ana for the project plan. Here in Finland potting tables like these are not common and they are not sold anywhere. I've dreamt of one for 15 years and now, finally, I made my dream home true with your help.
Best wishes,
Aija
Thu, 06/23/2022 - 11:32
Thank you for sharing, that looks amazing and such wonderful use of material!
This was a very fun and one of the easiest projects I have made from Ana's plans! This makes me want to see if I can make matching chairs as well!
If you have seen my other projects, you know that I try to keep the lumber cost of my projects as close to free as possible. Living on the Eastern Shore of Virginia, pallets are not free, so I did have to pay $2 for each pallet, being VERY choosy about the slats being all the same size and straight. The hardest part of the project was taking the pallets apart! Check the blog link for more details.
I used 1 1/2 pallets for this project, and the following tools:
Jigsaw (to cut the ends off the pallet)
Pry-bar (to loosen the slats from the center of the pallet)
Miter saw
Drill
Table Saw (ripping the 2x4 sections of the pallet, to make the legs and spacers of the table)
Palm sander
Modified the plans to be only 3 drawers which saved on weight and hardware. Used reclaimed 100+ year old barn wood for the top, adding lots of character.
I built this loft bed for my neighbor's daughter. It has a lot of space for storage and the book shelves with desk really add a lot of stabilty. I added some supports to the back rail as it moved to much for me and made the ladder out of 2x material as it kept costs down and seemed stronger. Neighbor wanted the ladded straight up and down so I connected it to the lower bookshel too! Would not recommend cutting pieces in advance on this one! I also used plywood for the shelves and trimmed them out as it was cheaper!
Mon, 10/05/2015 - 14:39
Good job! I am toying around with building something similar from scratch. A few questions if you don't mind:
1. Given the sturdiness, I am guessing it is fairly heavy. Could two people move it?
2. By chance, is it modular for easy breakdown and transport (upstairs)?
3. Are there any plans available (materials listing, cuts, etc.)?
Thanks for posting and keep up the great work. I am sure your neighbor will be pleased!
Tue, 10/13/2015 - 15:03
Hopefully you have not been waiting long! I do not get notified for some reason to remarks any longer!
Yes, it's very sturdy, especially with the addition of the book shelves and desk. Itt is designed to come apart with a few screws, so going up stairs is not an issue. I got it from the following plans.
http://ana-white.com/2010/05/furniture-plans-loft-bed.html
http://ana-white.com/2010/06/plans/what-goes-under-loft-bed-how-about-big-bookcase
http://ana-white.com/2010/06/loft-bed-small-bookcase-and-desk
I do not recommend cutting everything in advance. Build as you go if you want everything to fit perfectly!!
