Fun, easy build. This is the first project from this site and the kids loved helping make their own chairs. They got to pick their own color paint - I think I spent more on paint than I did on the wood!
I saw this project and fell in love with it. Ive never done a wood working project before and wanted to do this all on my own so i wouldnt let anyone help just to know if i could do it. It didnt turn out perfect but i CAN NOT stop looking at it. Ana thank you somuch for theses plans!
Mon, 02/24/2014 - 11:22
Looks amazing! I'm dying to build this also and am nervous about trying out that finish. Where did you get the corner hardware?
Console table with straight stair legs
Before moving, I sold my older, MDF-containing, sagging china hutch that was given to me by a friend. I had dreams of building my own and had printed out these plans... built it in my head, rebuilt it, scratched out notes, wrote new notes, and so on until my husband finally said "just build it already" haha. It took me 2 months to finish it and fill it with all of my china and I'm into it for about $330. I love her and affectionately refer to her as Gert... she's a big girl. I added adjustable shelving inside and horseshoes to the front to match everything else in my house and I think it turned out great. It's sturdy enough I think we could have dances on top of it!
Thank you for the simple and easy-to-follow plans!
We have an Airbnb at a nearby lake. We built the large and kids picnic tables so our guests can enjoy the outdoors!!
Elaine Freitas
I really wanted a place to sit down and take my shoes off when I got home. I don't have a large entryway, so the space was tight. I looked online for a bench that would fit the measurements, and found a few that looked good-- except for the price! Luckily I already knew about Ana White, so I came here in search of some plans and lo and behold she already had plans posted for the exact same bench I liked most from the catalogs!
I've used power tools before, but never actually *built* anything from scratch. I thought my boyfriend would help me with this (he's got woodworking experience), but I got tired of waiting for him to get around to it, so I just did it all by myself!
I first attempted to make this without a Kregg Jig, cause I didn't want to spend the money on it if I didn't need it. But it didn't take long to figure out that I needed it. So back to the store I went (found out the hard way that Lowes sells Kreggs but Home Depot does not, at least the ones near me). And holy cow it was SO WORTH IT!
I also got to buy a new sander for the project, cause the hand-me-down from my dad had a missing bit of the clamp that holds the sandpaper to the sander (kind of essential)
So all in all I spent more than the catalog price of the bench, but I will get to use the tools to build all sorts of fun stuff!!!
Thank you Anna! You empowered me to build exactly what I wanted and I LOVE IT!!!!
I put together the flower storage table and the thumb chairs during the week leading up to our daughter's first birthday party. With a lot of older toddlers/kids at the party, the table served as a perfect coloring station in our basement (as you can see from the mahem/aftermath photo below). In any event, as my daughter is about to turn two, she has really grown into using the table and chairs for completing her own arts and crafts projects.
Made from the modified Mimi's Faux Mantle design from another brag post.
Tue, 12/19/2017 - 22:01
Are you able to tell me how wide this is from the end of one bookcase to the other? I'm trying to find out if it will fit in my living room. Thanks!
Modified the benches a little to be opened without removing a cushion. Cushions to come. We made our own paneling for the back and reused the original trim. Table to come.
Idea and plans from another brag Breakfast nook.
Awesome and easy build! Thank you!
Easy, fun great project that my husband and I did together. This project cost about $202, and I will take that price over the price that you would have to pay in the furniture store any day. We found some great wood at Lowe's that worked perfectly and gave it the "rustic" look that we like. Thanks Ana for the plans and sharing them with us.
Wed, 05/16/2012 - 19:01
That's a fine quality piece of furniture!
Why can't I get dark walnut stain to look like that?
Wed, 05/16/2012 - 19:45
Debi_G, I've had lots of trouble getting stains to look the way I want too. What I've taken to doing is either mixing my own (see http://claydowling.com), as well as trying out various commercial stains until I find one that satisfies my desires. Good use for your scrap.
So far the best commercial stains I've found are from General Finishes. They're designed to sit partially on top of the wood, which prevents some of the splotchy and washed out look that make some stains unpleasant to work with.
I made these boxes with my dad one afternoon. We had a great time! We wanted our herbs to be close to the kitchen and still get plenty of sun, so attaching them to the deck railing was ideal. I made them out of timber decking with pocket holes, and attached them to the railing with metal brackets underneath.
My husband bulky this coop from pallets and used Ana White's chicken run plans. Took us a weekend to build the run.
I had some scraps leftover from a previous project and decided to see what I could make. My wife wanted this vegetable bin, so I figured I’d give it a shot. I used my table saw to create my own 1x boards for this build. The back board is two 2x4’s with trimmed edges, glued together. The rest was a 2x10 I cut to size for the different pieces I needed. All in all, it turned out great!
I finished this a while back for my granddaughter. I modified the side rails so it could be disassembled and reassembled in her bedroom.
My daughter was turning 4 and we were expecting our 2nd child in a few months and needed her crib/toddler bed back to start setting up the nursery. After googling fun big girl beds for a few weeks i came across the plans for the cottage bed and decided to sit down with my husband and decide if we could build her this bed. by building instead of buying the bed of her little girl dreams we were creating many fond memories with her and a real attatchment to it so she would actually sleep in it. We went through alot of the other brag posts first and picked out a few things we liked from each and made a few modifcations. I felt the spindles around the bed needed to be taller to keep her from falling out of the bed. We also made a door way under the slide that is now a little secret fort for her to go in and read her books and have quiet time. Under the steps my husband made a closet for her dress up clothes utilizing as much of the space under the bed as possible as it takes up most of her bed room We painted the back wall under the bed with chalk board paint to give her a art space under there as well. In the end it took us about a month to build the bed working on it on the weekends. We spent around 500 dollars including the purchase of a few tools we diddnt have and needed like the kreg jig and all the paint and princess decals. She loves the bed and my very amazing handy husband has been approached by many friends and family members to make one for their children as well.
I wanted to build something a little bigger than the Rustic X Console table. So my wife and I came up with the plans for this 5 shelf "Rustic X" Book Case. Took me about 20 hours to build over a three day weekend.
Tue, 03/04/2014 - 10:23
I like how your bookcase is wider but more narrow. Did you see these plans? http://ana-white.com/2013/08/plans/rustic-x-tall-bookshelf
Wed, 04/16/2014 - 08:18
What dimensions did you end up using?- the proportions look great! Even the shorter legs look great! And did you just use 2x6's for your trip on the top? We would love to follow your design to a t!
Wed, 04/16/2014 - 08:37
We were thinking of increasing the overall height to 84" and the width to 48" (keeping the depth) but weren't sure if that would mess up the ratio.
Tue, 08/27/2019 - 17:53
I think your looks much nicer than the original due to the finished top. It looks complete with the way you've made the overhang. How much of a overhang is it?
I love the rustic x console and coffee table but hated the bookshelf due to the odd looking top, thank you for your inspiration!
Started this project out of boredom. I had some time and some extra wood laying around. Some was from pallets I took apart, some from a salvage house, and some from an old barn. I built the table in a few hours and worked through any misshaped boards as best as possible. It was a relativley easy project and fun to see the legs turn out with each step. I plan to use cables and turnbuckles for the cross braces on the back and will update the pic when I do. I just need to find a home for it now.
Doll beds I made for my daughter's and nieces.
We made the captain’s bed for our two grandchildren, and they love it. We have made several things from Ana’s plans. They are so easy to follow! Thanks so much!
Dena
This table was built using the Vanessa's X Picnic Table plans but made plenty of modifications to it. We used 3/4 thick boards and made the table 60 inches long instead of 71 3/4". We have a small dining room and wanted a table big enough for four people so this size worked for us. Since we made adjustments to the length we used less supports under the table top. We made the table top using pocket holes and only two joists were needed. We added extra support between the table top and the stretcher because the table wiggled more than I wanted it to. This nipped the problem in the butt! I knew I wanted to build this table but my concern was finding chairs to suit the table. I ended up getting unfinished chairs from Ikea for $19 a piece and finished them myself. I feel like this project took forever, but that table itself was assembled in a weekend. The finishing process took an additional weekend since we had to do the chairs as well.
