Community Brag Posts

I made this pair of nightstands as Christmas gifts for my husband in 2010. They were my first project and I'm pleased with how they turned out!

This is a stand I made for my sister who wanted something at the front door to put her shoes and shopping bags

Building Ana’s farmhouse doll bed went so well that I felt ready to take on a full-sized bed.

Each project seems to come with its own set of lessons. I learned the hard way about the “Measure twice, cut once” rule with a couple of “oops” cuts that sent me back on another trip to the Blue store.

Sourcing untreated 4×4′s was also an issue. I ended up gluing and screwing 2×4′s together to use as the headboard and footboard legs.

The biggest issue, though, was my own fear. Sure I hit some stumbling blocks during the build, but resolved them and got the headboard and footboard all put together… and then choked. Who the heck makes her own bed? Is this really going to work? I delayed and delayed the final steps of screwing the siderails to the legs and attaching slats until I finally had to give myself a stern talking-to and a self-imposed deadline! Has anyone else ever been scared to push through to the final steps?

OK, here goes! I wasn’t sure that I understood the step about toenailing lagbolts through the end of the cleats into the legs until I got out the drill and tried it. Yup, it worked just fine! Next came the slats, and then when I hoisted the mattress on and saw that I had built a bed…. Well, I don’t even know how to describe that feeling of success and empowerment. Wow!

Ana, I wish I could thank you for all that you do.

Hello Builders!

I made this bed for my daughter right after finishing Ana’s Simple Bed for myself. This bed is great because it is cool-looking (the most important factor for my middle-schooler) and because it adds tons of storage space (the most important factor for me, the mom!). Ana has this bed marked as easy, and it was easy. After working on the Simple Bed with lots and lots of cutting and gluing and nailing, I was amazed at how quickly this bed started looking like itself.

As a newbie builder, I read and read and re-read Ana’s plans and the comments on the plans and any similar plans until I feel comfortable. The Storage Daybed is just three separate benches that sit side-by-side and the mattress just lies on top. Somehow, when digesting the plans, I was really confused about the divider in the middle of each bench, but eventually the light bulb went on (the divider is necessary to support and strengthen the top, but the end result is that there are three cubbies in the front of the bed and three cubbies in the back – perfect for storing off-season clothes).

So I went to the Blue home improvement store and decided on birch plywood. Special thanks to Jen for working up the plywood cutting layout that Ana included in the plan. I don’t think I could have figured out how to get the pieces cut without you. The associates at the large home improvement store were very nice, and they offered to make the cuts for me even though they said that they really weren’t supposed to make “project cuts”. The problem was that their cuts were oh, so bad! They marked out all of the cuts at once, which doesn’t account for the sliver that the blade takes out, and when measuring they didn’t even have the tape measure blade flush against the top in the first place.

On my other projects, I made plenty of mistakes. But they were my mistakes, you know what I mean? On this build, I spent so much time trying to fix bad cuts. But it’s my fault. I was concerned, but I second guessed myself and didn’t speak up while they were cutting. I ended up having to cut a thin strip of plywood to lengthen the side of one of the benches, and had to sand and sand and sand. Also ended up having to re-cut the dividers.

Oh, well. I got a little life lesson in assertiveness, and I got to add a circular saw to my toolkit! After all was said and done, this really is a great bed, and it made my heart glow to hear my daughter going around telling folks: “My mom is making my bed!

This is a modified version of your Farmhouse Coffee Table.

This was my first Ana White project, and I learned a lot from making it since I was also a novice woodworker. I am very happy with the end result, but it was probably a good thing that this went on the inside of a closet :) It gave me the confidence to go on and build something more difficult with the skills I built along with the storage.

The $30 estimate is only for the wood. Wood putty, sandpaper, screws, paint, etc. will make this more expensive, but you will use all of the extras on other projects since this one won't use those up.

The time involved is a guess--it has been a few months since I completed this. Someone with experience could probably do it faster and someone brand new to building might go slower. So I chose 3-6 hours, a nice in-between number.

Watch your caster size with carpet. That was my only snag with the instructions. Ana has hardwood floors that the casters roll on. I have carpet so I wanted larger wheels in order for smoother rolling. That added height to the caster also, so you want to modify the length of the sides of the storage unit to reflect the larger casters on carpet.

All in all a great plan and useful end result!

**UPDATE--January 30, 2012** We removed the casters from the bottom of this just yesterday and the door opens SO much easier. I would invest in some high quality casters and not the cheap ones I bought if you are going to use these. Without the casters I am only putting light things (stuffed animals) in this. If you are using it for heavier items, I would use the casters but make sure they readily turn. The casters I had did not want to turn as the door moved and they dragged on the carpet instead. Also, the overall height of your unit will depend on the height of your casters, so buy them first if you are going to use them. I still love this though!

Built for my granddaughter, Rory!