Community Brag Posts

Modern Adirondack Chair

Submitted by nk25 on Fri, 06/26/2020 - 18:46

I really enjoyed making this. Notes: The board with 20 degree cuts needs to be cut at a longer length if cutting at 90 degrees and trimming later. The back support is a little low if you’re over 5’10”.

Estimated Cost
$50
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
Deck stain. redwood color - Olympic brand
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Tool Organizer

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Thu, 07/02/2020 - 07:02

I’m very happy with my tool organizer. I also used the tool organizer idea for bracket to hang our bicycle rack. We love the way it all came out. Thank you so much for sharing!

We run a fence company. The best thing about this project is that it cost me $0!! I used 2X4 cutoffs that we were going to trash!

Built from Plan(s)

Tapered Wood Planter

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Wed, 04/24/2024 - 10:53

Made this for our patio area very fun build, my wife loves it so of course she wants another one! Back to the wood stove.

Blair K

Built from Plan(s)

Toy Story 2 Loft Bed

This was a big project to tackle. I'm not very good at modifying building plans, so my husband was frustrated during the beginning of this build. But we are very happy with the way it turned out.
The hardest part of the build was the steps. We modified them to look like blocks, so getting the dimensions equal was tough. We also made it a full size bed so that there was more room under the bed.
We used plexiglass for the doors and LED lighting under the bed.

Estimated Cost
Lots of time, $300-$500
Estimated Time Investment
Week Long Project (20 Hours or More)
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Comments

onehotmamma4 (not verified)

Sat, 09/01/2012 - 11:47

I love it!!! Very cool. We just started a Toy Story room for my son who will be 3 next month. He would love this.

redhead_61

Sat, 09/01/2012 - 17:36

This bed is GREAT. I love what you did with the block stairs. What a way to make in impact and something original. Love it!

talon schultz (not verified)

Mon, 10/15/2012 - 13:43

Love toy story 1,2,and even 3!

adecesare4

Mon, 02/25/2013 - 09:38

That is really nice! whatever frustrations you went through, it is well worth it, love the stairs and the overall concept!

First project side table

Submitted by scott3196 on Tue, 07/07/2020 - 04:31

Lovely easy to follow plans even if i had to change all measurements into metric and wood just slightly different size. Really happy how it turned out

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
£45
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
Jacobean oak danish oil
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Mud Kitchen

Submitted by Noyehx4 on Mon, 07/20/2020 - 12:48

This was my first build, like ever. I am very proud! Props given to my hubby who is a carpenter by trade. I went back and forth on stains and paint colors at home depot. He didn't rush me and was awesome the entire time! He actually picked up the supplies, and is now a fan of the self tap screws! He thought he knew where everything in home depot was, but he had to ask to find those LOL. He wanted to use his new nail gun, but I wanted to follow the plans. The plans are awesome! We decided not to add an oven door just yet. Likely will soon. (Avoiding pinched fingers for now) I also have the knobs for the front, but it was hot and since I had only just stained them, they needed time to dry and second coat yet. (I kind of forgot about them once I finished them with my new dremel) We purchased the hose kit from the kitchen section at home depot. It came with everything, I searched market place and even posted asking if anyone had a used one for sale. No luck. This was $20 and came with everything, the guys at home depot showed me what adapters to get to ensure that it would hook up to our garden hose, and we grabbed those too and they worked perfectly! I messed up cutting one of the angles for the shelf the wrong way, but there was enough scraps for my husband to help me fix it. It was a fun build, and so rewarding to see our kids playing with it! I used my dremel 4300 and it wasn't powerful enough for the thicker wood, so my stove tops are thinner, but he actually enjoys setting them up and spraying them off the table with his hose! I painted the brass hooks green when we were painting the kitchen so they would match. The pots and pans came with the little tote and the apron chef hat and pot holder. It was a perfect finishing touch. *Edit to add photos kitchen hose kit from home depot, reading comments, others had a hard time finding adapters. I suggest taking what you have with you to home depot so they can show you what adapters you need. We needed three because we have a quick attachment on the end of our garden hose, (for our sprayer) now little mans mud kitchen can be connected and disconnected easily!

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
$75
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
Rust-Oleum Ultra Cover 2X Enamel Spray Paint and Behr Semi-Transparent Waterproofing Exterior Wood Stain and Sealer
Recommended Skill Level
Starter Project

Barn Door Pantry

We didn’t have much storage space in our little galley kitchen. Imagine how excited I was to find this plan on my favorite site.
This was my first build using my new circular saw. For previous projects, I’d take both the shopping list and cut list to Lowe’s and have them cut the wood. This time, I made all my cuts. I was nervous but love how it turned out.
I anchored it to the wall because with the barn door and the hardware weight, it felt a little front heavy.
We used the same color as our kitchen cabinets (AH13 Salty Dog) and then selected coordinated colors for the body (AH18 Debonair) and shelves (AH15 Rural Green).

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
500
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
Sherwin Williams paint:
Barn Door (AH13 Salty Dog)
Cabinet (AH18 Debonair)
Shelves & Back (AH15 Rural Green)
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Comments

Playhouse Loft Bed With Stairs And Slide

My son was about to turn 3 and I really wanted to redesign his bedroom as a birthday surprise. We went with a Toy Story themed room, he just loves Toy Story.
I started off by painting the walls blue with yellow stars like Andy's room in the movie. I added some custom painted art work and then it was off to find a cool playhouse bed. My husband and I were shopping around and we could never really find what we were looking for in the store. So we decided to build one ourselves using plans from this website.
I used the playhouse loft bed and the playhouse loft bed stair plans, for the bed and the stairs. I used the castle loft bed plan as inspiration for the slide. The project took us about 5 weeks from start to finish. We both have full time jobs and we did most of the work on the weekends. I looked at each plan very carefully and made notes. I had to modify the stair plans slightly to fit the space where we wanted to put the bed. The stairs look narrow, but they work just fine. My husband and I can both use them to get up in the bed. The stairs feature hinged stair tread with built in storage. We built them like that at first, but then later decided to make them stationary stair treads, with plywood. I didn't like the way the hinges looked and the top stair was so deep that I was worried my son would fall in there and get stuck. The storage idea was neat, but his safety was more important to me. The bed turned out really nice and VERY sturdy. Both my husband and I are able to get up there with my son (not at the same time).
Another modification that I made was instead of slats to hold on the mattress, I used a piece of plywood. I wanted the roof in the playhouse to look finished, and I didn't want to see his bedding hanging down from the slats. I painted the top of the plywood white, where the mattress goes to blend in with the slats, and the other side was painted blue to match the walls inside the playhouse.
I did modify the playhouse front facade to have 2 windows and one door. I like the symmetrical look. The total project cost about $400. I used birch plywood and select pine boards, and about 6 quarts of paint. I noticed AFTER we had finished the bed using the birch plywood, that Home Depot had cabinet grade plywood on a random end cap, that was just as nice for $12 less a sheet. If I could do it all over again, I would definitely use that!. I wanted the paint to have a nice smooth finish, without having to do a lot of sanding or patching.
We had Home Depot cut the plywood to the dimensions we needed. I had my husband cut the rest of the wood dimensions listed in the plans, and then I painted all of them before we put the pieces together. I used a small roller and self priming paint. The paint finish looks great. After assembling the bed I can not imagine what I would have gone through trying to paint it after the fact.

The slide was a bit tricky, I looked at the plan for the castle loft bed and attempted to use those dimensions, and for the most part they worked. But when we went to assemble the slide, we did end up recutting some of the wood to different dimensions. I used a piece of the melamine coated closet shelf material for the slide.
It is already finished in white and its nice and slick, like a slide should be! I hate MDF, but for this it seemed the best fit. We cut the top edge at an angle to meet up with the slide platform. PLEASE BE CAREFUL with this material. After it was angle cut the edge was razor sharp and I sliced my fingers up. Once it was installed it butted up perfectly to the slide platform, and the edge was hidden and not a danger. But use caution during the install.

Clamps are your friend! We used Kreg clamps for everything. They kept the wood in place while we were screwing the parts together. The coolest thing that my husband came up with was clamping two identical pieces for plywood together, and drawing the template for the slide support walls. Then he used his circular saw to cut them out. We ended up with two mirror image pieces. They looked awesome. I left them clamped together when I sanded the edges as well.
We really didn't have any building experience other, than building tables and chairs for children, We got the deluxe Kreg jig kit and a miter saw on Craigslist for $50 each and they were both practically brand new. This was the first time we had ever used a Kreg jig and we are both addicted. That thing is the bomb.

We locked my son out of his room for a week while we assembled everything. We had the big reveal at his birthday party and all of the guests were excited to see it after seeing my facebook teaser posts of our progress. There were 8 kids up there at one time and the bed did not budge. They all enjoyed the slide. I did the planning and paint and my husband did an awesome job making all of the cuts and sanding everything. We are both very proud of the final product. My son love his new big boy bed.
DISCLAIMER: This bed is not recommended for a child under 6 years old. My son is mature for his age and we monitor him carefully.

Estimated Cost
$400
Estimated Time Investment
Week Long Project (20 Hours or More)
Finish Used
self priming paint
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Comments

Teania (not verified)

Mon, 01/21/2013 - 12:41

This bed is awesome. My boyfriend and I want one just like this for are son. Did you happen to write out all your dimensions? I would love to make this bed for my son.

silvinairiana

Thu, 10/16/2014 - 14:40

Hi! Congratulations you did an awesome job!!  Would you please let me know what the total measures are, length and width?  Thank you so much!!

 

Farmhouse Table

Submitted by DMax2010 on Wed, 08/27/2014 - 06:30

This was my first attempt at a bigger project. As with most, the finish took the most time. I modified the size of the table because I made it for my sister. It was also the first time I used a belt sander, and I loved it! It made the top nice and even. I did have a huge debacle when trying to fill the gaps of the table with clear silicone...that is definitely something that requires practice! I ended up removing all of the silicone and just allowing the top coat to sink in. Luckily, it just peels right out, although it did leave some clumps that took a little extra care to remove. But overall, I loved how it turned out, and my sister loves it too. I made the bench too.

Estimated Cost
I think the lumber was under $50.00, the stain about $20.00
Estimated Time Investment
Week Long Project (20 Hours or More)
Finish Used
Minwax Express color-Walnut Stain, the final finish was General Finishes Arm-R-Seal, which was a matte finish
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Comments

DMax2010

Wed, 08/27/2014 - 17:34

Thanks Ana! It is one solid table! I can't wait to make one for me next!

Converted TV wall niche

Submitted by Vol4Life1 on Tue, 12/13/2016 - 05:35

We bought this house about a year ago and we finally got around to removing this pointless niche!  The center divider and bottom were removed.  The cabinet and hutch were assembled seperately.  

 

This is still a work of progress.  I am looking for a nice decorative molding face for the top.  If anyone has any suggestions please let me know!  We will most likely paint it white to match the fireplace mantle.

Estimated Cost
300
Estimated Time Investment
Week Long Project (20 Hours or More)
Finish Used
Paint
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

DIY Wood Framed Console Table

Submitted by schup21 on Mon, 09/09/2024 - 09:35

I was looking for a console table and saw your website while searching various stores online and decided to go ahead and build one myself. Followed your plans for the waterfall console table and I think it turned out great and for a fraction of the cost! Thank you and you definitely gained a new follower!

Built from Plan(s)
Seasonal And Holiday

Playhouse for Christmas...almost done!

Submitted by lprollins on Sun, 11/25/2012 - 14:57

My husband and I used our Thanksgiving break to build this playhouse and deck, using Ana's plans. We are NOT builders...this is very doable for beginners with the right tools. Read the plans thoroughly before starting. Total cost (including all lumber, hardware, and paint) was under $600.

We still have door and house trim to complete, a little painting, and a handrail/ladder.

Santa may bring a slide and some other fun accessories!

Thanks Ana!!!!!

Estimated Cost
$600
Estimated Time Investment
Week Long Project (20 Hours or More)
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Rustic X Desk - My 1st Gen Build

I built this iteration for my second son to give him a spacious workspace for his schoolwork, dual-enrollment activities, and for the occasional moments of kicking back and enjoying a bit of PC gaming.
We stained it with Minwax #215 Red Oak and used Minwax Satin polyurethane to finish ours.
I stuck to the Rustic X Desk plan for the most part and made the following modifications:
1) I used five 2x6 planks instead of four, to give it a 27.5-inch depth.
2) I used a 3/4-inch roundover bit to round off the tabletop to give it a smooth feel.
3) I left out the "middle" X, so my son could have easy access to the "guts" of his computer
4) I left out the middle shelf so my son could stow his PC tower "below deck"
5) Not really a modification; I used a 3/4" straight router bit to cut notches into the 2x2's used for the X detail so they would sort of lock together because I wasn't happy with the way the angles and all were coming out with the two half-leg parts of the X detail.
6) I hated the selection of furring strips at the local big box home improvement store and didn't want to travel all the way across town to see if the "lumber stores" had anything better, so I ended up milling my own on my table saw from cherry-picked 2x4 lumber. It was cheaper than buying the premium pine to boot, since a 2x4 would give me a pair of 2x2s and leftover 1/4x2 that I'll be able to run through a planer and turn into something useful. Not a modification, just more of a "if you're plagued with lousy selection, try this instead" idea.
7) Installed a Wiremold WMC220BK convenience 120V/USB power center to make it easy to plug in a desk lamp, charge a cell phone, etc. without making a cable mess. (https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B0768R2JDG)
8) Added felt pads under the feet to make it slide easily on wood/vinyl flooring
9) I set the bottom of the leg assemblies 1-1/2 inches above the floor instead of 3 inches, so our indentured robotic servant "Mo" won't get trapped underneath any of them. He isn't the sharpest tool in the shed but at least earns his keep. Mo is a late-model Roomba 675, if any are curious to know.

Between the "custom" milling and the fact that I should have run all this 2x4 and 2x6 through a planer to cut down on all the sanding and resurfacing needed, this ended up taking a lot longer than the initial couple weekends to build plus the staining and finishing time. I'm in the middle of building a second one of these with some slight modifications since the need/use case is a bit different. I'm also planning a third revision and build that will include some "geek-friendly" customizations, namely integrated cable management and will have two shelf bays instead of one, just half as wide (a single 1x10 on the left/bottom and another 1x10 on the right/bottom, with the seating area in the center). The third "generation" will be a Christmas present for a computer science student (who consequently also graduates at the end of this fall semester).

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
80
Estimated Time Investment
Week Long Project (20 Hours or More)
Finish Used
Minwax #215 Red Oak stain and three coats of Minwax Satin Polyurethane

Custom Shed Coop

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sat, 10/12/2024 - 09:59

We modified the plan and added 8 inches vertically and widened the foot print to 55 inches. This was to cut down on lumber waste and pressure treated 4x4s on hand for the base. A used window and storm door was recycled for this build. We also moved the storm door to the high side wall due to the storm door's 80 inch height. Sealed in clear Acryllic. Our hens love their new home and reward us with fresh eggs everyday. - Shelley

Built from Plan(s)
Seasonal And Holiday

Garage Shelves

Submitted by scoricha on Mon, 01/09/2017 - 11:01

I am loving my new garage shelves.  They were my first woodworking project and very easy to do!  I left the bottom right side open to fit my outdoor table and chairs in the winter (I live in Michigan).  I also used thicker plywood than plan because my shelves are a bit deeper.

Estimated Cost
$130
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
none
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Vintage Bar Stools

Submitted by danicarby on Fri, 09/26/2014 - 10:45

I did a little search to find a barstool and when I saw these plans on Ana White I fell in love.  They were an easy build and didn't cost a lot.  I made my stools shorter and altered the overall footprint.  I like to plug all visible pocket holes which is easy to do and looks great.

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
$20 for 2 stools (using cheap furring strips)
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
Sherwin Williams Latex Paint (white), sand with 220 grit to smooth and distress and 2 coats of Minwax Polycryclic Water-Based Clear Satin Top Coat
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Sturdy DIY Farmhouse Bed

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Mon, 10/21/2024 - 11:40

My husband slightly modified the height of the footboard of the farmhouse bed plans. We truly love this bed. It’s extremely sturdy and we have friends and family lined up to have him build them one!

Built from Plan(s)
Seasonal And Holiday

Farm House Console

Submitted by DC_Idaho on Fri, 10/23/2020 - 07:21

I really liked the idea of making a TV console for our house. I used your plans as a guide and then added a few features to it. I made all of my rail system hardware vs. ordering a kit. I also added some Walnut accent inlays on the ends of the table top.

Estimated Cost
Materials alone roughly $550.00
Estimated Time Investment
Week Long Project (20 Hours or More)
Finish Used
Lacquer for the table top
Black under coat of paint
White top coat paint
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Comments

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