Community Brag Posts

First Build -- Farmhouse Table

This is my first build!

Had a blast building this and turned out beautiful!

cant wait to start on my next!

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
100
Estimated Time Investment
Day Project (6-9 Hours)
Finish Used
Light Walnut for the top and semi gloss white for the base
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Comments

strotter13

Sun, 02/16/2014 - 22:21

Looks AWESOME! I did something similar with the wood on white, I just posted the build :) I am going to have to copy this though!!!

Rustic X Living Room Set (Console, End, Coffee Tables)

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Thu, 05/12/2016 - 07:20

We made some minor changes to the overall finish from the plans for the coffee and end tables, I had a hard time matching the stain color, as well as omitting the hardware (I painted it but we never got around to attaching it).

 

We had a console table that we were replacing (we bought it when we first moved in and I've never been overly thrilled with how it looked in the room) and hubby did a GREAT job incorporting the fireplace from that unit into the console table.

 

Over all, a fun and inexpensive set of living room furniture. Can't wait for our next preoject!! We're planning an "X" inspired dinning room table for 10. I'll be sure to post pictures!

Estimated Cost
$250
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
Minwax Wood Finish - Special Walnut #224 (x 3 coats with sponge brush)
Minwax Fast-Drying Polyurethane - Satin (x2/3 coats with sponge brush)
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Kids Cabin Bed with Barn Doors

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sun, 02/16/2020 - 21:21

Hand made kids fort bed

Estimated Time Investment
Day Project (6-9 Hours)
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Comments

Fabric Covered wood Frames

This is a simple and cheap way to decorate any space. Just use some 1x2's to make a square frame. Stretch the fabric over the frame and staple it. You can make one large one or many different sized ones to cover a boring wall.

Estimated Cost
15 depending on fabric and size
Estimated Time Investment
An Hour or Two (0-2 Hours)
Finish Used
Pretty Fabric
Recommended Skill Level
Starter Project

Desk for my little girl's room.

Submitted by kristyzed on Sun, 02/16/2014 - 14:01

I was very excited to make this for my daughter. I made the tops and shelves from MDF. Unfortunately, I made the mistake of buying construction-grade 2 x 2s, instead of select pine, as I didn't know there was a difference at the time. DON'T do this! The select pine looks much better, with crisper edges and cleaner lines.
The assembly was a bit tricky on my own, but I managed to get it done. I really like the general looks of this desk, but I made a few mistakes along the way so I'm probably going to build another, without the mistakes.

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
$120
Estimated Time Investment
Day Project (6-9 Hours)
Finish Used
I applied 2 coats of Valspar's Cloud White, which was perfect to match with our Plantation shutters and our trim. I then applied a coat of poly, sanded, and applied another coat of poly. Here is where I made another mistake. Please learn from this so you don't make the same one. I ignored the can of poly which states in BOLD to apply THIN coats, and after my two coats dried I was left with a yellow-tinged white colour. In the daylight it's quite obvious and I'm kicking myself for it. Make sure you apply thin coats! :)
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Hall table

Submitted by jcar on Sat, 05/14/2016 - 03:38

This was a great first project.  Thanks for the plans and the inspiration.
I needed to make a hall table so made a narrower version, and had to alter the dimensions to suit the metric system and readily available materials at Bunnings (Australia), and also made the upper and lower sections identical in height.  It ended up about 300mm deep because the shortest drawer runners I could find were 250mm. These are full extension Hafele side rails, opening 100% to make the most of the narrow depth.
The drawer fronts are from a single piece of reclaimed Oregon Pine sourced locally and then stained with various strengths of Victorian Antique Wood Dye from eBay.  The stain is natural/non-chemical and made from walnut husks - just dilute with water to the desired shade and worked well on this timber.
Thanks Ana and thanks Jamison!
 

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Time Investment
Week Long Project (20 Hours or More)
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Dining table

Dining table with 4 benches brown chalk paint check us out on Facebook marney Marie 

Estimated Time Investment
Day Project (6-9 Hours)
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Easy Kids' Tent / Reading Nook

I had been wanting to make this for sometime but didn't have the curtains. I was at a friend house and she asked if I wanted the red curtains that she was going to throw them away. So I got to make the tent, her daughters got a cool place to play and the curtains got a new purpose also the tent was made to fold for storage!!!

Thanks Ana for all the plans and ideas you give us!!

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
$3 for hardware and wood curtains were FREE!!!
Estimated Time Investment
An Hour or Two (0-2 Hours)
Recommended Skill Level
Starter Project

Farmhouse Bed

Submitted by nuarty145 on Tue, 02/18/2014 - 06:53

My wife wanted a black headboard to match our existing bedroom set so I built just the headboard from the farmhouse bed plans. It was simple to build, looks great, and my wife and I love sleeping under it.

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
$90 + paint
Estimated Time Investment
Afternoon Project (3-6 Hours)
Finish Used
black paint
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Comments

CreativeChaos

Mon, 06/09/2014 - 10:03

I just built this headboard for my daughter's new full bed and she wanted the headboard with the metal frame. I was wondering if you could share how you attached your headboard to the frame? The holes in our metal frame on the the flanges for the headboard are rather large. I used kiln dried 2x4's for her legs because we don't get 4x4's here that aren't pressure treated.

Cedar Raised Garden Bed

Submitted by Malka on Wed, 05/18/2016 - 00:34

My little sister is building her first garden this year, and had asked about a garden bed and bench. I found this plan on the Ana White site, and waited until the local Home Depot had cedar fence pickets on sale for $2.34 each. Once these were purchased, the 3 garden beds were put together easily with screws and some Titebond II, and then sprayed with spar urethane on the outside for further protection. I also took some live edge fir slabs I'd gotten for free from a lumbermills scrap pile, and cut, sanded, and stained them to put together a live edge bench. I assembled the bench using rabbet and tenon, and then further braced the legs with small L brackets that cant be seen from the front and some 3" screws from bench top to legs. After assembly, I spar-urethaned the bench with 4 coats for protection. My sister loved both the bench and her boxes. Thanks for the plan!

Estimated Cost
$80 for Cedar, screws, stain, and glue for boxes and bench.
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
Minwax Spar-Urethane
Mixwax Antique Walnut
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Clara Table & Chairs

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!

Built from Plan(s)
Recommended Skill Level
Starter Project

Dresser/Changing table

Similar to a previous poster, I was inspired to build this project to use as a combo dresser/changing table for our first child's nursery. It took quite a few days worth of work (spread out over a couple of months altogether) but I finally finished the bulk of the work a few days before entering the third trimester of pregnancy, phew! I think we'll enjoy this piece for years to come, thanks Shane and Ana for the plans! (Please excuse the poor lighting and ugly garage, we haven't set up the nursery yet so the dresser may be living in the garage until we do!)

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
$300ish
Estimated Time Investment
Week Long Project (20 Hours or More)
Finish Used
Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Pure White. Love this paint but it has a very matte finish on its own and will need to be waxed for protection that I'm waiting until the pregnancy is over to finish.
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Comments

4x4 Farmhouse Table (unfinished for now)

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sun, 05/22/2016 - 12:40

Found these plans and fell in love! Opted to use 7 2x6's for the top with 2x8's for the breadboard! Knocked it out between Saturday and Sunday. Planning on doing the steel wool and vinegar agingtechnique after distressing the table with various tools. Ended up being 7ft 1/2 in by 3ft 2 1/2in. Definitely looking forward to searching through the plans and trying other projects! Was my first time building a furniture piece from scratch!

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
Roughly $120 in materials
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
Nothing yet...
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Outdoor tables

Submitted by knrburch on Wed, 02/26/2020 - 07:00

I built these for outdoor. Made them narrower than actual plan. Love them! Thank you for the plan!

Estimated Cost
$150
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
Black gel stain and Sherwin Williams Alpaca paint
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Cottage bench for my cape-cod

Submitted by TF in VA on Fri, 05/11/2012 - 12:59

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!!!!

Estimated Cost
$50 wood + Kregg Jig (and screws and wood plugs) + palm sander
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
Red paint, to match my front door. Still need to protect the finish with some sort of sealant.
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Craftsman Frame

Submitted by pde00311 on Mon, 02/24/2014 - 22:24

Had an old concert poster that I had been looking to frame. Glad I found these plans.

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Time Investment
Afternoon Project (3-6 Hours)
Finish Used
Minwax Provencial stain with two coats glossy polyurethane
Recommended Skill Level
Starter Project

Bench from my old barn wood

Submitted by srenzello on Wed, 05/25/2016 - 11:23

I used old barn wood I had out back its not a perfect fit all across the top but I made it that way on purpose I like the things that don't look perfect! Great project did it all in about 2 hours! 

 

Estimated Time Investment
An Hour or Two (0-2 Hours)
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner
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